Watch out for Osborne’s foreign currency plans March 29, 2011 A FEW ears pricked up on budget day when George Osborne announced a surprising and potentially expensive plan to rebuild Britain’s foreign currency reserves. There are two methods of executing this plan. The first is to print sterling to buy foreign currency. This could be regarded as quantitative easing (QE) by another method. Indeed, it [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 2, 2011 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RBS rates the oil group “buy” with a target price of £24 following the firm’s quarterly results last week. Shell’s net income was five per cent above the broker’s forecasts, mirroring BP’s strong performance earlier in the week. Only the upstream business fell short, coming in at two per cent below RBS [...]
Waste your cash on holiday gifts – not on currency April 20, 2011 BRITS waste £245m of precious holiday money every year when they buy their currency outside of the UK, MoneyCorp research shows. And that doesn’t even count the cash wasted by those buying it in the UK at uncompetitive prices. While most of us know we’ll be ripped off if we wait until we get to [...]
High prices have stirred trader’s geopolitical risks May 4, 2011 GLENCORE has warned investors that it faces significant geopolitical risks that could materially impact its business, with “increased resource nationalism” due to high commodity prices flagged as a possible flashpoint. The company has endured repeated attacks on its corporate governance standards in the run-up to its float, with allegations that one of its subsidiaries has [...]
FTSE gains after commodity rally and flurry of M&A bids June 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, led by rallying commodity stocks and banks as investors awaited a vote of confidence in the Greek Parliament. The vote, due after the London market close, is seen as a key step towards the passage of more spending cuts in exchange for foreign emergency loans. “What equity markets need [...]
FTSE gains after commodity rally and flurry of M&A bids June 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, led by rallying commodity stocks and banks as investors awaited a vote of confidence in the Greek Parliament. The vote, due after the London market close, is seen as a key step towards the passage of more spending cuts in exchange for foreign emergency loans. “What equity markets need [...]
FOR THE KIWI, INTERVENTION MAY BE CLOSE April 13, 2011 Sometimes, currency strength can be a curse. Witness the New Zealand dollar, which set fresh yearly highs this week, creating more angst in Wellington as the country’s policymakers worry about the kiwi’s impact on New Zealand’s vital export sector. The kiwi has gained strength largely as result of the rally in commodities and in sympathy [...]
FOR THE KIWI, INTERVENTION MAY BE CLOSE April 13, 2011 Sometimes, currency strength can be a curse. Witness the New Zealand dollar, which set fresh yearly highs this week, creating more angst in Wellington as the country’s policymakers worry about the kiwi’s impact on New Zealand’s vital export sector. The kiwi has gained strength largely as result of the rally in commodities and in sympathy [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 11, 2011 BNY Mellon BNY Mellon has appointed Arthur Certosimo as chief executive of global markets to lead the bank’s foreign exchange, capital markets and derivatives trading businesses worldwide. Certosimo, currently chief executive of alternative, broker-dealer and Treasury services, will succeed Richard Mahoney, who will retire at the end of June. Brian Ruane, currently head of alternative [...]
Peking over the top of China’s Great Currency Wall March 29, 2011 THOUGH there is constant talk of China’s rise, currency investors often find themselves frustrated by the apparent wall between them and the Chinese currency. However that doesn’t mean that those wishing to take a position on China’s currency, the renminbi (RMB) are without options. On first inspection, the Chinese currency seems as rigidly controlled as [...]