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The Hellenic Republic and European authorities are locked in a game of chicken that has them between a rock and a hard place.
Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes Staff
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Sliding crude oil prices and a turn in the euphoric tide lifting equities prompted a lift for government debt prices.
Andrew Wilkinson, Contributor
ING Direct USA's Arkadi Kuhlmann can attract customers. The hard part is keeping their data safe.
Financial names were under pressure as stocks suffered an unexpected reversal of fortunes midweek. read »
Can you remember the last time you stayed up late watching a movie while you should have been asleep? You weren’t wasting your time. In fact; you may have gained some insights into managing your portfolio. In case you missed them, here are 10 kernels of wisdom from Hollywood classics. 10. [...] read »
Barclays Wealth has a "glass half full" outlook on equities in the developed markets and is fuller still on China, its strategists told a handful of New York journalists Tuesday evening. read »
The pound bucked the trend on a quiet start where trading was otherwise marked by further dollar strengthening after the Bank of England revealed a poor combination of weak growth and high inflation. Meanwhile sentiment towards the euro is reaching the opposite extreme of where it stood one week ago in the run-up to the ECB meeting. Since the ECB appeared to soften its stance the single currency has weakened by seven cents versus the dollar. read »
Tuesday's stock market session was easy to like. In short, the fact that the indices advanced smartly across the board without any "high-profile directional drivers," the strong breadth numbers (2400 advancing issues vs. just 614 declines), and an increase in volume from the prior session all add up to what traders like to call "good action." read »
Last week, American International Group reported a sharp decline in profits as it sold off assets and took one-time charges to extinguish debt. On Wednesday, an SEC filing from the insurer offered further details of the next step in the U.S. Treasury's attempt to recoup as much as possible from the taxpayer-funded bailout that kept the firm afloat through the financial crisis. read »
Investment Grade: The Gap Inc., (GPS) – A rising stock market saw shares in the Gap add 2% to $23.02 but its 10-year paper trended in the opposite direction with its 5.95% April 2021 paper losing more than $3.00 per $1,000 face value. Its yield has now jumped from 5.74% last week when 10-year Treasuries yielded 3.16% to 5.97% today with Treasury yields only three pips higher at 3.19%. On sizable volume of almost $60 million trading today it appears that either someone is not so hot on its Baa3[...] read »
Government bond prices remained stubbornly buoyant despite an ongoing rebound from last week’s 11% slump in global commodity prices. Equity markets, too, are resilient with investors lifting prices back towards last week’s highs, the best performance in three years. Most investors seem reluctant to shake off their affair with bonds despite what appears to be a buoyant body of evidence that would suggest the onset of inflation and subsequently rising yields. read »
