Private equity eyes up City law firms September 1, 2009 THE BELEAGUERED legal profession, says Jeremy Hand, managing partner of private equity firm Lyceum Capital, is facing “a fire-storm whipped up by the recession, smarter customers, technology, outsourcing and legislation”. If that wasn’t trouble enough, it’s also being forcibly opened up to competition that could arise from the so-called Tesco Law – the shorthand for [...]
Aussie looking vulnerable as investors fear Chinese bubble September 1, 2009 SINCE equity markets began to rally in March, traders have been riding the wave of the strong Australian dollar. Since then, going long on the currency has been a no-brainer for foreign exchange traders across the world. Those who entered positions back then will have benefited from the 39 per cent rise in Australian dollar [...]
WORLD FEARS NEW CHINESE TIGHTENING September 1, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT ALTHOUGH this week’s global calendar is packed with key economic data, the most important event for the currency markets may take place when the G20 meets in Pittsburgh to discuss its agenda. As I have written in this column before, China remains the key to the recovery trade as [...]
Get ready to profit from an autumnal pullback in indices August 31, 2009 OPTIMISM has been returning to the markets recently, but it would be foolhardy to believe that the worst is over. Last week, David Buik at BGC Partners pointed out that after the initial crash in 1929, the markets staged a powerful rally that retraced 60 per cent of these losses. Since the 6 March 2009 [...]
THE TIPSTER GERMAN DAX TIPPED FOR A FALLBACK August 31, 2009 GERMANY’S manufacturing sector might have been hit by the global recession but that didn’t stop Western Europe’s largest economy posting a modest expansion in the second quarter. However, analysts remain wary of calling an end to the recession and warn that there could be a pullback in the autumn. There are now signs that the [...]
TOO EARLY TO CALL THE IMPACT OF JAPAN’S ELECTION August 31, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT CHANGE is in the air in Japan. For more than 50 years the conservative Liberal Democratic Party enjoyed virtually unbroken rule. Unhappy with record unemployment and the problems of an ageing population, the centre-left Democratic Party. This may well herald a honeymoon period for the new government but is the [...]
Mid-cap mania to dominate corporate news this week August 31, 2009 THIS week is shorter than usual due to the bank holiday and trading volumes are likely to remain low, but there are enough mid-cap firms reporting to keep life interesting. FTSE 250 biotechnology firm Dechra Pharmaceuticals kicks the week off with its final results, which are not expected to add very much to its pre-close [...]
USshares slide on China stock sell-off August 31, 2009 US stocks fell yesterday as concerns about the global economy’s health weighed on Wall Street following a sell-off in Chinese equities. Energy shares led the decline after the sharp drop in China’s main stock index, while oil slipped below $70 a barrel on increased worries about global energy demand. Shares of Chevron tumbled 1.1 percent [...]
Sorrell adds an italicised L to alphabet soup of recoveries August 31, 2009 PREDICTING how we exit the worst recession since at least the Second World War has been a veritable past-time over recent months for economists, politicians, analysts and businessmen alike. And Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the advertising giant WPP, has been the latest figure to add his letter to the alphabet soup of recoveries. [...]
MAYBE THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT WILL GET August 31, 2009 TAKING A VIEW Trading OutlookBRIAN DOLANCHIEF CURRENCY STRATEGIST, FOREX.COM AS SUMMER draws to a close, indications are increasing that the risk rebound has run its course and that markets are likely entering a more difficult phase of the global stabilisation/recovery story. On the technical side, in stocks, bearish divergences between price and momentum abound in [...]
