Shifting your time frame can improve risk-reward ratios – Daily FX Tips & Picks September 22, 2014 With FX volatility picking up and trends turning parabolic, it’s easy to miss out on strong trends. One good example is the current 830 pips rally in dollar-yen. Traders that are not long now probably feel that they have missed too much already, and so hesitate to trade. Risk-reward ratios with longer time frames will [...]
The financial A to Z of Scottish independence – CNBC Comment September 15, 2014 A new, independent Scotland might flummox a foreign visitor. So it’s lucky this financial A to Z has turned up – even if some say it’s a parody of the Better Together campaign. A: Alex – Scotland’s official unit of currency, though largely superseded by an informal bartering system, where one barrel of oil [...]
Could this be the year the Man Booker Prize is won by an American? September 9, 2014 Two Americans have made the shortlist of the Man Booker Prize for the first time in the literary award's history, after it was opened to any author writing in English. Joshua Ferris's To Rise Again at a Decent Hour and Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – published respectively by Penguin Random [...]
Alibaba: Bigger isn’t always better for IPOs – CNBC Comment September 8, 2014 GET OUT your superlatives. The Alibaba IPO is set to be the biggest in history – with an expected $21bn (£12.9bn) offering. The numbers are staggering. The Chinese e-commerce giant could be valued at $163bn, not too far off Facebook’s $200bn valuation. Its profit margins are above 40 per cent, and Alibaba accounts for 80 [...]
The Eurozone has entered the red zone – CNBC Comment September 1, 2014 The Eurozone's August inflation figure was confirmed at 0.3 per cent last week, down from July’s surprisingly weak reading of 0.4 per cent. It was also, of course, way below the European Central Bank’s (ECB) inflation target of just under 2 per cent, and well within the ECB’s stated “danger zone” of under 1 per cent. [...]
Why France could be the euro’s weakest link – CNBC Comment August 25, 2014 In a world where we are sold pups on a daily basis by both policymakers and the market snake-oil salesmen, yesterday’s Bank Holiday trading on the Continent was a great example of how we continue to lap up the nonsense we are fed. There I was, one of the few people in the Square Mile [...]
No, really: Ann Summers launches Isis lingerie range (well, kind of) August 22, 2014 In what may be the poorest timing in recent retail history, Ann Summers has been forced to deny supporting terrorism after it launched a range of lingerie named "Isis". The range, which appeared in shop windows this week, includes a £26 plunge bra and a £45 babydoll, both in monochrome colours. Obviously, the range isn't named [...]
CNBC Comment: Why Germany risks a property bubble August 18, 2014 HEAR the words “London property”, and “bubble” is rarely far behind. House prices in the capital rose by 20 per cent in the year to May – although last week’s Rics indicator showed that the market is now pausing for breath, as it responds to warnings over tougher mortgage standards and the expectation of higher [...]
How the government is helping SMEs access the finance they need August 12, 2014 Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of our economy. They employ close to 14.4m people (almost 60 per cent of total UK private sector employment), with almost 4.6m people now self-employed. But many SMEs suffered after the financial crisis, due in part to the lack of availability and flexibility of bank lending. This [...]
New Barclays chair should be female – CNBC Comment August 11, 2014 It’s time for a woman to be the chair of Barclays. And yes, simply because she is a woman, it would make things better. Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times boss and finance director of parent company Pearson, is rumoured to be on a shortlist to take over from Sir David Walker next year. She [...]