Falling for a Romeo July 21, 2009 HAVE YOU ever seen anything so beautiful you could cry? For me, it’s this object before me, Alfa’s drop-dead gorgeous 8C Spider. So here I am, at Balocco circuit, Alfa Romeo’s private test facility between Milan and Turin. It’s 35 degrees. Test tracks, no matter where they are in the world, are not known for [...]
Heritage Oil slips as market talk fuels some profit taking June 10, 2009 THE large cap index gained nearly one per cent, or 31.96 points, higher yesterday at 4,436.75, driven by gains in mining and energy stocks, while banks rose on growing investor confidence. Mid cap Heritage Oil lost some of its recent gains, dropping nearly 11 per cent to 540p, amid profit-taking and some speculation that its [...]
Heritage Oil slips as market talk fuels some profit taking June 10, 2009 THE large cap index gained nearly one per cent, or 31.96 points, higher yesterday at 4,436.75, driven by gains in mining and energy stocks, while banks rose on growing investor confidence. Mid cap Heritage Oil lost some of its recent gains, dropping nearly 11 per cent to 540p, amid profit-taking and some speculation that its [...]
Breezy RIDER June 23, 2009 IN September last year I waxed poetic about the performance and handling of the 2.0 litre version of this car. It’s a sublime drive, with oodles of torque and finesse and I was impressed. So much so that I thought that they would struggle to better it with the new Golf GTi. In my view, [...]
Large cap index flat as lack of direction stalls progress June 4, 2009 Gains in energy stocks, pharmaceuticals and banks outweighed losses in miners yesterday, leaving the FTSE 100 0.1 per cent, or 3.52 points, higher at 4,386.94. “The market’s evenly balanced. It’s discounting good news so although it may go higher over the next few weeks, it is slightly overvalued,” said Graham Secker, equity strategist at Morgan [...]
Oil stocks push FTSE 100 lower for second day in row June 3, 2009 THE large cap index lost 2.1 per cent yesterday, dented by weakness in commodity stocks, banks and index heavyweight Vodafone, which traded ex-dividend. At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 93.60 points at 4,383.42, albeit above the session low of 4,359.33. Oil producers were the standout losers, retreating after recent gains in line with [...]
Oil stocks push FTSE 100 lower for second day in row June 3, 2009 THE large cap index lost 2.1 per cent yesterday, dented by weakness in commodity stocks, banks and index heavyweight Vodafone, which traded ex-dividend. At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 93.60 points at 4,383.42, albeit above the session low of 4,359.33. Oil producers were the standout losers, retreating after recent gains in line with [...]
Economic cheer sees FTSE break through 4,500 barrier June 1, 2009 THE FTSE 100 ended 2 per cent, or 88.25 points, higher yesterday at 4,506.19 as some unusually upbeat data saw optimism about the global economy rise. Mining stocks led the charge, as metal prices firmed, bolstered by hopes for increased demand particularly following bullish Chinese data. China’s official purchasing managers index for May stayed above [...]
US consumer confidence boosts late London trading May 26, 2009 BETTER than expected consumer confidence data out of the US gave the FTSE 100 a much-needed boost yesterday afternoon, after Asia’s sell-off – driven by concerns of heightening geopolictical tension on the Korean peninsula – infected the London markets in early trading. “Following the release of the US consumer confidence data there was an immediate [...]
FTSE 100 stalls as traders nerves fail on banking sector May 28, 2009 RENEWED jitters over the health of the financial sector hit banks and offset gains by heavyweight oils yesterday, sending the FTSE 100 0.7 per cent, or 28.69 points, lower at 4,387.54. Banks were the worst performing large caps, with Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland down 0.8 per cent [...]