In today’s Market Report: Morgan Stanley, Aveva, Quindell, Advanced Oncotherapy and HSS Hire Group… Average UK house prices hit an all-time high of £286,000 in March as supply tightened and the number of prospective buyers rose sharply, according to data from online property broker Rightmove. The site reported that there were 20% more house hunters…
One of the most important concepts in modern finance – and one that I always insist my students master – is that of arbitrage. Unlike speculators (or investors) who seek risks for the sake of netting a profit, arbitrageurs don’t take any risks for the same sake. They exploit differences in prices for similar financial…
By Bill Blain – Strategist at Mint Partners Well placed rumours say a number of large European banks are about to pull out of investment banking and markets. Credit Suisse is said to be mulling the closure or sale its investment bank and focus on Wealth Management instead. This comes on the back of similar…
While the US Federal Reserve and the ECB have been busily adopting counter-cyclical measures aimed at stabilising economic growth and price increases, commercial banks have been at the other extreme, always frustrating such measures and acting pro-cyclically. The Fractional Reserve system that allows for faster credit creation than the economy can absorb is the main…
It is something of a regret that I did not spend more than six weeks studying Economics at the London School of Economics, largely on the basis that I had the feeling it was an inferior place to Oxford. This may have been a mistake. But apparently not one that would have made a difference…
There are times when this Old Badger just doesn’t know where markets are going next. What I do know is that when markets feel uncertain on direction, it’s a sure sign something is going to change. The direction of bond, commodity and stock markets depends on answering a simple question: Is the world headed for…
The Markets Surprise, surprise! The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to keep interest rates at 0.5% for another month, a decision that the British Chamber of Commerce’s Chief Economist David Kern described as correct, “particularly at a time when inflation is down to zero and likely to fall into negative territory in…
The Markets Activity in the UK services sector accelerated during March according to the latest PMI survey data, which suggested the sector experienced its quickest rate of expansion since August. Markit, which carries out the industrial surveys, said that results for the first three months indicated UK GDP growth of 0.7%, which would be a…
Planting the Seeds The financial crisis of 2007-2009 is often seen as one of the worst ever crises faced by the US economy. The capitalisation of the S&P 500 was halved, the unemployment rate was doubled, and the Federal Reserve had to go out of bounds in rescuing the economy to avoid the collapse of…
As my contribution to this first edition of Master Investor, I have decided to clarify some points concerning regulation of AIM. This is partly because it is not understood and partly because it is complex and unusual. AIM is a division or franchise (as the LSE likes to promote it) of the London Stock Exchange.…
