Goldman sees profits plunge July 20, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs was yesterday accused of massaging its figures downwards to ease political pressure as it reported an 83 per cent collapse in second quarter net income. In what one observer described as a “well-orchestrated earnings announcement”, Goldman said net income for the three months to June came in at $453m (£297m), or 78 cents [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD INTEREST RATES RISE? July 15, 2010 JAQUES VANZYL ALLIED WORLD ASSURANCE “At the moment I’m happy with the current rate. I have a flexible rate on my mortgage so my payments are very low. On the other hand, we also have savings and they have taken a hit, so it’s a bit of a conundrum. I’m looking for a fixed rate [...]
Our nation of shoppers is not about to quit the habit yet July 14, 2010 SINCE the onset of the recession, the pressure has increased to turn the UK economy into a manufacturing centre of excellence and at the same time become a nation of savers. But has the nation really turned its back on its former favourite pastime, shopping? Well, the hard data would suggest no. According to the [...]
House prices tumble 0.6pc in June to mark third consecutive fall, says Halifax July 8, 2010 HOUSE prices in the UK unexpectedly fell by 0.6 per cent in June for the third month in a row, trimming the annual rise in property prices to 8.7 per cent last month. The Halifax data comes just days after rival mortgage provider Nationwide reported that the rise in house prices slowed to just 0.1 [...]
Property prices drop in June July 8, 2010 HOUSE prices in Britain dropped 0.6 per cent in June, the third successive monthly fall, a survey from mortgage lender Halifax has shown. Halifax said the decline was a continuation of a trend since the start of this year and was in line with its view that house prices would be broadly flat over 2010 [...]
LABOUR DATA IS A WORRY FOR THE US July 5, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT FOR many investors the long weekend in the US couldn’t have come at a better time. On top of Europe’s sovereign debt problems, and signs that Chinese growth is slowing, recent data from the US suggests that the much-hyped economic recovery may be reversing. We have seen housing data sour following [...]
The real causes of the crisis of 2008 July 1, 2010 FOR all the latest furore surrounding bankers’ bonuses and the rest, we have yet again lost sight of how the crisis actually began, and politicians and regulators’ central role in promoting it. There were many factors, of course, with private institutions often behaving foolishly – but sub-prime lending, the crisis’ central catalyst, was promoted by [...]
Risk aversion will undermine euro June 29, 2010 DEMAND for risky assets has been undermined this week by concerns about both the strength of the US recovery and that Chinese growth may not be as rapid as had previously been thought. The euro has also started to wobble again, destabilised by a resurgence in fears about Europe’s banking sector. These worries about the [...]
Stan Chart in line for $6bn June 28, 2010 STANDARD Chartered stayed on track to deliver around $6bn (£4bn) in full-year pre-tax profits yesterday as it said its consumer and wholesale divisions traded strongly in the first half. The London-listed bank, which focuses on Asia, said improving economic conditions and client confidence meant income and profits ran at record levels for the five months [...]
Taylor Wimpey sees house sales rebound June 28, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey said sales have recovered after a lull around the time of the general election but political uncertainty is leading to caution in the sector. The UK’s third-largest volume housebuilder said private sales rate for the year to date are broadly flat year-on-year at 0.58 sales per site per week, while its order [...]