Commodities

Banks:  You can’t live without them;  You can’t shoot them.  But you sure wish you could.  I looked up “scandal” in the dictionary today.  It said, “see ‘Banks’”. The European Commission has revealed that it has issued a Statement of Objections to 13 different financial institutions, accusing them of colluding “to prevent exchanges from...

Pound Sterling – it was a mixed week for the Pound as it began the week down against the US Dollar as it declined to its lowest-level in more than two weeks ahead of the sale of UK government bonds. Against the Euro, Sterling weakened for the first time in three days. On Tuesday it advanced […]

Pound Sterling – Despite an improving picture emerging for the health of the UK economy, this week was one of declines against the US Dollar. On Monday the Pound was little changed against the Euro and US Dollar due to an industry report showing that home sellers raised their asking prices for a sixth-straight month […]

Almost six months after it was announced, the merger of commodities trading exchange IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE) and NYSE Euronext, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is nearing its completion to establish one of the largest trading markets operator in the world. Reuters News Organisation has learned from its sources that the European […]

Pound Sterling At the start of the week the Pound weakened against the Euro and US Dollar due to a selloff of the currency and as speculation mounts that the US Federal Reserve will soon announce a slowdown of monetary stimulus.  The uncertainty over the Fed’s next move regarding its easing policies was the main […]

Pound Sterling This week has been one of gains and upward momentum for Sterling. On Monday the Pound made gains against the US Dollar and edged upwards against the Euro after May’s manufacturing PMI data rose to 51.3 from the 49.8 recorded in April. A figure above 50 signals expansion. Construction data also boosted the Pound […]

Pound Sterling – With UK markets closed for a national holiday it was a slow start to the week for the Pound. Although Sterling went on to weaken against the US Dollar as UK retail sales dropped to a 16-month low, it was able to recoup losses as separate reports showed a surge in British house […]

This week’s hurdle proved more resilient, the FTSE100 index struggling to gain traction above 6,700, but we have made much progress. The move up from 6,600 was faster than expected, however, limited gains above 6710/15 for much of the week, all the while with support just 45pts below, suggests we may have had the sideways […]

The world’s third-largest platinum miner, Lonmin (LSE:LMI), announced its six-month results this morning.  The news was a far cry from the year-end results they published on 09 November 2012.  The thing that stood out the most last November was Chairman Roger Phillimore’s statement that “The publication of today’s results closes a painful chapter in Lonmin’s […]

How bold does a CEO have to be to say, “Our performance in the quarter reflects the results of the management action we have taken,” when the performance  was a net loss of $345 million? I’d say he’d have to be even bolder to make that statement especially when the company made a net profit […]