The IMF has released its inaugural assessment of China’s financial sector, which praised the “remarkable progress” the country has made toward a more “commercially-oriented and financially sound system”. Not at all patronising then…
Japan may have posted the first positive quarter-on-quarter GDP figures for more than a year but there are still too many economic negatives to make it anything other than a good stock-pickers market.
The Greek Prime Minister Papandreou has fallen, Berlusconi is on his way out and Nicolas Sarkozy has only just survived the severe palpitations he experienced when France’s prized AAA credit rating was “accidently” cut by S&P.
Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far from here, there was a group of chums who thought it a great idea to strengthen their friendship through a shared currency.
Bank valuations are as low as they were in 2008 so does this mean they are attractive to investors once again?
If you close your ears to the constant bombardment of negative news from the eurozone, tough to do I know, there are actually some reasons for optimism starting to filter through investment circles.
Since August last year, when the Chinese government allowed qualified financial institutions to repatriate offshore RMB into the domestic market, the Dim Sum bond market has exploded.
Greece contributes little to Europe’s GDP but a vast amount to the ongoing sovereign crisis and the region’s politicians are starting to get fed up with this alarming status quo.
The correlation of commodity performance to equity markets has increased so much that commentators now question their effectiveness in diversifying portfolios. Is this a short-term blip or is it trend we need to take notice of?
So good news from the ONS this morning then? 0.5% growth in the UK economy for Q3 has beaten consensus expectations of a 0.3% GDP rise, or even a decline in output.
As rumours circulate about the future of two multi-manager firms, the bigger picture is still a healthy one.
Theres panic on the streets of London, declared Morrissey in 1986 but in the 25 years since The Smiths ruled the charts, and Big Bang which set off a revolution in the City, have things changed?
