Philip Chua Business Blog

Posts Tagged ‘February’

Sovereign debt levels, in absolute and relative terms, will continue to be a problem for all too many as governments step into the black hole of banks’ deleveraging – nationalisation by the back door. The FX market is overstretched in many areas and likely to correct some of February’s moves….

Following on from a dovish Quarterly Inflation Report (QIR), attention in the UK will shift this week to the details of the February MPC minutes (Wednesday). Although the tone of the minutes are likely to echo key the messages emanating from the report – chiefly, that should the evolution of…

The German ZEW economic sentiment could have remained more or less unchanged in February, as the correlated indicators sent mixed signals. The ifo business expectations and the US ISM manufacturing index have both improved. The euro has depreciated and crude oil prices have gone down. However, German yield spreads have…

A better-than-expected report on retail sales for January could suggest stronger economic growth in coming months. But this week’s snowstorms will likely depress activity in February.







Retail – Merchandising – Business – Retail Trade – Sports equipment

On 12 February, Destatis (the German Federal Statistical Office) is publishing its “flash release” on German Q4 GDP; a detailed breakdown of the components will follow on 24 February. As already suggested by Destatis, German GDP growth will probably have remained unchanged quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2009. Italian GDP could have…

When the Senate takes up a jobs bill later this month or early in February, the debate will center on whether it really will create jobs.









United States Senate – Senate – Employment – Business and Economy – Job Search

(SINGAPORE) The number of private homes that developers launched and sold in October slowed to their lowest levels since housing sales began their revival in February, according to latest official figures. While the outcome was expected, the big question is how long it will take for home sales to rev up again.
Buyers, especially in the price-sensitive mass-market segment, had begun to be fatigued … more

PRUDENTIAL structured product investors have been on a roller coaster ride but it seems many continue to keep the faith, hoping they will get back their money when the funds mature.
Buffeted by the financial crisis, Prudential Yield 15/20 and Pru 3Plus have seen wild swings in their prices with one losing as much as 86 per cent in February this year before rebounding somewhat.
United Overseas Bank… more

Last week we stuck to our view that the first rate hike by the RBA will not be until February next year. That was despite market pricing anticipating 2 rate hikes by December. We noted, “We know that the RBA assesses current rates to be too low (at emergency levels)…

Gold pushed above the $1,000 mark Tuesday for the first time since February as hopes for an improving economy fed a broader rally in commodities.