Independent Investor

France has lost its AAA credit rating, along with several other European economies afflicted by ongoing concerns about the viability of the Eurozone at credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, leading to higher borrowing costs for servicing already burgeoning national debts.
France has become the latest casualty of the ongoing Eurozone crisis after credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the French AAA credit rating, leading to a rise in borrowing costs and the costs of servicing the national debt.
The decision will lead to more significant borrowing costs for the …

The price of oil futures has been suppressed by an indicated delay in sanctions on Iran which would effectively ban Iranian oil, as the EU seeks to offer a six month timetable for members to establish alternative sources of fuel.
The market for oil futures suffered its worst trading week of 2012 so far following an indication from senior EU officials that suggest a ban on Iranian oil could be delayed for a further six months in order to prevent supply issues.
Futures were down over 2.3% on the week after an …

Futures traders have benefited from further rising prices in the orange juice futures market, which some analysts have forecast will lead to higher prices for consumers´, amidst concerns over the integrity of several key orange crops globally which it is feared could lead to a supply shortage.
Concern over the impact of persistent drought on Mexico’s pending orange crop has sent the orange juice futures market rallying up over 3.6% last week, providing an opportunity for commodities traders to capitalize on forecast supply-side issues.
Orange juice futures for March closed up to …

The Swiss stock exchange was plagued by technical issues on Friday morning, leading to a delay in access to some of the most commonly traded markets of up to 3 hours- the latest in a series of technical glitches, giving rise to calls for more robust trading infrastructure across the industry as a response to growing trade volumes.

Trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange was subject to a lengthy delay on Friday morning, following a significant technical issue which affected trading across some of the country’s largest companies and most …

Even when the global market is generally depressed, there are still some opportunities that many investors can explore in order to earn profits. One of the fields that can be the focus of many investors is the market for metals like gold, silver and platinum. The trading of these metals can be in many forms like bullion investment, metal trading as well as spread betting or futures trading and share or equity trading.
Bullion Investing in a Depressed Economy
One of the most effective ways in playing in realm of gold, silver …