ECONOMIC DIARY December 20, 2009 IN a quiet and short week, the big news on the agenda will be the revisions – if any – to third quarter GDP figures for the UK and the US on Tuesday. The UK third quarter data will be released on Tuesday at 9.30am. Despite an upward revision to -0.4 per cent from -0.6 [...]
THE TIPSTER January 10, 2010 THERE’S been no shortage of news regarding the increased demand for natural gas by UK consumers as the cold snap continues to grip the country. As a result, BG Group (formerly British Gas) has got the year off to a cracking start, outperforming the FTSE-100 by over 100 per cent. But the cold (hopefully) won’t [...]
Johnson Matthey sees an uncertain recovery for the automotive markets November 25, 2009 FTSE 100-listed Johnson Matthey yesterday said first-half pre-tax profits fell by a fifth and the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters warned that prospects for a recovery in global auto sales were uncertain. “The timing of a return in consumer confidence and the impact of the expiry of car scrappage schemes will be key factors [...]
Seasonal trends can hurt FTSE100 January 3, 2010 IT’S worth remembering that seasonal trends can cause some unexpected moves in the financial markets. So far this decade January has been a bad month for the equity markets. The FTSE 100 has declined seven times out of the last 10 Januarys and lost on average more than 5 per cent during this seasonal trend. [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY December 6, 2009 Monday 7 DecemberUSUnited States Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak at Economic Club of Washington lunch (5pm)October consumer credit (8pm)New York Fed president William Dudley speaks at Columbia UniversityJapanNovember bank lending (11.50pm)November money stock (11.50pm) Tuesday 8 DecemberUKBRC November retail sales monitor (12am)Manpower employment outlook for Q1 (12am)October industrial production (9.30am)October manufacturing [...]
The early bird catches the worm: how traders use leading indicators June 14, 2010 JUST when we thought those fragile green shoots of recovery in the developed world were starting to flower, a recent swath of disappointing data has dashed traders’ hopes of stronger growth. Besides the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone, the recovery in the US jobs market has been much weaker than expected and Finland [...]
The early bird catches the worm: how traders use leading indicators June 14, 2010 JUST when we thought those fragile green shoots of recovery in the developed world were starting to flower, a recent swath of disappointing data has dashed traders’ hopes of stronger growth. Besides the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone, the recovery in the US jobs market has been much weaker than expected and Finland [...]
Britvic pays £200m for its French rival May 18, 2010 BRITIVIC is taking over French rival Fruité in a €237m (£203m) deal. Fruité makes popular French brands such as Teisseire, which sponsors the Tour de France. The deal will be funded from existing debt facilities and a £100m share placing. Fruité has four factories, all in France, which Britvic says offer a platform to expand [...]
US consumer and jobs data fuel economic recovery hopes November 25, 2009 US consumer spending and home sales rose more than expected in October, while new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, suggesting the economic recovery was gaining traction. A surprise decline in orders for long-lasting US-made goods and a second straight monthly drop in consumer confidence, however, offered a reminder that the recovery from [...]
Xstrata warns on economic risks despite production boost May 5, 2010 MINER Xstrata yesterday warned about short-term economic risks as it posted solid first-quarter production, but was confident about growth in metals demand as carmakers and other industries bounce back. “The current macroeconomic environment remains volatile… nonetheless underlying signs of recovery continue to strengthen,” chairman Willy Strothotte told the group’s shareholders at the annual meeting. He [...]