Gold futures traded at a new record high on Friday and silver hit $40.04 an ounce for the first time since 1980 as concerns about the dollar weakening draws investors towards precious metals. Gold for June delivery was up $8.60 and hit a trading high of $1.468.30 SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed ETF…
Portugal’s caretaker government under José Sócrates last night requested an EU bailout, making Portugal the third EU member, after Ireland and Greece, to seek financial assistance. The move comes after the country’s long term government bond rating was downgraded by Moody’s on Tuesday by a notch from A3 to BAA1 and the credit agency said Portugal…
Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest lender said on Wednesday it plans to repay 14.3bn euro in state aid by June through the sale of new shares and the use of excess capital. The bank said it is to pay back €14.3bn of the €16.2bn in “silent participation”, a type of non-voting capital received by the German government…
Portugal’s long term government bond rating has been downgraded by Moody’s by a notch from A3 to BAA1, the credit agency said. Moody’s cautioned that it expects Portugal to have to look for external help to resolve its debt crisis. In a statement the agency said: “The limited migration of the rating to BAA1 in today’s…
Vodafone shares opened 2 percent higher this morning after the company announced it has agreed to sell its entire 44 percent stake in French mobile phone group SFR to Vivendi for a cash consideration of €7.75bn. The agreement includes a final dividend worth €200 which Vodafone will receive on completion of the transaction. In addition,…
Not all Turnkey Properties are Created EquallySeveral real estate investors have fallen into the trap of investing in what appears to be a turnkey real estate investment, only to find they are opening Pandora’s box after the deal closes. The seller may have packaged the newly rehabbed property into a neat little investment bundle complete…
Xstrata, one of the world’s biggest coal exporters, has come to an agreement from today to sell Australian thermal coal to Hiroshima-based Chucogu Electric Power for one year at $129.80 a tonne it was announced. The new benchmark price contracted per tonne, which is around 30 percent up from the previous year, is an all…
Japan’s manufacturing activity dropped to a two-year low in March and posted its sharpest decline since records began in October 2001, a survey showed today. The disruption of production operation and supply chains caused by the earthquake and tsunami devastation caused the index of purchasing managers to fall to 46.4 from 52.9 in February, according…
OPEC, the crude oil producer’s cartel, could this year for the first time ever bank $1trn in export revenue if crude oil prices maintain their 100 bbl, the IEA said. Brent Light Crude traded at 115 bbl on the ICE exchange London while the US traded above $104 yesterday. Amid the MENA uprisings the company’s cartel…
Leading plumbing and construction supplier Wolseley saw its shares climb 3.8 percent and top the key gainers on the FTSE 100 this morning following the release of its results. The company posted half year net profit figures of $213m and said that trading across its networks improved, which will allow it to resume paying a…
