Stock markets are wrong about QE2 November 5, 2010 YESTERDAY’S stock market rebound is the proof that investors don’t always get it right – or at least, that they still love to get drunk on the prospect of cheap money. Stock markets in the US and UK jumped, taking equities back to the time when Lehman Brothers was just another big investment bank. One [...]
GDP surprise keeps MPC on hold for now November 4, 2010 THE Bank of England yesterday voted to hold fire on further quantitative easing (QE) and kept interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent, in a move that was widely expected following the strong GDP data released last week. Prior to the publication of third-quarter GDP, which showed the economy growing at twice the rate [...]
Broughton lying low at chelsea matches November 4, 2010 MARTIN Broughton, the Liverpool FC chairman who brokered the deal to sell the troubled club to the owners of the Boston Red Sox last month, was back where he feels most comfortable this week. Broughton was spotted walking out of Stamford Bridge after watching his beloved Chelsea beat Spartak Moscow. But Broughton, who will ease [...]
FTSE rockets to pre-crisis level as investors bet on US recovery November 4, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares closed at their highest in nearly 29 months yesterday as investors responded bullishly to the US Federal Reserve’s decision to pump more cheap money into the economy to boost flagging growth. Financial stocks, led by Man Group and mining and energy shares such as BHP Billiton and BP, surged higher as riskier [...]
Dow rockets after Fed stimulus boost November 4, 2010 US stocks extended a rally that started in September to close at two-year highs yesterday, a day after the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan to boost the economy. A bullish read on consumers also boosted shares as many retailers posted stronger-than-expected sales for October. The S&P retail index gained 1.7 per cent and apparel maker [...]
Fears over consumer climate send retailers and FTSE down November 3, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday, with retailers weak as Next posted falling sales, while banks gained ground after Lloyds Banking Group poached Santander UK’s head as its new CEO. Investors were reluctant to take big positions ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on further monetary policy easing later yesterday. Markets are pricing in [...]
Wall St ticks up as Fed provides relief November 3, 2010 US stocks ended a volatile session modestly higher yesterday after the Federal Reserve detailed a plan to breathe new life into the struggling economy. Both the Dow and Nasdaq closed at levels not seen since 2008 while the S&P ended at a six-month high. The gains were preceded by an erratic session in which equities [...]
Fed stakes all on $600bn QE2 November 3, 2010 THE Federal Reserve is to pump $600bn (£372.6bn) of fresh funds into the US economy in a last-ditch attempt to revive the slowing economy and hasten the pace of recovery in unemployment. In its second-round of quantitative easing, dubbed QE2, which comes just two years after the central bank first tried to kick-start the economy, [...]
Federal Reserve’s hubris will cost all of us dearly November 3, 2010 IT may have been slightly more than the markets were expecting – but nobody will have been shocked by the Federal Reserve’s decision to embark on another $600bn worth of quantitative easing (QE2). That doesn’t make the decision any less wrong or short-termist; the problem is that the Fed and the bulk of the US [...]
…as Fed steps in again November 3, 2010 Q.WHAT IS QE2? A. It is the Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing after its initial asset purchasing programme of $1.7 trillion started during 2009 and finished in March this year. This time, the Fed has announced a smaller programme: it plans to buy up $75bn’s worth of assets each month until June next [...]