Europe’s spreading debt crisis—combined with an overdue stock pullback and the prospect of the Federal Reserve withdrawing its economic support—added up to one thing Tuesday: Fear. As the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled more than 200 points and safe-haven moves for US Treasurys escalated, investors sought protection with the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Volatility Index[VIX  23.84   3.65  (+18.08%)   ], which [...]

China, Euro, forex, stock market, US Hide

Directors at Continental and United Airlines have approved a deal that would combine them into the world’s largest airline, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Sunday. The stock-swap deal values Continental at some $3.2 billion. The Sunday board actions were described by a person with knowledge of the votes, who declined to be identified [...]

M&A, stock market, US Hide

The political consensus may be that President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy has been weak. The judgment of money in all its forms has been overwhelmingly positive, and that may be the more lasting appraisal. One year after U.S stocks hit their post-financial-crisis low on March 9, 2009, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has [...]

dollar, recovery, stock market, US Hide

AS COMPANIES in the alternative energy sector took a hit during the downturn for reasons that are no longer front and centre, they will once again be a key investment theme this year. So said Lars Kalbreier, Credit Suisse’s Zurich-based global head of equity and alternatives research at a media briefing yesterday. Valuations are now [...]

commodity, forex, investments, stock market Hide

HE markets for most risk-related trades, from equities to oil to commodity currencies, are likely to push higher in the first quarter on ultra-low interest rates, still ample liquidity, and continued economic recovery. The key factors that are likely to determine whether the rally continues in 2010 include economic recovery, liquidity, interest rates, corporate earnings [...]

commodity, forex, stock market, trading strategy Hide

Are overly bullish investors blindly driving stocks higher and taking you for a ride? After weak earnings from Alcoa [AA  15.52   -1.93  (-11.06%)   ]and a warning from Chevron [CVX  80.36   -0.52  (-0.64%)   ], investors are starting to worry that all is not right on Wall Street. Doug Kass of Seabreeze is among the growing number of strategists that thinks there’s [...]

commodity, Interest rates, stock market, trading strategy, unemployment, US Hide

The U.S. economy will slip back into recession in the second and third quarter of 2010 as the boost from fiscal stimulus measures and inventory rebuilding wears off, James Shugg, senior economist at Westpac Bank, told CNBC Wednesday. “In the second half of this year, starting in the second quarter, a bit of a mismatch [...]

recession, stock market, trading strategy, US Hide

SHANGHAI: China said on Monday it would soon launch a stock index covering 500 firms listed in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan to enhance financial cooperation in the Greater China region. China Securities Index Co, established by the mainland’s two bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen, will start to publish the CSI Cross-Straits 500 Index [...]

China, currency, investments, stock market Hide

Wall Street’s first test of the new year and decade could well be whether investors are following each other over a cliff. Following a year that featured a violent stock rally led mainly by institutional investors and traders, 2010 begins with new signs that retail investors are beginning to buy into a better future for [...]

consumers, earnings, stock market, US Hide

THE growth rate of Singapore’s economy will not return to levels seen before the recent economic downturn any time soon, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday. In his speech at a bursary award ceremony at Townsville Primary School, PM Lee said that while Singapore is emerging from the downturn, he does not expect gross [...]

growth, Singapore, stock market Hide