More retailers could follow Woolies as hard times continue August 31, 2009 RETAILERS were in August their most positive since November 2007, a recent survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed. Only 2 per cent of retailers surveyed by the CBI in August are expecting the situation to get worse, despite high street sales falling for the fourth month running. And indeed, with all the [...]
Oils and miners bring FTSE higher, while banks also rise August 20, 2009 BRITAIN’S leading share index gained 1.4 per cent as stocks enjoyed a broad-based recovery yesterday, with heavyweight oils and miners in demand as raw material prices rose while financials also rallied. By the close, the FTSE 100 was 66.91 points higher at 4,756.58, having reversed earlier losses to close slightly higher on Wednesday. The UK [...]
Factory data gives boost to US stocks August 20, 2009 US stocks rose for a third straight session yesterday with financial stocks leading gains after US manufacturing data and a rebound in Chinese stocks reassured investors. The Dow and the S&P 500, which suffered their worst day in about seven weeks on Monday, got a lift from signs of improvement in US Mid-Atlantic manufacturing and [...]
Gold still strong, but don’t expect any record highs August 19, 2009 YOU must have seen the adverts on the television. Since the recession started to bite, smiley men and women have appeared on our screens telling us that we ought to send in any spare gold in an envelope, and we will receive a lovely fat cheque in the post. While the extra cash will no [...]
RELOADING ON RISK DURING THE AUTUMN August 19, 2009 BRIAN DOLANCHIEF CURRENCY STRATEGIST, FOREX.COM OVER the course of this summer my colleague Jane Foley and I have been consistently cautious on the extraordinary rebound in risk appetite and the accompanying rally in virtually every risky asset class (stocks, commodities and carry trades in forex). We argued that markets were overly optimistic about the prospects [...]
Iron condors help your profits soar August 19, 2009 CONDORS, tarantulas, butterflies. The world of options trading can sound more like the sort of thing that would attract David Attenborough than George Soros. Of all the animal-based tactics, one that is particularly popular in the current range-bound markets is the iron condor, which is a market neutral trade with limited risk. If you believe [...]
GEARING CAN HELP MANAGE YOUR RISK August 19, 2009 ALEXANDRE HOUPERTHEAD OF LISTED PRODUCTS UK, SG CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKING VOLATILITY is be lower than it was at the end of 2008, but that doesn’t mean that markets are placid. This week’s Japanese GDP data showed that reactions to unexpected news can be extreme. This is just the kind of market where traders look [...]
Team building activities have come of age August 19, 2009 MENTION the idea of team building and corporate away days to many people and you’re likely to be met with a groan. For all that we spend such large amounts of our lives in the company of our colleagues, the idea of being forced into unnatural situations with them in order to bond can seem [...]
CORPORATE FUN WHAT YOU CAN DO August 19, 2009 Get cooking – Venturi’s Table in Wandsworth is a corporate cookery centre, with two state-of-the-art kitchens and the chance to get stuck into Italian, Indian and Japanese cooking styles. www.venturis-table.com Make a film – True View Events runs film making days in which teams can make films in the style of Hollywood blockbusters, mini soaps [...]
Eurasian leads the miners higher while Lloyds shines August 19, 2009 THE FTSE 100 share index inched higher yesterday, helped by oil producers, which gained on firmer crude prices as US demand recovered, but banks fell after HSBC traded ex-dividend. The index closed up by 3.89 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4,689.67, after trading as low as 4,625.44 earlier in the day. Volumes on the [...]
