US home prices down for third consecutive month November 30, 2010 AMERICAN house prices dropped to even lower depths than expected in September, it was revealed yesterday. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller house price index showed that prices fell in 18 of the 20 cities surveyed. Compared to August the index fell by 0.8 per cent, in spite of August’s rate being revised down to a 0.48 [...]
Sterling’s slump is costing us all dear June 12, 2011 WELCOME to price hike Britain. Wherever one looks, consumer goods and food are becoming dearer. Energy prices are rocketing. One fundamental reason for these increases is the collapse in the value of sterling since the recession, a development which has been insufficiently well understood by the UK’s political establishment. Sterling’s slump is a dramatic reversal [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES INSURANCE COST AGAINST US DEFAULT HITS RECORD The cost of buying insurance against a default by the US rose to a record on Wednesday, in a sign of growing unease that gridlock in Washington over raising the federal debt ceiling may result in the Treasury failing to pay interest to bondholders. The market [...]
Pain must always come before gain January 27, 2011 CREDIT rating agencies have come in for a lot of flak, not least in this newspaper, but yesterday they proved that they can still tell the Emperor it has no clothes. The downgrade of Japan’s credit came as a stark reminder that government debt will be the new sub-prime. It certainly ought to serve as [...]
Pain must always come before gain January 27, 2011 CREDIT rating agencies have come in for a lot of flak, not least in this newspaper, but yesterday they proved that they can still tell the Emperor it has no clothes. The downgrade of Japan’s credit came as a stark reminder that government debt will be the new sub-prime. It certainly ought to serve as [...]
US consumer confidence slumps February 23, 2010 Data released yesterday showed that US consumers are at their least confident in 10 months. Industry group The Conference Board said its index fell to 46 in February from 56.5 last month, its lowest reading since April 2009. Consumers cited concerns about current business conditions and the jobs market.
Soaring tech stocks burnish banking rally to send FTSE up July 20, 2011 BANKING stocks led Britain’s top shares higher yesterday on strong corporate earnings and optimism over a deal in Washington to increase the US debt ceiling and avoid default. The UK benchmark index closed up 63.83 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 5,853.82, building on the previous session’s 0.7 per cent advance. Solid US earnings, including [...]
Soaring tech stocks burnish banking rally to send FTSE up July 20, 2011 BANKING stocks led Britain’s top shares higher yesterday on strong corporate earnings and optimism over a deal in Washington to increase the US debt ceiling and avoid default. The UK benchmark index closed up 63.83 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 5,853.82, building on the previous session’s 0.7 per cent advance. Solid US earnings, including [...]
Visa sees its profits jump May 5, 2011 Visa’s quarterly profit rose more than expected as increasingly confident consumers spent more, but doubts remain about the payment network’s ability to grow under looming regulation. Revenues rose 15 per cent to $2.25bn (£1.37bn), slightly above expectations. Its net income of $881m for its fiscal second-quarter compared to $713m a year ago. Shares fell in [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 11, 2011 RECKITT BENCKISER Goldman Sachs rates the consumer goods producer “buy” but has taken the firm off its “conviction buy” list, and has cut its 12-month target price by 160p to £41.70. The broker thinks the firm contains an increased execution risk following a change in management, though recent quarterly results were encouraging. Goldman is still [...]