UK Plc has much to learn from Tesco January 12, 2010 NAPOLEON Bonaparte was right: Britain is a nation of shopkeepers. Tesco’s great figures yesterday confirm that the retailer remains one of the UK’s few truly world-class corporate giants. Group sales increased by 7.5 per cent at constant exchange rates and like-for-like UK sales (ex-fuel and adjusted for Vat) were up by 4.9 per cent in [...]
Go against the grain and take a punt on the buck January 12, 2010 INVESTORS have found plenty of reasons to sell the dollar in recent months, including a terrible fiscal outlook in the US and a central bank that remains wedded to stimulus measures and low interest rates. Added to that list this week was a weak start to the US earnings season after aluminium producer Alcoa reported [...]
CHINA BUBBLE IS A RISK FOR YEN SHORTS January 12, 2010 BORIS SCHLOSSBERG DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT ASK FX strategists what their favourite trade for 2010 is and the chances are most will say long dollar-yen. The conventional wisdom in the forex market – despite last Friday’s disappointing US jobs data – is that US short-term rates will inch higher. Their choice of trade is [...]
Fed hints at low interest rates as the world faces a sluggish recovery January 11, 2010 THE US Federal Reserve said its huge liquidity injections were not an inflationary concern yesterday and hinted interest rates would not rise quickly. James Bullard, a senior official, said the Fed would orchestrate monetary policy by adjusting its extensive security purchases rather than raising rates. Playing down December unemployment data which showed joblessness staying steady [...]
Dow edges up as China data cheers January 11, 2010 US industrial shares lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 yesterday to new 15-month highs after China bolstered expectations the world economy would strengthen, but the Nasdaq fell on profit-taking in tech stocks. China reported record imports of some commodities and stronger-than-expected exports, boosting US companies with large international operations, like construction machinery maker Caterpillar [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 7, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SPAIN AIMS TO BRING EU STATES INTO LINE The European Union should apply “corrective measures” against member states that fail to meet their obligations under a new 10-year plan to improve the bloc’s competitiveness, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain’s premier, said. In a proposal likely to stir controversy among other EU governments, Mr [...]
Stocks edge up but Fed urges caution January 7, 2010 THE DOW and S&P 500 inched higher, while the Nasdaq dipped yesterday after Federal Reserve officials said they were still worried about labour market weakness and a report on the services sector showed only slight improvement in the economy. Cautious minutes from the Fed’s last meeting, as well as the ISM services report, which showed [...]
Fed cautious over housing January 7, 2010 SOME Federal Reserve officials worried last month that waning government support could snuff out a fragile housing market recovery and a few believed it might be desirable to step up asset purchases. Labour market weakness remained an important concern for Fed officials, the minutes released last night showed, with officials saying they expect unemployment to [...]
Stocks edge up but Fed urges caution January 6, 2010 THE DOW and S&P 500 inched higher, while the Nasdaq dipped yesterday after Federal Reserve officials said they were still worried about labour market weakness and a report on the services sector showed only slight improvement in the economy. Cautious minutes from the Fed’s last meeting, as well as the ISM services report, which showed [...]
Fed cautious over housing January 6, 2010 SOME Federal Reserve officials worried last month that waning government support could snuff out a fragile housing market recovery and a few believed it might be desirable to step up asset purchases. Labour market weakness remained an important concern for Fed officials, the minutes released last night showed, with officials saying they expect unemployment to [...]