[edmc id=1778][/edmc] US Equities closed at record highs in the week just past us; the S&P 500 in particular closed above 1,900 for the first time, gaining 1.29 percentage points from the week’s open. Such good performance, which was also echoed by the Nasdaq Composite (which retraced some of its Read more…
The sharp increase in UK property prices-predominantly but not limited to the London area- over the last year has led many to believe such a trend has become unsustainable. According to Nationwide Building Society, Real estate prices registered an 18% annual change in London since 2013, while the average UK Read more…
[edmc id=1641][/edmc] US This week has been full of economic data. The most relevant are the following: – Final GDP growth for 4th 2013 quarter q/q is 2,6%, still mainly driven by inventories. – Flash manufacturing PMI is at 55.5, a bit lower than expectations. However, this suggests a manufacturing Read more…
[edmc id=1589] [/edmc] US Another volatile week for the markets and for the U.S. ended on Friday amid concerns over Russia. As was expected, Crimea voted for annexation to Russia on Sunday 16th and this led to further sanctions to a group of Russian wealthy individuals that rattled Russia’s economy Read more…
[edmc id=1554][/edmc] U.S. At the end of a week dominated primarily by uncertainty, markets mostly closed in negative territory. Signs of the week that’s past can be clearly seen in the VIX index which has been on a constant hike path since the beginning of 2014. The VIX is seen Read more…
[edmc id=1492][/edmc] US Positive data for the US economy has come out this week. Manufacturing PMI of February (53.2) showed a significant improvement with respect to January (51.3) and beat expectations of 52.0. The most interesting indicators, however, concern labour force. On February 175k new jobs were created in the Read more…
[edmc id=1406][/edmc] US The economy grew at a slower pace than it was first estimated. Indeed, the fourth quarter GDP growth estimate was revised down to 2.4%, in contrast with the initial estimation of 3.2%. This revision was attributed to lower consumer spending growth. As this data adds to a Read more…
[edmc id=1325][/edmc] BSIC MARKET RECAP 22/02/2014 U.S. Stocks in the U.S. edged lower on Friday after quite a good week data wise: producer and consumer price index coming in as forecasted but better than expected on a monthly basis, markit’s manufacturing PMI scoring the highest variation in nearly four years. Read more…
Since the last time we wrote, many things have happened on the markets. The Fed has finally turned on its tapering programme in mid-December and said it would unwind its asset purchasing by another 10 billion in February. This long expected event has provoked what news broadcasters all over the Read more…
US This week has been really quiet for the US. Two main issues arise: the initial jobless claims surprise on the downside (actual 316K vs expected 330K), and the decline in the durable goods orders. (-2%) in October. With regard to the first data, although it is clearly good for Read more…
Panel 22|11|2013 US This week Bernanke surprised the markets outlining the chance of early tapering of QE (December meeting). For us this is quite surprising, as we still believe the US economy is not performing as well as it was believed this spring. Three main reasons have worsened our outlook Read more…
Shire PLC Market Cap (as of 15/11/13): £15.7bn ViroPharma Inc. Market Cap (as of 15/11/13): $3.3bn Monday, November 11th brought about the much rumored king-size deal of the year in the pharmaceutical sector: Shire PLC of Ireland acquired ViroPharma Inc., a US-based niche company focused on rare diseases, for a Read more…
The first point is that the Greek equity index level is very stretched: RSI is now over 70 and price levels already reached the upper Bollinger band. Although this would already be enough to short the index, a closer look at historical data corroborates this feeling. The true driver seems Read more…
The main rationale for the trade is a possible positive surprise of the European economy by the end of the year. The periphery has performed well and the recent resolution of the Berlusconi’s issue has reduced the political risk of the area. Moreover, the economic performances outline the beginning of Read more…
JC Flowers & Company LLC: $2.3bn under management Cabot Credit Management Group Ltd Market Cap: N/A Deal size: £800mln On 15th of May it was announced that funds managed and advised by JC Flowers & Company LLC have acquired Cabot Credit Management Group Ltd. in a secondary buyout from AnaCap Financial Partners Read more…