BGFS Associates

The financial markets will have to wait until later this week for further news on the US bailout of financial institutions after the House of Representatives voted against the USD700 billion rescue plan for the financial industry announced by US politicians over the weekend.

It is anticipated that the US Senate will try to salvage the plan perhaps as early as tomorrow. Some changes are expected to the legislation to pacify Republicans who are pushing for a mandatory insurance programme. They may also push for the Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend mark-to-market accounting and require banking regulators to assess the real value of troubled assets. (continue reading…)

Inflationary pressures are continuing to command attention from the central banks and analysts alike.

Against this backdrop, the differing stances of the central banks have been assessed, with the European Central Bank (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, attracting praise for maintaining a steady hand on interest rates within the euro-zone to keep inflation under control. There is even talk of a rate rise in July to bring inflation down towards the Bank’s target of 2%.

While inflation in the euro-zone is sitting at a 16-year high of 3.6%, (continue reading…)

The sub-prime mortgage situation is continuing to create unrest in equity markets with the uncertainty surrounding the scale of the lending issue prolonging the markets’ insecurity.

In the US, the S&P 500 has fallen over recent weeks to the extent that it has now given up the gains achieved in 2007 to stand at 1,416.77, a loss of 0.1% for the year to date.

Asian stocks have also (continue reading…)

The sub-prime mortgage situation continues to dominate the headlines.The US Federal Reserve’s move to reduce its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point reportedly surprised many economists who had been expecting a quarter-point cut. (continue reading…)