Bank competition is picking up speed – and this inquiry is a vital next step November 6, 2014 YESTERDAY, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it will be launching far-reaching investigations into the state of competition in the personal current account and smaller business banking markets. This is an extremely significant development, and one that the government welcomes. It is exactly why we created the CMA. A key part of our [...]
Fall of the dragon: Is everyone far too optimistic about China? November 3, 2014 There's nothing particularly new about fears of a sharp economic slowdown (or “hard landing”) in China. And Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys released in the past few days will only add to the list of worries for those who see annual growth slipping well below the Communist Party’s target of 7.5 per cent this [...]
Why Draghi may opt against full QE – CNBC Comment November 3, 2014 As one major central bank – the US Federal Reserve – closes the quantitative easing door, markets are hoping that another – the European Central Bank (ECB) – will throw it wide open again. Many economists now expect that ECB president Mario Draghi will usher in a quantitative easing policy, involving buying up countries’ debt, [...]
Roaring dollar-yen: How much further could it go? – DailyFX Tips & Picks November 3, 2014 DOLLAR-YEN traded significantly higher last week, as the Bank of Japan surprised the markets with more QE. As we have seen on many other occasions, when a central bank decides to ease monetary policy, the country’s currency tends to weaken. Dollar-yen is 4.5 per cent higher than on Friday last week. It’s hard to know [...]
Why Thomas Piketty should back high banker pay – CNBC Comment October 27, 2014 With reporting season kicking off today, cue the usual brouhaha over how much those greedy bankers are getting. But maybe it’s worth pausing a moment to take a lesson or two from the world of high finance. True, official statistics show that financiers have enjoyed a 27 per cent wage rise since the start of [...]
Trading isn’t all about riches: Here’s the harsh reality – Daily FX Tips & Picks October 27, 2014 WHEN people think about trading, many things come to mind. Some will think of huge amounts of cash and massive gains. This may be accurate in some cases, but today I would like to break things down and tell you about the harsh reality. Trading is all about probabilities and psychology. When a person trades, [...]
This market storm may not be over – CNBC Comment October 20, 2014 I simply can’t resist the temptation to draw parallels between markets and the autumn storms in the UK last week. The tempest is back. Yes, it was a quiet summer, with volatility in equity, FX and bond markets dropping to multi-year lows. But the lashing of the first storm is still painful, and the finger-pointing [...]
How inflation data prints affect financial markets – Daily FX Tips & Picks October 20, 2014 WITH most market participants expecting a rate increase in the US during 2015, this Wednesday’s inflation figure will be very interesting. Markets anticipate that US inflation will show an annual growth of 1.6 per cent, while the reading that excludes food and energy price changes (the “core” measure) is expected to have increased by 1.7 [...]
Capital concerns: Europe’s bank woes – CNBC Comment October 13, 2014 News hit last week that Espirito Santo Financial Group, whose primary asset was a 20 per cent stake in the Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo, had declared bankruptcy, and not a moment too soon. Last Friday, the European Banking Authority announced 26 October as the official date for the reveal of the EU bank stress [...]
Risk off: How to take advantage of declining markets – DailyFX Tips & Picks October 13, 2014 RISK off is an old concept, but it has recently started to re-emerge on the back of stock markets declining slightly more than people had been expecting. It’s a term used when people opt for safety over potential returns. As an example, the FTSE 100 is down 7.8 per cent since August, which far exceeds [...]