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As the European markets opened this morning many analysts were expecting a relatively sharp decline in stocks and they did not have to wait long to be proven right. The decline came on the back of Japan’s worse-than-expected trade deficit results which were announced in the early hours of this morning. The effects of the [...]

BHP Billiton Ltd has announced that its year-on-year profit has fallen by around 35%. The company posted a profit of $23.6bn last year which has now fallen to $15.4bn, largely due to the devaluation of it’s assets and products as the global economy has contracted over the last 12 months. While the announcement will hurt [...]

US stocks offered little more than a twitch today after better-than-expected results were published showing an increase in consumer confidence and spending. The S&P 500 did make slight gains across the board, rising to a four month high. Leading the advance was Gap, which gained 5.2% on the back of impressive sales data which outperformed [...]

Unemployment in the UK fell unexpectedly today, assisting the US economy as investors saw it as a sign of growth. The second quarter saw the number of jobless people in the UK fall by just under 50,000. Claimants of the UK’s welfare programme for the unemployed, called Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), fell to 1.5m; its [...]

US stocks performed beyond all expectations today after back to back losses. The S&P 500 registered two stocks with gains for every one that had lost out. Investors cited manufacturing data as their primary reason for displaying faith in the markets. The day’s biggest losers were Staples Inc, whose stock fell by 15% after they [...]

The catastrophic software malfunction that cost Knight Capital $440m has been blamed on outdated software that was still present on their systems. Claims are emerging that the old software had some how conflicted with the latest update which had been developed in preparation for the NYSE’s attempt to open the markets to smaller traders in [...]

US Stocks Make Significant Gains US stocks made gains today with the S&P 500 continuing its recent drive which is now into its second week. Better-than-expected retail sales reports spurred the market on combined with an unlikely boost from growth in Europe. JP Morgan & co. led the financial sector with gains of 1.4% as [...]

Oil rose to $115 a barrel today as concerns over stability in the Middle East began hitting the headlines. The Israeli media has been reporting on a leak from their government which suggests attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities are imminent. The jump in price represents a new three month high for Brent Crude Oil, which [...]

After more than a week of global rallying the world’s markets showed signs of decline today. While the losses were not gigantic it will shake some investors who have been riding the recent rise in the markets. While volume is expected to drop, traders are expected to remain active in the hope that the world’s [...]

Australian Jobs Report Better-than-Expected Australia saw unexpected job growth today as reports were released suggesting employment had risen by 14,000 for the month of July, representing massive gains on 28,000 decrease seen in June. The Australian economy is notoriously dependant on miners and various other resources which have fallen drastically on a global scale, with [...]