Solid earnings are only the beginning for banking stocks August 2, 2010 AFTER what has been a difficult few months, the European banking sector couldn’t have asked for a better start to a week that is jam-packed with their first-half earnings announcements. Both London-listed HSBC and Paris-quoted BNP Paribas posted better than expected profits and revealed that their bad debts have fallen sharply to pre-crisis levels. Traders [...]
THE TIPSTER August 2, 2010 HIGH street retail giant Next releases its latest trading statement tomorrow and the statement should give some insight into whether the company feels that the man on the street is more optimistic than he was six months ago or if concern about government cuts is still curbing our spending at the tills. Next had a [...]
Dow strength set to bolster European markets August 1, 2010 A BOUNCE in US stocks after the European close on Friday is set to propel the FTSE higher on the open this morning. GFT is calling the FTSE 100 to open up 32 points at 5,290. The German DAX 40 is quoted up 41 points at 6,188 and the French CAC 40 is expected to [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD August 1, 2010 US STOCKS are unlikely to break above a key technical level this week unless monthly jobs data and consumer company results paint a more promising picture of the recovery. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has been stuck near its 200-day moving average, a level used to determine market direction, amid recent weak economic data [...]
New wave of M&A has profit potential for spread betters August 1, 2010 IT HAS been a veritable whirlwind of good old-fashioned company matchmaking of late and especially so here in Britain, thanks to the sharp depreciation in sterling. In May, UK manufacturer Chloride was snapped up by its American rival Emerson. More recently, International Power revived merger talks with French energy firm GDF Suez, household goods group [...]
Seek undervalued quality August 1, 2010 WHICHEVER way you look at it, the Eurozone is not going to enjoy rampant economic growth in the years to come. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) only estimates GDP growth of around 1.8 per cent in both 2012 and 2013, hardly a storming pace of expansion. And the financial markets have been quick to price [...]
THE TIPSTER August 1, 2010 THE UK earnings season is still in full flow and a number of major companies are reporting results this week. One of the big names reporting today is City firm Tullett Prebon – will their figures bring some impetus to the share price? Even though the shares are up 21 per cent so far this [...]
SPREAD BET GURU August 1, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST [email protected] Q. Dear Josh, what aspects are there to consider before using stop losses when spread betting? A. Stop losses can be a good means of protecting your trading risk. The first aspect I would always consider would be whether to use a standard or guaranteed stop loss. Of course, a guaranteed stop [...]
EARNINGS SEASON | CALENDAR August 1, 2010 Monday 2 August Xchanging – UK Thomas Cook – UK Hammerson – UK Tullett Prebon – UK HSBC – UK Intertek – UK Mouchel – UK Qinetiq – UK Berkshire Hathaway – US Warner Music Group – US Linde – Germany BNP Paribas – France Air Liquide – France Tuesday 3 August ITV – UK [...]
Bumper UK earnings fail to lift FTSE as bank sell-off weighs July 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares closed easier yesterday as a retreat from banks and investor caution ahead of US growth data offset a batch of robust UK corporate earnings from companies including AstraZeneca. The FTSE 100 closed down 5.73 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,313.95, after it ended 0.9 per cent lower on Wednesday. AstraZeneca advanced [...]
