The essential dates for the diary of every forex trader March 15, 2011 THE US Federal Reserve announced yesterday evening that it would be making no changes to its $600bn Treasury bond purchase program and would not be making any alterations to its interest rate. The Fed made no reference to the crisis in Japan, however its predictable continuation of its current interest rates will maintain the pain [...]
FTSE closes at 15-week low on Japan fears March 15, 2011 Markets around the world have been battered by fears for Japan after its key Nikkei index fell more than ten per cent last night. Fears of a nuclear meltdown in Japan, where another explosion yesterday sent airborne radioactive waste, were combined with worries that the catastrophe would hit its vital car and electronics manufacturing industries [...]
Galleon trial witness testifies March 10, 2011 A DISGRACED former McKinsey partner told jurors at the Galleon Group insider trading trial yesterday that he leaked stock tips about the firm’s clients to hedge founder Raj Rajaratnam. Anil Kumar was the first of several of the hedge fund founder’s former friends to testify for the government at the high-profile trial in New York. [...]
AIG offers to buy back bonds March 10, 2011 BAILED-out US insurer American International Group yesterday offered to buy back billions of dollars of subprime mortgage-backed securities handed over to the New York Federal Reserve as part of its 2008 rescue. AIG offered to pay $15.7bn (£9.7bn) for all assets in Maiden Lane II, set up to hold about 800 subprime bonds taken from [...]
Landmark trial against Galleon founder begins March 9, 2011 A US prosecutor told a jury that greed drove hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam to establish a corrupt network of people to trade on inside information and make millions in illegal profits, as the trial got under way in the biggest Wall Street insider trading case in a generation. Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam, 53, sat impassively [...]
Pimco ditches US treasuries March 9, 2011 THE world’s largest bond fund, the Pimco Total Return fund, has sold off all of its US Treasures due to worries about the government’s ballooning budget deficit, which is forecast to reach $1.65 trillion this year. In his most recent monthly report, Pimco founder Bill Gross asked: “Who will buy treasuries when the Fed doesn’t?” [...]
Fed officials clash over QE3 March 7, 2011 Disagreements between senior Federal Reserve officials over a controversial third phase of quantitative easing (QE2) were voiced yesterday. The Fed’s Dennis Lockhart said a third phase of monetary stimulus (QE3) could not be ruled out if oil prices knock the US recovery. Yet his Fed colleague Charles Evans said “the hurdle is pretty high” for [...]
FED CARRIES ON WITH QE REGARDLESS March 7, 2011 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT EQUITY markets are attempting to shrug aside the civil unrest taking hold across north Africa and the Middle East. Yet the attendant rally in crude oil has taken both Brent and WTI contracts well above $100 per barrel, and this is not looking like a temporary phenomenon. Despite this, stocks rebounded [...]
Old guard Lampard and Terry renew Chelsea hope March 7, 2011 BLACKPOOL 1 vs CHELSEA 3 CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti insists securing a top four finish in the Premier League remains his side’s priority despite appearing to re-enter the title race last night. John Terry’s 20th minute header allied to Frank Lampard’s second-half brace secured an ultimately comfortable win against plucky Blackpool, who were unlucky not [...]
Bernanke: Save during boom eras March 3, 2011 Governments must stop overspending during upturns in the business cycle, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. “Building an adequate reserve fund during good times may not be politically popular, but doing so can pay off during bad times,” he said. Meanwhile, his Fed colleague Narayana Kocherlakota endorsed Bernanke’s accommodative monetary policy, arguing it was [...]