Price of everything going up too fast January 19, 2010 BRITAIN has a credibility problem – and no, I’m not only talking about the government’s hypocritical and self-serving protectionist rhetoric on Cadbury. Yesterday’s inflation figures were even more damaging. The consumer price index (CPI) rate jumped to 2.9 per cent from 1.9 per cent in November; when the Vat hikes kick in, inflation is bound [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
RISING YIELDS TO UPSET THE RECOVERY December 14, 2009 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT JUST over a week ago we had a non-farm payroll number which blew away all analysts’ expectations. The reaction in the financial markets was sharp, with the dollar, bond yields and equities all shooting higher. While this was a rational response to good numbers, it wasn’t the reaction we [...]
WAR ON BANKS AFTER BONUS ROW EXPLODES December 3, 2009 POLITICIANS rounded on bankers yesterday amid fears a windfall tax on bank profits is on the cards for the pre-budget report next week. The concerns came as a report from the National Audit Office (NAO), released today, revealed for the first time that the government has spent £117bn bailing out the banks. Lord Myners, the [...]
SAVINGS GIANTS IN MEGA-MERGER December 1, 2009 YORKSHIRE Building Society is in advanced merger talks with beleaguered competitor Chelsea, in a deal experts said could fuel further consolidation in the sector. A tie-up, yet to be approved by the FSA, would create a major force in the building society arena. With £38bn assets and 2.7m members it would be second only to [...]
Technology firms drive USsell-off November 19, 2009 Technology stocks drove a broad-based US sell-off yesterday as a brokerage took a dim view of demand prospects for the semiconductor sector, while economic data underscored the fragility of the recovery. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch cut its 2010 growth outlook for the semiconductor industry on concerns about a rising inventory glut. It downgraded 10 stocks, [...]
Rise in inflation proves that QE must stop November 17, 2009 IT is wrong to argue that inflationary pressures are about to return, as many commentators said yesterday after the release of figures showing higher than expected consumer price rises. The reality is that inflationary pressures have always been with us – in past years, inflation took place in asset prices, while consumer prices rose at [...]
Amount of repossessions is set to go up November 12, 2009 FEWER homes will be repossessed this year than previously forecast, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday, but the body expects 2010 to see more repossessions. The CML lowered its forecast for the second time this year and now anticipates that 48,000 homes will be repossessed in 2009, just 8,000 more than in 2008. [...]