WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 26, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BP PROPOSES FOURTH PIPELINE ROUTE TO BRING AZERBAIJAN GAS TO EUROPE BP is planning a pipeline stretching 1,300 km across three countries to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe. The scheme is a new entrant in the highly charged competition to construct a supply route to the Caspian basin and reduce Europe’s dependence [...]
US new home sales fall to six-month low September 26, 2011 New single-family home sales in the US fell to a six-month low in August in a sign the crippled housing market will not provide much support for the flagging economy any time soon. The US Commerce Department said sales slipped 2.3 per cent to a seasonally adjusted 295,000-unit annual rate. The reading was in line [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL CONFIDENCE BOUNCE BACK SOON? September 25, 2011 SAMUEL TOMBS | CAPITAL ECON “No – conditions may be deteriorating further. We expect figures from surveys like the CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey, which comes out in the UK tomorrow, to maintain the gloomy tone. And while August’s household borrowing figures, released this Thursday, may reveal a rise in mortgage approvals, we predict a fall [...]
How Washington created sub-prime September 4, 2011 AMERICANS love lawsuits. It’s the way they do business. But the news that the authorities supervising the US housing agencies are suing 17 banks over the sub-prime crisis was unintentionally hilarious. To see why, recall that the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac) – government sponsored [...]
Pathetic markets want Bernanke to save them August 22, 2011 IT was heady stuff. The price of gold smashed through the $1,900 level in after-hours trading last night, as investors worried about instability and inflation piled into the precious metal. It was not just gold: equities also rose yesterday. Libya helped, of course, but there was one much more powerful reason why stock markets gained ground: [...]
Ireland eyes mortgage debt restructuring August 22, 2011 The Irish government is likely bring in legislation to restructure mortgage debts for thousands of troubled loanholders as it does not have the resources to fund a significant debt forgiveness programme, a junior minister has said. Ireland’s ruling coalition has promised to examine ways to ease the burden on mortgage holders struggling to cope with [...]
Gloomy American data fuels recovery doubts August 18, 2011 SHOCKINGLY negative economic data rattled markets in New York yesterday, adding to an ultra-bearish day for equities. Claims for US unemployment benefits rose; home sales dropped; inflation picked up; and a Philadelphia factory index collapsed to worse than a two year low. The gauge of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region fell off a cliff, [...]
US announces probe into S&P August 18, 2011 THE US department of justice is investigating the ratings that Standard & Poor’s gave to dozens of mortgages in the run up to the financial crisis, amid concerns pressure was put on analysts to hike the ratings. Though the investigation is said to have been underway since before the rating agency downgraded US debt from [...]
BofA hit by AIG’s $10bn legal action August 8, 2011 BANK of America shares fell to their lowest level since April 2009 over fears of the slowing US economy and challenges to a multi-billion dollar mortgage settlement. Although most bank shares were knocked by the market turmoil, Bank of America’s shares were worst hit after insurer American International Group (AIG) said it would sue the [...]
Taking a gamble on your child’s character July 27, 2011 FOR those looking to save for their children, the slow drip-feed of information on the new Junior Isa (Jisa) has been frustrating. With yesterday’s update, we are a step closer to getting the final details – although questions remain, particularly in how child trust funds (CTF) will fit in with the new regime. But one [...]