ONLY A WEAK YEN POINTS TO REAL GROWTH August 2, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR,FOREX.COM President Obama last week claimed that the US may be seeing the “beginning of the end” of the recession and his words coincided with subtle improvements in the tone of some central banks, whose rhetoric provides a useful gauge as to how the world is moving on in the wake of the [...]
THE TIPSTER RESULTS ARE STILL THE MAIN DRIVER August 2, 2009 THIS week the focus will be clearly on the British banks, which will be releasing their second quarter earnings. While traders will be looking at the performance of the whole sector, spread betters should be particularly watching Lloyds Banking Group, which reports on Wednesday. Recently, there have been several bullish broker notes and the shares [...]
Newfound appetite for stocks does not mean a bull rally August 2, 2009 INVESTORS are regaining their appetite for equities in the wake of generally positive second quarter earnings results, according to a fund managers’ survey conducted last week by financial information company Thomson Reuters. As a percentage of a typical balanced portfolio, equities were at their highest since the end of August last year, just a couple [...]
US enjoys positive company reports July 30, 2009 US STOCKS rose yesterday as solid corporate profit reports and a drop in the number of Americans on jobless benefits gave investors reasons to buy equities following the S&P 500’s two days of losses. The market’s rally pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index earlier in the session to its highest intraday level in almost nine [...]
BP boosts FTSE as miners, telecoms and banks surge July 30, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index ended close to a seven-month high yesterday, as better-than-expected earnings from the likes of BT boosted sentiment, lifting miners, banks and telecoms firms. The FTSE 100 closed up 1.9 per cent, or 84.08 points at 4,631.61 points, the highest level since January 6. The index is up 9 per cent so [...]
FTSE 100 hangs in there as investors regain confidence July 29, 2009 THE FTSE 100 rose yesterday as gains from financial stocks, boosted by strong numbers from the UK arm of Spain’s Banco Santander, and positive broker comment, outweighed a weak mining sector. The index closed 18.69 points, or 0.4 per cent, higher at 4,547.53, after ending 1.3 per cent lower on Tuesday when it failed to [...]
China’s banks weigh heavily on Wall St July 29, 2009 US STOCKS fell yesterday as investors worried that China’s banks could hit the brakes on lending to stem market excesses, a move that could curb the global economic recovery. Concerns about China hurt commodity prices and hit shares in the energy and raw materials sectors, while a steep drop in US durable goods orders in [...]
The subtle art of effective networking July 29, 2009 SINCE the Eighties heyday of power lunches and bulging Filofaxes, networking – the mysterious art of forming relationships with strangers for somewhat mercenary purposes – has been central to City life. To some it’s a necessary evil, to others it’s exciting – but in a recession-affected job market, it can be the difference between progressing [...]
Falls in mining and energy halt FTSE’s winning streak July 28, 2009 THE FTSE 100’s two-week winning streak finally came to an end yesterday, with the benchmark index closing 1.3 per cent down on the day. The blue chip index had looked set to put in another consecutive day’s gain in earlier trading, but profit taking in mining and energy stocks dragged it lower. The FTSE 100 [...]
Slowly but surely, signs that the law is opening up July 28, 2009 IQUALIFIED – against all odds – to become a lawyer,” recalled Constance Briscoe, barrister, part-time judge and author of the bestselling misery memoir Ugly. She was talking on Radio 4’s PM programme last week following the report by an all-party panel chaired by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn on social mobility and the professions. “I’ve [...]