Easy Money >>> FOREX

2007-03-01 10:08:32

UK Feb manufacturing PMI 55.4, highest since July 2004 - sources

LONDON (AFX) - UK manufacturing sector activity rose to its highest level in

two and a half years in February, coming in well above analysts’ expectations,

sources said of a key survey.

2007-03-01 09:48:45

UK Jan M4 up monthly 0.9 pct, 13.0 pct higher on-year - BoE

LONDON (AFX) - The UK’s money supply continued to expand at a fairly rapid

pace in January, the Bank of England said today.

2007-03-01 09:35:17

UK Jan net mortgage lending 9.6 bln stg, lowest since September - BoE

LONDON (AFX) - The impact of the Bank of England’s surprise interest rate

increase in the early part of January on the UK’s mortgage market appears to be

mixed, as figures from the central bank showed lending down sharply but

approvals higher.

2007-03-01 09:24:12

Swiss Feb PMI 63.5 vs 62.0 in Jan, in-line with forecasts

ZURICH (AFX) - The Swiss Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose a seasonally

adjusted 1.5 points to 63.5, from 62.0 in January, said Credit Suisse,

co-compiler of the indicator.

2007-03-01 09:10:57

Euro zone Feb manufacturing PMI 55.6 vs 55.5 in Jan - sources

LONDON (AFX) - Euro zone manufacturing sector activity picked up very

slightly in February, sources said of a key survey.

2007-03-01 09:07:52

Hong Kong Jan retail sales down 1.3 pct yr-on-yr by value

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Retail sales in January fell 1.3 pct year-on-year to

20.9 bln hkd, and were down 4.8 pct by volume, the government said.

2007-03-01 09:00:32

German Feb manufacturing PMI 57.2; consensus 58.5 - sources

FRANKFURT (AFX) - The German purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing

declined to 57.2 points in February from 58.5 in January and came in below

expectations, market sources said.

2007-03-01 08:54:32

Italy Feb manufacturing PMI 54.2 vs 53.5 in Jan - sources

MILAN (AFX) - The Italian manufacturing sector’s purchasing managers’ index

(PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 54.2 in February from 53.5 in January,

according to market sources.

2007-03-01 08:36:42

Hong Kong Jan retail sales down 1.3 pct on yr by value; down 4.8 pct by volume

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Retail sales in January fell 1.3 pct year-on-year to

20.9 bln hkd, and were down 4.8 pct by volume, the government said.

2007-03-01 04:18:29

China end-2006 privately-owned vehicles up 23.7 pct at 29.25 mln

SHANGHAI (XFN-ASIA) - The number of privately owned vehicles in China rose

23.7 pct to 29.25 mln at the end of 2006, the official Xinhua news agency

reported, citing the National Bureau of Statistics.

2007-03-01 02:31:08

China Feb manufacturing PMI 53.0 vs 52.0 in Jan - CLSA

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The purchasing manager’s index (PMI) for China’s

manufacturing sector compiled by brokerage CLSA rose to a three-month high of

53.0 in February, indicating a solid rate of expansion.

2007-03-01 02:09:24

Hong Kong Feb PMI 55.2 vs 55.9 in Jan - Brunswick

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - The Hong Kong Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for

February stood at 55.2, down from 55.9 in January, according to the latest

Brunswick data.

2007-03-01 00:58:02

Australia Q4 private new capex rises 1.0 pct vs 5.3 pct fall in Q3

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - Private new capital expenditure in the fourth quarter

rose a seasonally-adjusted 1.0 pct from the third quarter to 18.082 bln in

volume terms, but was down 1.3 pct year-on-year, the Australian Bureau of

Statistics said.

2007-03-01 00:03:36

Economy grows slower than expected in 4Q

WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy turned in a much weaker performance in the

final quarter of 2006 than initially thought, and new-home sales tumbled in

January by the most in 13 years, suggesting more business lethargy ahead.

2007-02-28 23:00:58

Fed chairman says markets working well

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced his first

market crisis with a calm, matter-of-fact demeanor that won praise from

lawmakers and economists alike.

For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com

For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com

For now, the Securities and Exchange Commission has run up a white flag. It said last week it won’t appeal a federal court decision that axed one of its key rules governing certain brokerage fees.

So the agency will have to go back to the drawing board. Within months it’ll have to come up with rules for running so-called fee-based brokerage accounts, which had grown increasingly widespread.

For investors, the eventual replacement rules could result in higher fees. Investors may also face the hassle of finding alternative accounts.

Investors in the problematic fee-based brokerage accounts now pay an average annual fee of 0.99% on their assets, according to research firm Cerulli Associates.

An alternative account one for which the broker is acting as an adviser with fiduciary duties could charge average fees of 1.05%.

On an average account size of about $278,000, that works out to $167 more in fees per year.

Accounts in which investors pay traditional transaction fees instead of asset-based fees are another alternative. Gross commissions at full-service brokerages for stock trades can start at about $35.

Commissions for online trades via discount brokerages can be free if an investor meets minimum account balance requirements. Otherwise, trades cost at least $2.50 each. That’s what Just2Trade charges.

Nearly 1 million investors have $277.4 billion in the problematic fee-based brokerage accounts.

Impact on brokerages varies. Merrill Lynch () is the largest player in fee-based brokerage. Its $101.6 billion in assets are about 37% of the entire niche.

Generally, brokerages say they will help clients switch from fee-based brokerage accounts if necessary. UBS () has told clients they may have to switch to advisory accounts or commission-based brokerage accounts. Wachovia says it will wait for new rules from the SEC before making changes.

Working With Regulators

Merrill Lynch says it will work with regulators to preserve fee-based accounts. Merrill points out that the exemption’s purpose was to cut brokers’ conflicts of interest.

The SEC said on May 14 it would not appeal the March 30 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. District. The court decision said the agency had overstepped its bounds in setting a key rule in 1999. Known as Rule 202, it allowed brokers to hold themselves out as investment advisers without requiring them to act as fiduciaries.

Non-broker investment advisers must register with the SEC or state regulators. Then they can charge for giving investment advice. But they’re held to a fiduciary standard. That requires them to put investors’ interests in front of their own.

Rule 202 essentially exempted brokers from the fiduciary standard if investment advice was incidental to their brokerage service.

“But instead the SEC let brokerages act as if almost any investment advice was incidental,” said Duane Thompson, head of the D.C. office of the Financial Planning Association. It was the FPA that sued the SEC over the exemption rule.

He added, “All we want is a level playing field, with all people giving investment advice held to the same high standard and the same liability.”

Mercer Bullard, a former SEC attorney who teaches securities law at the University of Mississippi, says shareholders will save money. “The ruling will cut down on the self-serving deals the exemption rule permitted, which benefited brokers at the expense of investors,” Bullard said.

Still, investors may not have to find alternatives to fee-based brokerage accounts, according to both friends and foes of the court ruling.

“Brokerages will continue to offer them,” Bullard said. “They make too much money to give them up.”

Ira Hammerman, general counsel and senior managing director of industry trade group Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said, “One of the things we want to talk to the SEC about is an alternative exemption. The SEC has other tools it could pursue that would have the effect of preserving fee-based brokerage accounts.”

Wall Street has not seen any reason to bail out of brokerage stocks. On May 14 Merrill Lynch fell 1.21%. But it has rallied to higher levels.

Others, including UBS and Wachovia, () have also rebounded.

A key reason brokerages like the pre-ruling system is how it let them conduct so-called principal transactions. A brokerage buys securities from one client and sells to another. It can profit from the spread.

That system can be abused, Bullard says, if a broker seeks the widest possible spread rather than provide the best execution.

But Hammerman says that via principal transactions, brokers function like market makers in the traditional system of the New York Stock Exchange. That helps investors by boosting liquidity, he says.

HE got his first taste for art scrawling graffiti slogans and murals on walls around the city as a schoolboy.

Now, twenty years later, Bernie Reid has been commissioned by Habitat to design wallpaper inspired by the “street art” of his youth.

The 34-year-old artist is recreating the kind of 1980s hip-hop murals he most admired as a youth.

This time though his work will be decorating designer homes.

“I was a right little vandal when I was 15 or 16,” the Leith illustrator admitted. “But it’s given me a career and just goes to show that you can progress from just writing on walls.”

Habitat’s design team contacted Bernie after spotting some of his work on the internet and in industry magazines.

He is now working on designs incorporating some of his favourite graffiti murals for Habitat’s new “VIP” wallpaper range.

Other designers contributing to the range include controversial artist Tracy Emin and acclaimed fashion designer Matthew Williamson.

“I suppose it did come as a bit of a shock,” said former Broughton High School pupil Bernie. “I’ve done work for various companies before which has been based on street graffiti but you don’t really expect someone like Habitat to be on the list of people likely to contact me. I submitted my first rough drawings last week which were based on art I’d done in the past and I’m just waiting to hear back from that.

“The drawings are in the style of breakdancing and old-school hip-hopping murals, which I’m pretty familiar with.”

Mr Reid’s client list includes Duran Duran, for whom he designed a limited edition DVD pamphlet, and fashion designer Stella McCartney.

The artist, who has a four-year-old daughter, Bonnie, spends much of his time tutoring children in Leith.

He recently helped a group of primary pupils draw a large fox on to the side of an allotment shed in tribute to the resident animal which is regularly spotted there.

“It’s important to help out kids and make them see that art is something everyone is capable of,” he said. “I started out by drawing on buildings and walls, but that has led to something and now I make a career out of it.

“When working in the community I tend to see a lot of kids just like I was. I try to encourage them to do something positive with their art and show them that from vandalism it can actually become something people appreciate if done correctly.”

As well as on official graffiti spaces in and around the city and the Leith allotment, his work can be seen on the walls of Grassmarket pub Dragonfly.

The Habitat contract is his most prestigious to date.

“Hopefully this can lead on to bigger and better things,” he said. “That’s how I’ve progressed for the last six or seven years, by word of mouth, or rather word of eye, so this can only help.”

A Habitat spokesman said: “The VIP capsule collection of unique wallpapers are designed to stimulate the senses and create a unique backdrop for the modern home.

“It reflects Habitat’s commitment to bringing cutting edge design to the high street - and many of the iconic pieces from the original VIP collection have already become instant classics.”