US Treasury starts to tackle debt limit January 27, 2011 The US Treasury has initiated the first in what is likely be a series of manoeuvres aimed at preventing it from hitting its legal debt limit, as a political battle over spending intensified. The action to reduce the amount of money the Treasury holds in a special account at the Federal Reserve marked a small [...]
Fed reassures as Dow surges past 12,000 January 26, 2011 THE Dow surged past 12,000 yesterday for the first time since June 2008 before eventually closing at 11,985.44, after a series of positive news was followed by a reassuring statement from the Federal Reserve. The Fed will keep interest rates low and maintain its policy of quantitative easing (QE2), it announced last night. “The economic [...]
Diary January 26, 2011 DAVOS DIVAS Davos this year might have drawn headlines for its first ever quota for female delegates, but there’s one group of women the event has always catered for: the “Davos wives”. Anya Stiglitz, wife of the economist Dr Joseph Stiglitz (pictured together), has this year been spilling the beans in a series of blog [...]
S&P hits highest level for 29 months January 26, 2011 THE S&P 500 closed at a 29-month high yesterday led by gains in tech and commodity shares, as investors largely ignored the US Federal Reserve’s lukewarm economic assessment. The stock market had little reaction to the Fed, which said high unemployment still justifies a $600bn bond-buying programme that has helped equities rally in the last [...]
DOLLAR-YEN COMES OUT OF THE SHADE January 25, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT AFTER DROPPING to a low of ¥80.93 at the end of last year – a move that induced more than a few heart palpitations among policy makers in Tokyo – dollar-yen has steadily climbed higher in January as the American economy has shown clear signs of improvement. Today’s federal open market [...]
Cheslea retain title hopes After Reebok romp January 24, 2011 BOLTON 0 vs CHELSEA 4 CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti believes his side can still retain their Premier League title following last night’s comfortable win over Bolton. A moving tribute to Wanderers’ legend Nat Lofthouse, who passed away 10 days ago, preceded the match, but Chelsea were in far from sympathetic mood as goals from Didier [...]
Revolutionising investment advice January 24, 2011 A REVOLUTION is on the way. In the next 24 months you will hear about the biggest changes in the supply and delivery of financial advice there have probably ever been. It’s known as the Retail Distribution Review, or RDR. In a nutshell the three proposed changes on the way are: 1. Clearer differentiation between [...]
New US house and jobs data points to recovery January 20, 2011 New US data has offered renewed hope for the economy’s two stubborn trouble spots – employment, and the housing market. US home resales jumped more than expected in December despite bad weather as sellers cut prices while jobless claims fell sharply last week, official figures showed. Existing home sales soared 12.3 per cent to an [...]
INVESTORS GIVEN CAUSE TO CHEER January 17, 2011 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT EUROZONE investors had cause to cheer last week as bond auctions in Portugal, Spain and Italy went better than expected. As the auctions approached, their success looked pretty much guaranteed thanks to the efforts of the European Central Bank (ECB), along with promises of support from China and even chronically-indebted Japan. [...]
Chinese torture is holding back the commodities rally January 16, 2011 CHINA was once famous for, among other things, an obscure torture method: reputedly a way to drive suspects insane by slowly dripping water onto their foreheads. Nowadays, however, many commodities traders must feel rather like victims of the technique. The Chinese government has been slowly drip-feeding the commodities markets with hints about monetary tightening. On [...]