Royal Bank Of Scotland Share Discussion Threads

[ramco] 04/10/2013 13:58

Friday's economic calendar
8:30 PM Fed's Fisher: Economy Policy

[ramco] 04/10/2013 13:57

BOJ leaves massive stimulus unchanged
As expected, the Bank of Japan has left its policy unchanged and maintained its target of expanding the monetary base by ¥60-¥70T ($720B) a year.The BOJ again said the economy is "recovering moderately," noting that corporate capex has been rising as profits have improved.
However, the BOJ is concerned by risks from overseas, including Europe's debt problems, emerging markets and the pace of the recovery in the U.S.
The decision came just days after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the government would go through with a planned rise in sales tax to 8% from 5%, which has caused uncertainty about the impact on the economy.
Nikkei -0.9%, USD-JPY -0.1% to ¥97.12.

[ramco] 04/10/2013 13:56

Italian Senate panel debates whether to expel Berlusconi
An Italian Senate committee has begun a hearing over whether Silvio Berlusconi should be expelled from Parliament following his conviction for tax fraud.The full chamber will vote on the issue once the panel has delivered its verdict.
The hearing comes two days after Berlusconi pulled a u-turn and voted with the government against a no-confidence motion.
The former prime minister had roiled Italy by saying last weekend that he would withdraw his support for the ruling coalition.

[ramco] 04/10/2013 13:56

Tesla and Samsung in talks over battery deal
Tesla Motors (TSLA) is having discussions with Samsung (SSNLF.PK) over the EV automaker using battery technology from the Korean company.A spokesperson for Tesla notes other potential battery suppliers are in the mix as well.
One report indicates Samsung would like the deal to include Tesla buying its touch-screens as well.
TSLA +0.7% premarket to $174.55.

[ramco] 04/10/2013 13:56

Futures show small gains - no jobs report today
Stock index futures are ahead by about 0.3% after yesterday's ugly session, with a bit of flexibility hinted at by House Speaker Boehner as good of an excuse as any to hit the buy button.Europe's posting moderate gains and Asia was mixed overnight.
The 10-year Treasury yield is up 2 basis points to 2.63%.
The Nonfarm Payrolls report will not be released today due to the shutdown.

[ramco] 04/10/2013 13:56

Futures show small gains - no jobs report today
Stock index futures are ahead by about 0.3% after yesterday's ugly session, with a bit of flexibility hinted at by House Speaker Boehner as good of an excuse as any to hit the buy button.Europe's posting moderate gains and Asia was mixed overnight.
The 10-year Treasury yield is up 2 basis points to 2.63%.
The Nonfarm Payrolls report will not be released today due to the shutdown.

[leedskier] 04/10/2013 13:16

In meetings with small groups of rank-and-file lawmakers, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has emphasized that he will not permit the country to default for the first time on its debt. Given that a bloc of hard-line conservatives is unlikely to vote to increase the limit under any circumstances, Boehner has told fellow Republicans that they must craft an agreement that can attract significant Democratic support.

"This needs to be a big bipartisan deal," Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a close Boehner ally, said as he emerged from a luncheon meeting in the speaker's office Thursday. "This is much more about the debt ceiling and a larger budget agreement than it is about Obamacare."

[ramco] 04/10/2013 12:17

Currently +31 and +4.75 respectively....;

[ramco] 04/10/2013 09:31

Morning, Dow +13 and S&P +2...

Speedy have been on here as you from inception....and have both enjoyed and valued your views on outlook with the occasional in my view invaluable incisive number crunching analysis and attest in both bull and bear mode....

It was just that historic move was accompanied by a statement that it would not be through New bond issuance which baffled for obvious reasons as you know like to always keep abreast of how immediate position may be affected....

Your ending questions as always insightful and thought provoking , after all these years needless to say keep 'em coming...;

[leedskier] 04/10/2013 09:18

There was an article in the Washington Post yesterday that the less suicidal members of the Congress GOP might be willing to compromise on one of the two votes required: (1) Passing the Obama Budget; (2) Raising the Debt ceiling; but dare not offend the Tea Party caucus by voting with the Democrats on both and so may keep their powder dry for the second all important vote on raising the debt ceiling.

That will be good news as 17 October approaches, but it means that the 'shut down' could continue.

[speedy] 04/10/2013 09:15

"Sad that it is surveillance."

Out of necessity unfortunately. The problem there is, that once accepted, it is
difficult to undo, and safeguards put in place for good reason get set aside.

The alternative was that more good people would have died.

[leedskier] 04/10/2013 09:10

Barclays has announced a 94.63 per cent take-up of a £6bn rights issue. (Release)

The books closed last night with the bank raising £5.8bn in the sale of New Ordinary Shares.

Underwriters are picking up the remainder today following trading starting on the London Stock Exchange.

The bank may blame local trading laws in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Africa for preventing investors from buying up the emergency shares.

- See more at:

[leedskier] 04/10/2013 09:09

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has concluded that banks have been too slow in paying out compensation to businesses which were mis-sold interest-rate hedging products. So far, only £2m of the £3bn which has been allocated to compensate company's, has been paid out. The FCA began investigating interest-rate swap mis-selling in May.

FCA chief executive Martin Wheatley said:
Whilst we are moving in the right direction, we expect to see the pace at which cases are resolved and redress paid quicken over the coming weeks. Many small business owners have been waiting too long to find out if they were mis-sold and we are now eager to see people repaid as soon as possible.
The FCA's figures showed that for the month of September a total of 200 offer letters were sent and 22 were accepted. The banks current target is to send out 1,000 compensation offers in October with figure increasing in each of the coming months.
- See more at:

[leedskier] 04/10/2013 09:08

Good to know Britain leads the table in something. Sad that it is surveillance.

"Britain has more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in the world, by a huge margin. Nobody knows how many CCTV cameras there are in the country, but the most respectable estimate seems to be the one made by Cheshire police in 2011, which came up with a number of 1.85m."



That is one for every 35.6 citizens.

[speedy] 04/10/2013 08:43

Thanks for the welcome back Ramco. I'd add that I do not intentionally seek bad
news, but my present outlook focusses that direction, hence that is what I post.

As for Japan, where the USA goes, the UK, and Japan, will be sucked into their slipstream. Or maybe Japan is still on the bleeding edge ...

"It's important to have them spend," Takeshi Niinami, chief executive officer of Japanese convenience store chain Lawson Inc. (2651) and a member of the Industrial Competitiveness Council that contributed to the growth strategy, told reporters yesterday. "I want to raise wages to encourage employees to work but we will be in a phase where bonuses will also go up so I have to consider if there is any way to prevent employees from saving."
Words fail me. Exactly how much debt should you insist that your employees have? And why deny them a choice?

[leedskier] 04/10/2013 08:14

October 4, 2013, 2:06am
BRITAIN is now home to more businesses than ever before as the number of firms bounds past its pre-crisis levels, Office for National Statistics data showed yesterday.

Its annual update showed 2.17m firms registered for tax in March, up 0.9 per cent or 18,000 on the year.

That takes the level past the previous highest number of 2.16m in 2008.

London is particularly strong, with 17.2 per cent of the total. Growth in the capital also led the country, with a 3.5 per cent rise, adding 13,000 businesses in the year. The south east came next with 15.7 per cent of all firms and a rise of 2,000 on March 2012.

There are 46,000 finance and insurance firms in the UK, a level which held steady on the year, with 18,500 in London and the south east.

The number of property firms increased 3,000 to 80,000, and professional, scientific and technical businesses rose 14,000 to 366,000.

The London Chambers of Commerce said the figures are an indication of the recovery.

"Dragon's Den and The Apprentice have helped make business cool, and so has the ethnic factor," said deputy chief Peter Bishop. "For instance the Indian business community is very active, with a great contribution to the London economy. And if you look at young people in the community, their role models are often business people."

But the figures also reflect the number of zombie firms in the UK. Record low borrowing rates have allowed 100,000 businesses to remain in a state of living death, barely servicing their debts, according to the Association of Business Recovery Professionals.

- See more at:

[speedy] 04/10/2013 08:10

In politics, when things get serious, you have to lie ...
In the USA, they have both plain and fancy lying, but in Spain, the economy being where it is, you get this ...



H/T ZH :

[lance corporal winstanley ash] 03/10/2013 19:59

shooting at capitol hill

[ramco] 03/10/2013 18:45

Jazzas right only one l...;