THE TIPSTER
THERE was no end to the chaos and disorder in the markets last week as tape bombs from Europe continued to cream most traders’ positions. Crude oil traders seem to have lost their seemingly insatiable appetite to push prices above $100, as they slid back to $98 towards the end of the week – possibly setting up a return towards $95 in the coming weeks. This should make drivers of little red corvettes a bit happier when going out to party like it’s 1999 over Christmas. Spread Co offers a spread on January Crude of $98.27-$98.31.
It’s a sign of the times that Premier Inn, part of the Whitbread group, is outperforming its more costly rivals, but with Whitbread only releasing its market update in September, will traders get off with a shift in the share price after the results? IG Index offers a spread on Whitbread of 1,597.5p-1,600.6p.
Retailers may be struggling in general, but the exception here seems to be in the luxury end of the market. Tiffany & Co, the purveyor of diamonds and pearls is one such example – they’re branching out into eastern Europe with a store planned for Prague. Asian tourists are driving demand too and just a couple of weeks ago, final year 2011 earnings per share guidance was hiked as well. That said, traditional markets – western Europe and the eastern US – continue to present challenges, so evolving the business is likely to remain key. IG Index quotes Tiffany at $66.89-$66.97.
Biggest is not always best and Tesco seems to be finding this out the hard way. While the retailer has been making significant in-roads with its international expansion, with UK shoppers not thinking “let’s go crazy”, sales have been declining for four consecutive quarters. Although it is way too early to write off the supermarket giant, especially with super investor Warren Buffett waiting in the wings to potentially buy more stock, any further deterioration in consumer spending is likely to impact directly on the share price. ETX Capital quotes 397p-398p for Tesco.