US housing results bring down stocks October 20, 2009 US stocks retreated from 12-month highs yesterday as disappointing housing and inflation data prompted investors to book recent gains despite strong results from bellwethers including Apple and Caterpillar. New construction of US homes rose less than expected in September and US producer prices posted an unexpected decline, both pointing to an anemic economic recovery. DuPont [...]
Apple given boost by new iPhone sales October 19, 2009 SURGING iPhone and iMac sales helped technology giant Apple defy the recession in the three months to September, it said last night, leaving high-profile chief executive Steve Jobs “thrilled”. Computer sales were up 17 per cent, and iPhone sales climbed seven per cent, helping profits surge to $1.67bn (£1bn) – or $1.82 per share – [...]
After-bell earnings from Apple impress October 19, 2009 US stocks rose to fresh 12-month highs yesterday as optimistic investors rode a wave of solid quarterly earnings, which continued after the session’s close when Apple’s shares jumped on its results. Earnings from companies, including Gannett, which beat analysts’ expectations, and positive broker commentary on Caterpillar further encouraged investors looking for confirmation the economy is [...]
Another see-saw week ahead in US October 18, 2009 AFTER a week in which we saw US earnings good and not so good stimulate the Dow to both push through the 10,000 level and then close below it, this week could well see the see-saws continue as the corporate results keep on coming. Expect to be swamped with almost half of all the stocks [...]
Microsoft shop set to challenge Apple outlets October 18, 2009 MICROSOFT is set to open its first-ever store in the next few days, as the software maker takes its first step to match rival Apple’s successful venture into retail. Expectations are running high that the store, in an upscale Arizona city, will open this week, to coincide with the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating [...]
The 10,000 mark means it’s time to short the Dow October 18, 2009 EQUITY bulls must have felt rather smug last week when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) broke through 10,000 on the back of bumper profits from investment banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Good results from Google, Intel and IBM also added to the market optimism that has been fuelling the index’s meteoric rise. The third [...]
FSA under fire over its hiring rules October 15, 2009 CRITICISM continued to mount yesterday over plans by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to vet senior appointments in the Square Mile, with one law firm calling it “a considerable expansion of its powers”. Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) said the FSA made the proposals without any consultation. A letter to 5,000 institutions, sent out earlier this [...]
Energy pushes the Dow to 2009 highs October 15, 2009 The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 climbed yesterday to 2009 closing highs, buoyed by energy stocks as oil prices jumped, but financials retreated as investors panned results from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. The Nasdaq eked out a slim gain, but shares of big-cap tech companies, including Apple and Google, dragged. Google lost 1 per [...]
SKY SONGS LAUNCHES October 11, 2009 BSkyB is set to launch Sky Songs, a digital music service it hopes will challenge Apple’s iTunes and Spotify. BSkyB, headed by Jeremy Darroch, (above) said yesterday the service, which will go live on 19 October, offers users unlimited streaming, plus download-to-own tracks and albums from £6.49 a month. Music from all four major music [...]
Hotel Arts October 11, 2009 THIS 44-floor skyscraper hotel was built for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, but wasn’t finished in time. Nevertheless, it soon became a symbol of the city’s early Nineties lifestyle renaissance and remains one of Europe’s largest paeans to avante-garde contemporary luxury, despite being owned by the Ritz Carlton group. It’s all hustle and bustle in [...]