Making decisions in the real world February 23, 2011 IN a letter to the English chemist Joseph Priestley, the 18th-century American polymath Benjamin Franklin set out a rule for making decisions: “Divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns, writing over the one Pro and over the other Con. I put down under the different headings short lists of the [...]
THESE THINGS I KNOW | TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN THE CITY February 23, 2011 Keep control over your career rather than allowing yourself to be railroaded by events or other people’s opinions and perceptions. Too often, we simply react to opportunities that happen to come our way. Being clear about what you want is the first step to making sure you achieve it. Once you know what you are [...]
FTSE falls below 6,000 level as Middle East woes weigh February 22, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday as troubles in the Middle East clouded sentiment, but bumper consumer confidence figures from the US spurred a late rally and boosted commodity stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 18.04 points or 0.3 per cent lower at 5,996.76, having finished at a two-week closing low on Monday. “The [...]
Worst Wall Street drop since August February 22, 2011 WALL Street suffered its worst day since August yesterday as investors dumped stocks on turmoil in oil exporter Libya, in what could be the start of a long-anticipated pullback after a lengthy rally. Rising volatility and heavy volume added heft to the possibility of a larger pullback. With 9.76bn shares traded on the New York [...]
Speculators seek out sanctuary from shock February 22, 2011 SHOCKS, both in the political and seismic sense, have driven flight into the US dollar and the Swiss franc as investors shy from risk. Headlines in recent weeks have been dominated by political unrest in north Africa and the Middle East, but Libya’s turmoil is the first time that a major oil producing country has [...]
CABLE BULLS WILL HOPE FOR THREE HAWKS February 22, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT TWO or three? That’s the critical question that currency traders will be asking today upon the release of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) minutes due at 9:30am. Last week, the market was abuzz with speculation that Charles Bean may have been the third MPC member to join the two Bank [...]
The attack of the ECB hawks: how uncertainty has changed tactics February 22, 2011 HAWKISHNESS is not new at the European Central Bank (ECB), but this week its most notorious birds of prey have been flapping their beaks. This has got foreign exchange traders rather excited, and stabilised the euro against the dollar at a time when the upheaval in the Middle East should have had them flooding in [...]
THE TIPSTER MERSCH GIVES EURO SUPPORT February 22, 2011 THE euro was dropping steadily against the dollar yesterday morning, tumbling some 150 basis points before stabilising around $1.3530. Then, a statement released across the wires stated European Central Bank (ECB) member Yves Mersch said the ECB may toughen inflation language next week, and may warn of upside inflation risks. This hawkish tone sent euro-dollar [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS February 22, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Buy dollar-Canadian dollar Ca$0.9800 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 to 6 weeks Daily studies are starting to look a little stretched, and in conjunction with longer-term cyclical studies, warn of a major base. This leaves us looking for opportunities to buy rather than sell into [...]
Changes to insurance regime could mean a PII revolution February 22, 2011 SOLICITORS are dealing with a number of challenges that threaten the futures of many within the legal profession. The recession has affected everyone and solicitors are no exception. Corporate lawyers aren’t seeing the deals that used to see them working into the early hours of the morning and the property lawyers have seen their conveyancing [...]