Greece is not the only Eurozone trouble spot April 18, 2010 FOR ONCE Goldman Sachs has done the Greeks a favour. It’s probably not the favour that the bank was hoping to deliver but the SEC’s decision to charge the Wall Street giant with fraud has taken the spotlight off Athens. Sadly, this refocusing of the news cycle is unlikely to last long enough to provide [...]
Fed to stick to low rates April 15, 2010 A top Federal Reserve official said yesterday he doesn’t believe it’s time yet to soften a Fed promise to hold benchmark borrowing costs exceptionally low for an extended period. “I’m comfortable with interest rates where they are now,” Richmond Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker said at a Fed symposium on credit markets.
Transport shares boost Wall Street April 15, 2010 US stocks posted their sixth straight day of gains yesterday as an encouraging profit forecast from United Parcel Service (UPS) lifted transportation shares, though concerns about a rise in weekly jobless claims limited the market’s advance. Financial stocks weighed on the S&P 500 as they gave back some gains after Wednesday’s strong rally. UPS posted [...]
Find beauty on the Welsh coast April 15, 2010 SECOND home hunters with a bit of cash have tended to gravitate towards destinations such as the Cotswolds and Cornwall. Great minds think alike and because of this, those areas have become over-crowded and pricey to boot. So perhaps it’s time to think outside the box, and there are few places better – or more [...]
Bernanke bullish on upturn April 14, 2010 THE US economy will continue to recover at a moderate pace in coming quarters, bolstered by a return of business and consumer spending, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. According to the Fed’s beige book, the majority of US districts saw a rise in retail, mining and energy, and manufacturing activity levels. The housing [...]
Fed vindicates Goldman over Greek trades April 14, 2010 A FEDERAL Reserve investigation into contracts between Goldman Sachs and the Greek government ended yesterday without any action being taken. The probe, launched by the Fed, alleged that the contracts distorted the country’s debt levels. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress yesterday the investment banking giant did sell Greece products that lowered its debt-to-GDP ratio [...]
Greece tests bond waters as euro rises April 12, 2010 GREECE will dip its toe back into the European bond market today when it tries to raise €1.2bn (£1.1bn), days after politicians moved to calm investors’ nerves with details of a €30bn funding package on standby. Analysts expect the relatively small issue to get away smoothly following the announcement by eurozone ministers and the International [...]
What the Sound of Music tells us about bubbles April 11, 2010 NOW stay with me on this one – sometimes, insights into the financial markets come from unlikely sources. In my case, I was reminded of the dilemmas now facing policymakers while enjoying a yodel down memory lane, watching The Sound of Music. It was when I reached one particular verse that it came to me: “How [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD April 11, 2010 AFTER a slew of central bank monetary policy decisions last week, this week is dominated by consumer-focused data. In the UK, we’ll get the British Retail Consortium’s March figures and the RICS’ house price balance for last month at midnight tomorrow. Thursday at midnight sees the release of the March Nationwide consumer confidence survey. It [...]
TNT considers mail unit IPO April 8, 2010 DUTCH post and logistics company TNT is considering a listing or partnerships for its mail unit, as investors grow concerned over poor performance. Increased competition due to European mail liberalisation and a rise in electronic communications have seen TNT struggle with volumes and costs at its mail unit. TNT’s management has already held strategy talks [...]