US News

After last week’s QE3 taper tantrum and fall from near all-time highs, the shortened week started on a calmer note with what looked like a rebound. This ultimately proved a tease and short-lived with better US data (housing, manufacturing, consumer confidence) being taken well in terms of growth/recovery rather than scaring market with worries of […]

It was 18 May 2012.  I remember it well.  I wished my daughter a Happy Birthday, then turned my attention to watching what was supposed to be a day of fanfare on the NASDAQ as Facebook was about to open its IPO.  Perhaps never before has the entire world been so highly focused on an […]

National Securiry deals resolved. Sprint and SoftBank have announced that they have received notice from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) that it has completed its investigation of a proposed takeover of mobile operator Sprint by Japanese telecommunications giants SoftBank and has concluded there are no unresolved national security issues relating […]

GDP figures revised down. Real gross domestic product, the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States, increased in the United States at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the first quarter of 2013 (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to the “second” […]

Global recovery is uneven but gradual. The global economy is moving forward, but divergence between countries and regions reflects the uneven progress made toward recovery from the economic crisis, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook. Historically high unemployment remains the most serious challenge facing governments. World real gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to […]

Don’t even bother to check the five-year charts for AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN).  If you want to see the big picture, you have to go back more than twice that amount of time to see that the AZN’s share price reached an 11 year high today as is soared by 107.50 pence (3.14%) to 3537.00 this morning. […]

A roller-coaster ride for markets this week and a perfect example of how important central bank communication (read US Federal Reserve) has become and how markets can move indiscriminately on changes in sentiment regarding the future of the highly accommodative monetary policy  (read Fed’s QE3), something that has supported the global rally and recovery hopes […]

While the investment world focuses on Japan today, the news at JP Morgan has failed to make the make the headlines it would have on any almost other day.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has levied a fine of £3,076,200 “for systems and control failings related to its provision of retail investment advice and portfolio investment services” […]

Do you remember what you were doing 13 years ago?  Probably still breathing a sigh of relief that the Y2K computer software issue didn’t really exist.  And, hey, things were looking good.  The key stock indicators looked great.  It was the start of a whole new millennium.  What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot […]

Is it possible that BP (LSE:BP.) could be in deep water again?  Given the company’s activities over the past several years, including those minor headaches in the Gulf of Mexico and with their joint ventures with Russian oligarchs, it seems almost inevitable.  This time BP has reportedly been in cahoots with Royal Dutch Shell (LSE:RDSA) […]