Google’s move in China boosts its popularity March 23, 2010 GOOGLE’S BrandIndex “Buzz” scores have soared this month following the announcement of a major publishing deal with the Italian government and the decision by Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to break the company’s silence over its long-standing dispute with the Chinese Government over censorship. YouGov’s BrandIndex provides a measure of consumer sentiment for different brands. [...]
FOREX FLASH March 23, 2010 RATES FORCE JAPANESE TO LOOK ABROAD Japanese households are choosing to send their savings overseas at the fastest pace since 2007 as they seek out higher yielding assets. With benchmark interest rates only 0.1 per cent in the Asian country, investors are choosing to buy Chinese stocks and Brazilian bonds to gain exposure to high-yielding [...]
FA in lurch as Watmore quits top job March 22, 2010 THE Football Association was thrown into chaos last night after chief executive Ian Watmore resigned less than nine months into the post. The 51-year-old quit just 80 days before England’s World Cup bid amid reports he had become fed up with the on-going power struggle with the Premier League. Watmore only undertook the role last [...]
Banking bulls ought to turn their gaze to Wall Street March 21, 2010 BANKER bashing remains a favourite political pastime – but investors have become a little more upbeat towards the sector, and for good reason. Indeed, a recent global fund mangers survey conducted by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch revealed that banking is no longer the least-liked sector, handing this rather dubious accolade over to utilities. Even the [...]
FedEx ups 2010 forecasts as Asia boosts exports March 18, 2010 PACKAGE delivery giant FedEx raised its outlook and posted sharply higher profit yesterday, but its shares fell as its domestic volume numbers disappointed investors’ hopes for a US economic recovery. Profit for its fiscal third quarter ended 28 February was $239m, or 76 cents per share, up from $97m, or 31 cents per share, a [...]
Placing of shares makes G4S look less secure as markets enjoy a strong day March 17, 2010 SHARES in security services group G4S were the biggest fallers in the leading index for the second day running, even as the market closed near a 21 month high on renewed economic optimism and a spate of takeover news. Hot on the heels of a disappointing 2010 forecast, G4S was hit by news of the [...]
Bernanke: do not rein in Fed March 17, 2010 THE US Federal Reserve should keep its powers to regulate banks of all sizes, chairman Ben Bernanke insisted yesterday. Fighting back against proposals that could see the central bank stripped of most of its supervisory powers, Bernanke argued the Fed’s duties to set interest rates and regulate lenders were closely connected. He told the House [...]
Wall Street rises as Fed holds rates March 16, 2010 THE US Federal Reserve signalled it would hold interest rates close to zero for at least six months yesterday as it gave a mixed outlook on America’s journey out of recession. Wall Street shares rose after the Fed said rates would stay in the 0-0.25 per cent range “for an extended period”, a relief to [...]
Volcker to defend Fed powers March 16, 2010 Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker will tell a congressional hearing today the central bank should not be stripped of its powers to supervise banks. According to Bloomberg News, Volcker will argue: “Monetary policy and concerns about the structure and condition of banks and the financial system more generally are inextricably intertwined.” Volcker joins current chairman [...]
Capitalise on bear squeezes to short cable March 16, 2010 IT DOESN’T take a lot to move the pound nowadays. Whether it’s weak data, a policymaker speaking or a ratings agency firing another warning shot over 10 Downing Street – and there have been plenty of all three over recent weeks – sterling is only responding in one way at the moment: down. Against the [...]