Robust economic data buoys Wall St November 2, 2009 US STOCKS rose yesterday after another round of solid economic reports, but pulled off session highs after a Fed official’s warning about banks’ loan losses. The three major indexes had previously risen about 1 per cent earlier in the session as stronger-than-expected data on manufacturing and pending home sales spurred a broad-based advance and soothed [...]
Fed wants early pay curbs November 2, 2009 THE FEDERAL RESERVE got tough with US banks over pay yesterday, telling them to curb bonuses this year, even though stricter rules do not come into force until 2010. In half-hour meetings at regional offices held across the country, the Fed told bank bosses it expected them to follow the broad principles of the new [...]
Fed should lose bailout powers October 29, 2009 The Federal Reserve should lose its authority to bail out financial firms under proposed reforms aimed at limiting the damage from failures, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. “Any firm that puts itself in a position where it cannot survive without assistance from the government must face the consequences of failure,” Geithner said. The Fed [...]
Fed to police pay policies at 28 firms October 22, 2009 The Federal Reserve yesterday outlined plans to police 28 US banks’ pay policies to ensure that they do not encourage reckless decisions. The attack on Wall Street compensation is expected to apply to any employee able to take risks that could imperil an institution, not just those top staff whose large bonuses have been the [...]
NEW YORK REPORT October 22, 2009 US stocks rose yesterday after quarterly results from insurer Travelers and regional bank PNC Financial gave a boost to financial stocks. Financials were among the top gainers after insurer Travelers posted gains after it raised its full-year outlook and regional bank PNC Financial Services Group shares jumped 12.7 per cent to $50.65 on far better-than-expected [...]
Ericsson sees profits dive as crisis hits October 22, 2009 SWEDISH telecoms equipment giant Ericsson yesterday blamed the global downturn for a 71.5 per cent plunge in third-quarter profits. The firm had hitherto proved resilient to the global financial crisis, managing to maintain profits and sales, but the reality finally caught up with it as capital spending cuts by operators fed through. Ericsson’s sales fell [...]
DOLLAR BEAR MARKET NOT DOLLAR CRISIS October 21, 2009 GEORGE TCHETVERTAKOVHEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH, ALPARI UK ONE of the biggest casualties of the financial crisis was trust in banks and financial institutions, sparking a collapse of confidence in the markets and precipitate falls across all asset classes from equities to commodities. The greenback was in extremely high demand throughout 2008 as panicking investors looked [...]
Federal Reserve’s Beige Book reports small improvements October 21, 2009 US economic conditions stabilised or improved modestly in most parts of the country, according to a Federal Reserve report yesterday that suggested the economy was slowly clawing out of a recession. In its “Beige Book” of anecdotal reports on the economy, which was based on information collected before 13 October, the central bank noted improvement [...]
Gap is widening between best and worst brands October 20, 2009 THINGS have picked up on the high street over the last month, but it’s not a case of a rising tide lifting all boats: the recession seems to have made the customer more discerning. Of the 25 high street retailers which BrandIndex measures daily, we’ve taken three of our top-ranked, and compared them with three [...]
HAWKISH FED IS BEST HOPE FOR DOLLAR October 20, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT THIS Monday, during CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in the US, I remarked that these days it is easier to find a poor Goldman Sachs banker than to meet a dollar bull on Wall Street. But when everyone is so bearish on the currency and the trade becomes tremendously crowded, we [...]