Banks are in the dock as litigation lawyers look for soft City targets November 9, 2009 LAUNCHING a lawsuit against a major bank has never been easy. As anyone who has been involved in heavyweight litigation knows, the process of bringing a claim of any kind is expensive, hazardous and distracting. Regardless of the merits, no bank is likely to roll over very easily when faced with legal action. In order [...]
DON’T TRUST YOUR FIRST INSTINCTS November 9, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT IN HIS latest book, Errornomics, journalist Joseph Hallinan has written about why we make errors and how we can stop them. When we take exams, he says, the perceived wisdom is to go with your first answer. Yet research from the past 80 years suggests the opposite – we should [...]
THE NEW YORK REPORT November 9, 2009 A broad US stocks rally sent the Dow industrials to a 13-month high last night, after the Group of 20 pledged to keep aid flowing to the world economy, strengthening investors’ desire for risk. The agreement by G20 finance ministers and central bankers over the weekend to keep stimulus in place boosted global stocks on [...]
Prem goal fest means punters who buy goals keep winning November 8, 2009 A FEW weeks ago, there was a story kicking about that the high street bookies were suffering because of the low number of draws that we have seen in the premier league so far this season. The high number of goals meant that there were fewer nils-nils and one-alls, and far more edge-of-the-seat, high-scoring thrillers. [...]
Christmas will be make or break for our retailers November 8, 2009 WHEN the Christmas lights on Regent Street were switched on last week, it marked the beginning of the most important period of the year for high-street retailers. Many can earn 60 per cent of their annual profits in the peak weeks of Christmas. After a dismal end to 2008 when it seemed like retail chains [...]
Saying “aloha” to the City’s coolest new watering hole November 8, 2009 YOU don’t have to be a millionaire to come here,” says Nick House, before a backdrop of Hawaiian masks, carved screens, coconuts and bamboo chairs. Then he laughs and jokes: “But it helps.” With his business partner Piers Adam, House is one of the biggest names on the London clubbing scene. One of the pair’s [...]
Stocks looking higher for now but resources the key November 8, 2009 UK and European stock markets are set to open higher this morning, following on from Friday’s bounce-back from the initial sell-off which followed the all-important US employment data. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 24 points from Friday’s close of 5,142. The German DAX is also called higher, up 25 points [...]
THE TIPSTER GOOD RESULTS BUT OUTLOOK QUESTIONED November 8, 2009 WE ARE still in earnings season and mobile telecoms giant Vodafone is due to report its interim results tomorrow. Last week’s comments by Cisco that technology spending is on the up may be the sort of signal to encourage further support for the company, but with competitor Orange launching their UK iPhone sales on the [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY November 8, 2009 Monday 2 NovemberGermany:September imports and exports (7am)September trade balance (7am)September industrial production (11am) Tuesday 3 NovemberUK:October RICS house pricebalance (12am)BRC October retail sales (12am)September trade balance (9.30am)September DCLG UK houseprices (9.30am) US:Fed’s Lockhart speaks on US economic outlook (2.15pm) Germany: November ZEW survey on economic sentiment and [...]
TURNAROUND IN GREENBACK SOME WAY OFF November 8, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMTHERE has been a lot written in the last few days about the potential for a period of consolidation in the prices of many asset classes over the next three months. The earnings performance of many US companies in the third quarter didn’t quite meet forecasts, while consumers remain under pressure from [...]
