Weak dollar helps stocks on WallSt September 9, 2009 US STOCKS closed higher for a fourth straight day yesterday, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its best finish so far this year as industrial and technology companies gained from a weak dollar. The dollar’s fall to a 2009 low helped to make US products more competitive overseas. Earth-moving equipment maker Caterpillar, rose [...]
Tax lawyers defend off-shore regimes September 8, 2009 IFEAR you will have no choice but to consider new taxes, perhaps payroll and property taxes such as in the British Virgin Islands,” wrote Chris Bryant, the junior foreign office minister, to the Cayman Islands government this month. It was a withering response to a request made by the British overseas territory to Westminster for [...]
CURRENCIES ARE NOW AT CRITICAL CROSSROADS September 8, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT AS THE trading world returns from the holidays, capital markets find themselves at a critical juncture. The key question facing participants in the currency and equity markets is whether the economic recovery will continue into the year-end. Traders want to know if this is a sucker rally or just [...]
CITY CAN BE THE CRUNCH CASE CAPITAL September 8, 2009 ANTHONY MATONPARTNER AT HAUSFELD & CO LLP SINCE the credit crunch started in the US in 2007, the subsequent banking crisis has spread across the globe. The UK’s legal profession may have suffered as a consequence, but we have also been presented with a golden opportunity to position London as the international venue of choice [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 8, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index rose for a third straight session yesterday, buoyed by the return of M&A activity and supported by hawkish economic data and with heavyweight mining. Energy stocks lead the gainers. The FTSE 100 closed 14.16 points higher, or 0.3 per cent, at 4,947.34, hitting a fresh highest closing level in 11 months. [...]
NEW YORK REPORT September 8, 2009 US stocks advanced yesterday on an uptick in corporate deal activity while the weak dollar led to gains in commodities, lifting shares of oil and mining companies. Although Kraft’s stock fell nearly 6 per cent, other food companies rose, including Hershey, which added 1.3 per cent to $39.14. The dollar fell to its lowest this [...]
Forward forex markets are bearish for the dollar’s status September 8, 2009 A QUICK glance at the usually lively currency markets would suggest that not a whole lot is going on in foreign exchange. Major currency pairs are stuck in tight trading ranges – the euro-dollar, for example, has been stuck in the $1.33-$1.44 trading range since June. It would be tempting to say that traders ought [...]
Swissie will not replace yen for carry traders September 8, 2009 COMPARED to the sharp and unexpected moves that they have previously seen, spot currency markets have been exceptionally dull of late and many major currency pairs remain range-bound with little sign of any breakout move. Unable to rely on big daily moves in currency pairs for their profits, forex traders have returned to the popular [...]
Take a view on future interest rate rises with short sterling contracts September 7, 2009 WHILE THE Bank of England’s monetary policy decision on Thursday is almost certainly a done deal – everybody expects a hold – and is not expected to shock the market, there is no doubt that everybody in the City will be watching the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) accompanying statement for indications of a more upbeat [...]
How to profit by turning the FTSE changes on their heads September 7, 2009 TOMORROW evening after the market close the FTSE 100 will undergo its quarterly reshuffle, which sees the UK’s leading blue-chip index updated to reflect fully the changing market capitalisation and liquidity of Britain’s listed companies. While the process is deliberately as transparent as possible and well publicised in advance in order to minimise any dramatic [...]