When nine gurus become seven
30 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 67 views]
When Gordon Brown made the Bank of England independent he still had one ace up his sleeve. He chooses the nine members who make up the Interest rate setting Monetary Policy Committee. Some say that even that should change, and that the selection should be down to an independent panel, – which of course begs [...]
There’s gold in that Fed statement
30 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 57 views]
Gold rose back above $600 an ounce yesterday, and oil stood at $73.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange last night, the highest level for some time. Considering that commodities are supposed to have crashed, and the great gold recovery is over, it’s not doing half bad. In fact gold is now almost $40 up [...]
Good news from Japan: could force markets to rush for cover?
30 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 72 views]
It’s funny how things happen. For years Japan was in disarray. Deflation, high unemployment, the economy of the rising sun seemed to be suffering from permanent sunset. And yet, despite the woe from the world’s number two economy, the global economy did all right. Now at last things are changing. It would appear that the [...]
Goldman scoops ports prize
30 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 69 views]
Yesterday, Aussie bank Macquarie and its consortium rolled over, leaving Goldman Sachs a clear run. Last week, the world’s largest securities firm offered £2.8bn for Associated British Ports, and it was just too much for the consortium from down under. The British ports company owns 21 ports across the land, including in Ipswich, Southampton, Hull [...]
Markets celebrate as the Fed offers the conundrum
30 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 68 views]
Markets soared on a wing and a prayer yesterday, as the Dow put on over 200 points, enjoying its biggest daily rise for over a year, and yet the euphoria seemed to be a good deal more irrational than anything the dot com era could have thrown up. A lot of the problem at the [...]
US set for inflation busting rise
29 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 65 views]
Here’s a good title for an economics essay. Inflation isn’t a problem, it’s a symptom of a different problem. Discuss. Today’s the day that Ben Bernanke and his chums at the Fed decide upon the rate of interest until when next they meet. You would have to look hard to find a commentator that does [...]
Investment pours into UK and out of France
29 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 47 views]
In France it’s a one-way street, but the Brits are just trying to be friendly. Last year, the UK topped the charts for the receipt of Direct Foreign Investment, says the OECD. In all, the UK was on the receiving end of 165 billion of FDI from OECD countries in 2005; that’s a massive jump [...]
BBC cross rubicon
29 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 68 views]
What have Julius Caesar and the BBC got in common? Answer: they have both crossed the Rubicon. The Roman went first. As Suetonius wrote, when Caesar forded the river in northern Italy in 49BC, the die was cast. The BBC, on the other hand, didn’t cross the river in quite such a literal sense. In [...]
EMI and Warner go for Pacman defence
29 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 65 views]
This has of course got nothing to do with ego. It could be argued that this is a business ruled by ego, from the stars it promotes to the business executives that count the money. You would need a harpoon gun if you wanted to catch some of the bigger egos swimming in the shark [...]
Mortgage approvals rise, or do they?
28 Jun 2006 [0 Comments | 61 views]
Headlines and reality: sometimes they appear to have nothing in common with each other at all. Take the latest data from the British Bankers Association on mortgage approvals. The Guardian headlined:” Housing market shows signs of life” and went on to say: “The housing market upturn appears to be strengthening again as the number of [...]
