Greek gamble: Can Syriza be kept at bay? – CNBC Comment December 15, 2014 POLITICAL risk will be a key feature of Europe next year. Elections will take place in France, Portugal, Spain, maybe even in Italy, and there’s a real fear that populist parties could rise to the fore. A manifestation of that fear sent the Greek stock market tumbling 20 per cent last week, after Prime Minister [...]
Why plunging oil has derailed the Santa Claus Rally – DailyFX Tips & Picks December 15, 2014 WHILE children look forward to Christmas Day, many grown-ups are more excited by the Santa Claus Rally. This usually entails a nice boost to stock markets at the end of the year, generating a good return. But the FTSE 100 is down this month – someone has clearly been naughty. And the culprit is said [...]
Oil price hits a five-year low: What does this mean for markets? December 8, 2014 Equities could see a lift, but it’s bad news for oil exporters Looking ahead to 2015, there’s plenty for markets to fret about. Rate hikes in the UK and US are a near certainty – after years of extraordinary monetary stimulus that propped up asset prices and kept sovereign bond yields low – as are [...]
Poland: Europe’s economic dynamo – CNBC Comment December 8, 2014 Having just returned from a week in central and eastern Europe, I thought I would share a few thoughts about one of the countries I visited, Poland. As Europe’s sixth largest economy, it is the only EU country to border both Russia and Ukraine. Yet despite geopolitical tensions in the region — and a slow-to-no [...]
Why massive US job creation matters for markets – DailyFX Tips & Picks December 8, 2014 ON FRIDAY, the latest US non-farm payroll report was released, and it showed that a staggering 321,000 new jobs were created in the US in November. This is not a new record in itself, but it’s a clear fundamental trigger, as the markets expected 230,000 new jobs to be added. When more jobs are created [...]
The rise of the renminbi is a century-defining story – and London is at its heart December 1, 2014 THIS has been a momentous year for UK-China relations and the development of London as a key centre for trading in the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), outside China. This progress is partly inevitable, as London is the world’s most international financial centre, trading more dollars each day than the whole US, and twice as [...]
Japan’s perpetual QE machine: Could the exercise end in tears? December 1, 2014 Some analysts think inflation at any cost is the wrong aim THE WORLD’S third largest economy now has the same credit rating as Bermuda, Oman and the Czech Republic, after rating agency Moody’s downgraded Japan’s debt from “Aa3” to “A1” yesterday morning. The yen crashed against the dollar (dollar-yen topped ¥119 just after the announcement, [...]
My challenge to the chancellor: Be brave – CNBC December 1, 2014 LIONEL Richie’s “Nothing Left To Give” is a tune George Osborne might be humming as he racks his brains over what to unveil in his Autumn Statement tomorrow. Or maybe “If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time” by R Kelly will be stuck in his head, if he recalls the more favourable fiscal [...]
Why less leverage can mean more trading profits – DailyFX Tips & Picks December 1, 2014 TRADING financial markets is exciting for most people, particularly since most brokers offer high leverage and, with this leverage, even a small trader can generate a substantial gain. Yet this leverage can sometimes work to your disadvantage, leading to big losses very quickly. This is because markets are often random in the very short term. [...]
Opec cuts: No line in the sand for oil – CNBC Comment November 24, 2014 Not that I’m trying to do myself out of a job, but I’m a tad amazed by the furore building up about this Thursday’s Opec meeting in Vienna. I haven’t been to all the previous 165 gatherings, but I’ve been to most of the last 25 or so, and all of a sudden it’s become [...]