More small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Scotland are successfully applying for finance, according to a Scottish government survey.
The SME Access to Finance report found 87% of firms were able to access all of the money they were seeking - up from 79% in the last survey in 2010.
There was also a fall in the number of outright rejections by banks.
But there was a marginal rise in the proportion of firms who secured none of the money they were seeking.
The Scottish government said the survey provided "some evidence of an easing in supply constraints".
The survey indicated a rise in demand for finance across nearly all sectors, with 9% of all firms seeking new and/or additional lending and a third of all firms looking to renew existing facilities.
Manufacturing and construction were among the sectors with the highest application rejection rate.
The latest survey suggested demand for finance had remained broadly stable since the last survey in 2010, with 45% of firms looking for credit over a three-year period to 2012. That compared to a figure of 43% in the three years to 2010.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said small and medium-sized business were "the lifeblood of the Scottish economy".
He continued: "Collectively they employ over one million people and account for around 54% of total employees in Scotland's private sector.
"Any evidence of increased lending to SMEs is good news for our economy and will be a key element in building a sustained recovery."
Mr Swinney said lending criteria were stricter now than in the past but the latest figures showed that accessing finance was still possible.
"Businesses must present a robust, commercially sound proposition," he said.
"Companies can come to our agencies or Business Gateway for advice and information before they even approach the banks and I would urge them to make use of all of the services available."
Lending callEarlier this year, Mr Swinney urged the UK government to do more to accelerate bank lending for SMEs.
His call followed UK Treasury data indicating Scottish SMEs received less than 5% of lending from a project set up by the UK government and five major banks.
Under Project Merlin, banks committed to making £190bn of new credit available in 2011.
Scottish SMEs took 4.8% of gross lending, but accounted for 6.4% of UK SMEs.
In March, the UK government introduced a £20bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme, aimed at boosting bank lending to SMEs.
The Smart Way To Make Money From Forex Trading - istockAnalyst.com (press release)
(By Dave Goodboy) If you have been following the markets for very long, then you have probably noticed all the flashy ads for foreign exchange trading, or "forex" for short. They seem to be everywhere, from the business TV channels and magazines to billboards and the Internet. I have even seen them places you wouldn't expect, like during the game on Sunday.
But did you know there's a way to profit from the massive amount of forex trading that's going on without bearing much of the excessive risk that goes along with it?
Let me explain...
Forex trading refers to the over-the-counter market in which the foreign currencies of the world are traded. It's also a rapidly-growing segment of the online trading industry.
But rather than dive into forex trading yourself, you should consider investing in the forex industry itself.
Here's what I mean...
Amazing growth...
The average daily retail trading volume has expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 37.1% from 2000 to 2009, according to a 2010 analysis by the Aite Group.
That's massive growth no matter how you cut it.
Most interestingly, even with this growth, retail forex traders still represent a tiny sliver of all retail traders. There are more than 100 million retail traders globally, but only 1.25 million who trade forex. So the market could easily continue to grow. Provided the international markets, 24 hours a day, six-day a week access, and very low access costs for the trader, this market is custom made for expansion.
Betting with the house
Despite the popularity, not surprisingly, most retail forex traders lose money. In fact, in a recent interview, Drew Niv, CEO of FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM), stated that only about 20-30% of traders make a profit.
This means that at least 70% of all traders lose money in the retail forex market. These losses are primarily due to the ultra-high leverage provided to forex traders. Combine leverage with new, inexperienced traders, and it's a recipe for disaster -- at least on the trader side of things... On the business side, it's great.
Depending on the model used by the dealer, these losses may add to their bottom line. Here's how it works...
There's the direct-access model, also known as "no dealing desk," and the counterparty model. Put simply, the "no dealing desk" model matches trader's positions with other traders or banks. However, some dealers act as the counterparty to their customer's trades. This means the dealer takes the opposite side of the transaction, and if the trader losses, the dealer wins.
In addition, many dealers control their own trading platforms, which open up an entirely new avenue for profiting from traders.
Regardless of the model used, all retail forex dealers make money from the spread between the "bid" and "ask" of the different currency pairs. The dealer marks up the spread, which becomes profit. To put it bluntly, the more traders trade, the more money the dealer makes. This is why dealers encourage short-term trading by offering free technical analysis chart packages, education, news feeds and other tools to keep traders active in the market.
The dealers
There are two main U.S.-based forex dealers that are also public companies. One, I've already mentioned, is FXCM. The other is GAIN Capital Holdings (NYSE: GCAP).
FXCM claims to be a "no dealing desk" model, except for its micro-accounts where it acts as the counterparty. On the other hand, GAIN Capital Holdings acts as the counterparty for most of its retail business, according to its 10-K filing with the SEC.
Let's take a closer look at the larger of the two forex dealers, FXCM.
FXCM posted first quarter revenue of nearly $103 million, up 8% compared with the same period last year. Net income was up 4%, and most interestingly, customer equity spiked 47% from the same time last year. Active accounts jumped 22% from same time period.
The company is actively seeking new markets and acquisitions. Just recently, it purchased 50% of Lucid Markets, a private U.K.-based proprietary trading group, in an effort to make deeper inroads into the institutional forex market. Adding icing to the cake, FXCM just announced a small quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share.
Taking a look at the chart, the company is trading above both its 50 and 200-day moving average. However, the stock hit resistance in the $12.50 range, and it has since fallen back, setting up a solid buying opportunity on a pullback.
Risks to Consider: Just like in the forex market itself, there are risks in betting on the dealers. The primary risk is regulatory. Recently, the U.S. capped the amount of leverage domestic forex dealers can offer their clients. This sent many traders overseas in search of higher leverage. Although forex remains lightly regulated, tighter controls may be on their way.
Action to Take --> The recent pull back from FXCM's highs has placed the stock on my radar screen for a potential buy in the near future. My target price for this stock would be about $15.
-- Dave Goodboy
This article originally appeared on StreetAuthority
Author: Dave Goodboy
European officials to meet but crisis fix elusive - AP - msnbc.com
LUXEMBOURG — Finance ministers from the counties that use the embattled euro are debating Thursday the best way to help Spain bail out its banks and whether to give Greece's new government more time to get its deficit under control.
With fears the currency itself is now on the line, the 17 ministers gathered in Luxembourg will also try to make progress on an array of measures to resolve the debt crisis as they prepare for a summit meeting of European leaders in Brussels on June 28-29. And the leaders of the biggest four eurozone economies — Germany, France, Italy and Spain — will meet Friday in Rome.
Among the most pressing issues is a bailout for Spain's banks, though Spain's economy minister Luis de Guindos said on arrival that Spain is not ready to make a formal request yet.
The Spanish government said Thursday evening an audit has put banks' funding needs at €51 billion-€62 billion (($64.79 billion-$78.76 billion). Euro-member governments have already said they would be willing to lend Spain up to €100 billion through one of its two bailout funds.
But markets and investors are anxious to hear the exact terms, so they can judge the impact on Spain's national debt. The Spanish government's debt seems destined to rise as a result of the bank bailout. Because of that, the government's cost of borrowing has increased, leading some observers to think the country itself will need a bailout.
Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the uncertainty is roiling markets.
"While there's no request, and while there's no certainty about the amount being requested, I think that makes the market jittery," Noonan said on his way into Thursday's meeting.
The eurozone finance ministers are also weighing Greece's request for more time to reach its budget-balancing targets. The country's new prime minister, Antonis Samaras, has said his coalition would respect the outlines of the country's bailout terms, but has added that the current targets are not realistic. European Union officials in Brussels have indicated the country needs more time, though Germany has opposed any softening in the terms, which were attached to bailout loans made to Greece.
On Thursday, the Dutch and Finnish ministers dismissed the idea of giving Greece extra time.
"I don't think it's a good idea," said Finland's Jutta Urpilainen, arriving at the meeting.
But if Greece is not granted more time and fails to meet the targets, the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will have to decide whether to withhold further funding — a move that would force the country to default on its debts again — and probably leave the eurozone, with consequences that could reverberate around the world.
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Also, the finance ministers will discuss new measures to ease the financial chaos roiling European countries, particularly the high borrowing rates of Spain and Italy.
During the last two and a half years of Europe's government debt crisis, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have sought and received multibillion-euro bailouts when high borrowing costs made it impossible for them to finance their debts on the international bond markets. Now markets-watchers fear Spain and Italy may soon be joining their ranks.
The leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro have been under global pressure to find a comprehensive solution to the debt crisis rather than continuing to take piecemeal measures that provide only temporary relief. At this week's G-20 summit of world economic powers in Los Cabos, Mexico, politicians including U.S. President Barack Obama called on Europe to do what was necessary.
One more possible solution emerged late Tuesday night, as leaders talked privately at the G-20 summit. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti urged looking at using Europe's emergency bailout funds — the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability Mechanism — to buy government bonds on the open market to drive the interest the markets are demanding.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been cool toward the idea. She will meet Monti and the leaders of France and Spain in Rome on Friday in an effort to iron out differences on this and other measures.
___
Don Melvin can be reached at http://twitter.com/Don_Melvin
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Forex Flash: Spanish bond auction and Banks stress test release today - Rabobank - FXStreet.com
Forex focus: mattresses become a safe haven for the euro - Daily Telegraph
"We have seen an increase in the amount of people bringing any cash savings they have out of Greece (and Spain) but the bigger concern is for those who have their money tied up in assets such as property and business," says Stephen Hughes of Currencies.co.uk.
Exchange controls are not a rarity as Charles Purdy, managing director of Smart Currency Exchange, points out: "Having worked in South Africa for a number of years, exchange control was very much a part of international trade. But fund flows in the eurozone are supposed to have no such limitations. The trouble is that in times like this, with so much uncertainty surrounding the long term viability of banks in the southern states, funds are moving north to safe havens. This is very difficult to stop legally."
Simon Smith of FxPro says the numbers show the evidence of money going elsewhere: "In Switzerland, it's in the 28pc rise in FX reserves seen in May so as to defend the franc cap against the euro. In Germany, it's in the property market.
"If Greece were to exit the euro, at some point capital controls would have to be imposed, to stop money leaving the country while a new currency was introduced."
Already Europe's finance ministers have discussed imposing capital controls, putting in border checks on the movement of money and limiting withdrawals from bank cash machines.
Jeremy Cook of World First preaches calm, saying: "We're naturally going to see some deposit flight from countries that are in the spotlight, but statements that this is a new phenomenon and that people are moving their money out of the eurozone en masse are inaccurate and unhelpful.
"We are not seeing a run on banks in Greece at the moment; deposits have been walking away for the past two years, and are unlikely to come back. Spanish money is also slipping out of the country and will continue to do so without some form of backstop, but there is no need to press the panic button."
Introducing controls on the movement of money across the eurozone goes against the core principles of the union, as Alistair Cotton of Currencies Direct says. "It will be very difficult in practise for the eurozone to stop the flow of money from the weaker peripherals to the more stable German core.
"It is in Germany's interest to keep all eurozone members in the euro. Whether there is a full scale bank run in the periphery rests on the Bundesbank's tolerance for the liabilities to keep building, and at the moment they have no choice."
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Forex Flash: Key takeaways from yesterday, USD/JPY and Europe – UBS - FXStreet.com
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