Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
Market Insight: Peter Tasker – Yen has edge over gold in battle for supremacy
There are not many financial assets that are priced higher today than before the Lehman shock in September 2008. Two that have done investors proud are the yen and gold bullion, notes the Arcus Research analyst. Both are perceived as havens of safety in a troubled world.
Investor’s notebook: Andrew Garthwaite – Bond price action paints misleading picture
This financial environment is conducive to a sharp pick-up in global merger and acquisition activity and share buy-backs, says Andrew Garthwaite, global equity strategist at Credit Suisse.
Lex on JGBs and the dollar
A weak American economy will keep interest rates ultra-low for longer than previously expected. That new view cannot fully explain the dollar’s 11 per cent fall against the yen since the beginning of May, says Lex.
Westminster blog: Ed Miliband and his Halifax shares
I asked Ed Miliband last week whether he owned any shares or had any friends who worked in the City of London, says Jim Pickard. It was my awkward way of probing whether he can relate to the typical FT reader.
Gavyn Davies’ blog: Fed’s Bullard is concerned
The recent slowdown in the US economy seems to have caused some members of the Fed’s FOMC to soften their stance on monetary policy, and the markets have begun to speculate about a possible easing, says the macroeconomist. If this comes, it is likely to be very slight, since I doubt that the Fed has seen enough evidence yet to convince them that the economy is slowing in a dangerous way.
News analysis: Fed dilemma on fresh monetary easing
As economic indicators in the US on consumer spending and housing point to renewed gloom, markets are expecting the Federal Reserve to step in again to ease credit, write FT reporters. With official short-term interest rates already close to zero, the only remaining way to do this is to push down long-term interest costs, through another programme of “quantitative easing” – pumping money into the economy through the purchase of assets.
David Pilling: Why America sees red in corporate China
Huawei, one of the world’s top telecommunications equipment manufacturers, likes to portray itself as an innovative, privately held business owned by its 20,000 employees, writes the FT’s Pilling. But all that most American officials see when they look at the fast-growing Shenzhen-based company is the red of the Chinese flag.