WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES US OIL PRODUCTION REVIVES US oil production last year rose to its highest level in almost a decade, thanks to an increase in the use of “unconventional” extraction techniques. As a result, analysts believe the US was the largest contributor to the increase in global oil supplies last year over 2009, and is [...]
US economy strengthens in 2011 March 2, 2011 US ECONOMIC activity kept slowly gaining strength as 2011 opened and manufacturers and retailers were having some success in pushing their prices up, the Federal Reserve said yesterday. “Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve districts indicated that overall economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace in January and early February,” the [...]
How Egypt and Libya saw risk being redefined March 1, 2011 SPEND 10 years as a professional foreign currency trader, another four as a fixed income trader, then head up several global trading desks and you get a very close look at that rarest of forex animals: Speculatorus Supersuccessfulus. “Those who make the greatest gains,” says Dean Popplewell, “are always the most silent.” Popplewell himself is [...]
LABOUR DATA WILL BE KEY FOR DOLLAR March 1, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT DESPITE continued turmoil in the Middle East, concerns over the Irish rescue deal and fears that rising commodity prices could snuff out the global economic recovery, the dollar can’t find a bid. Typically, in times of stress, the greenback rallies as investors seek safety and liquidity. So why is the [...]
Oil supply fears cause further FTSE fall March 1, 2011 Fears of oil supply disruption due to Middle East unrest hit the FTSE in afternoon trading, pushing the FTSE 100 down 0.97 per cent to 5.935.76. Concerns that the political unrest could spread to major world oil exporter Saudi Arabia caused crude prices to rise still higher and sent oil-sensitive travel stocks lower. Brent crude [...]
EQUITIES DROP IN THE FACE OF OIL PRICE RISE February 28, 2011 LAST week provided a reminder that equities can go down as well as up. Although the sell-off was small in percentage terms, it has been a long time since the major global stock indices experienced a number of successive losing days. The pull-back was triggered by strength in the oil price. Brent crude finished up [...]
Fault Lines at the heart of UK politics February 28, 2011 THERE is a new, fascinating argument in British politics, one which will frame the debate for a long time to come. If Ed Miliband is to be believed, the demand for cheap credit prior to the crash was “because wages weren’t keeping up with the pressures on families: too many were forced to borrow to [...]
CONSIDER HALTING QE2, SAYS FED’S BULLARD February 28, 2011 THE US Federal Reserve should halt its second phase of quantitative easing (QE2) if the recovery proves strong enough, senior official James Bullard said yesterday. “My colleagues are enamoured with big numbers and I don’t like that,” he said, referring to the $600bn (£369.2bn) bond buying programme set to run to the middle of this [...]
Wall Street finishes February on a high February 28, 2011 BULLISH comments from Warren Buffett helped US stocks end another good month on a high note yesterday, but uncertainty about oil prices could keep investors from pushing the market much higher. A sign stocks may stall out was evident in the lacklustre volume, in contrast with last week’s selloff, which occurred on heavy volume. Just [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES N IRELAND’S ECONOMIC WOES BOOST TERROR GROUPS, WARN OFFICIALS The parlous state of Northern Ireland’s economy is acting as a recruiting sergeant for dissident republican groups, senior police and security figures warned, raising questions about the pace of spending cuts in the region. The province’s power-sharing executive has been told to find savings [...]