S&P 500 Index Is Poised for Best January in 15 Years Amid EU Fiscal Accord

U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index toward its best January in 15 years, as most countries in Europe agreed to tighter budget controls and Greece made progress on debt talks.

Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley (MS) increased at least 1.3 percent, following gains in European lenders.

Eli Lilly & Co. rallied 1.2 percent as the drugmaker’s profit beat projections.

Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, slumped 3.2 percent amid disappointing results.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 1,318.20 at 9:46 a.m. New York time.

Stocks, Euro Rise on Greek Debt Talks

Stocks (MXWD) climbed around the world, heading for the best January since 1994, the euro strengthened and commodities gained after most countries in Europe agreed to tighter budget controls and Greece made progress on debt talks.

The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) rose 0.6 percent at 9:30 a.m. in New York, taking its monthly gain to 6.2 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 percent and is up 4.8 percent in the month.

The euro appreciated 0.2 percent to $1.3169, set for its first monthly advance since October.

KSE regains 76 pts on hopes of good earnings

The Karachi stock market managed to recover 76 points on the last trading day of the week Friday as expectations of strong corporate earnings next week triggered buying activity.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 76.30 points or 0.64 percent to close at 11,960.22 points as compared to 11,883.92 points of the previous session.

The KSE 30-share index was up by 107.59 points to close at 11,216.56 points as compared with 11,108.97 points.

Analysts said market closed in the positive zone supported by Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC).

KSE index declines by 46 points on profit-booking

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark index fell 46 points to below 12,000 points on profit-booking, mainly in fertiliser and energy stocks.

“Institutions opted to book profit in overbought stocks,” said Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corporation, adding that the market had surged by about 1,000 points in the last few sessions.

The benchmark KSE 100-share index declined by 46.28 points, or 0.38 percent, to 11,991.38. The KSE 30-share index decreased by 39.98 points, or 0.36 percent, to 11,181.40.

U.S. Investors Were Biggest Net Foreign Buyers of Japan Stocks

Investors based in North America were the biggest overseas net buyers of Japanese stocks last year, according to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Investors based in North America bought 1 trillion yen ($13 billion) more shares than they sold on Japan’s exchanges in 2011, the country’s biggest bourse said today.

The amount accounted for half the total net purchases of Japanese stocks by overseas investors last year.

Net purchases by investors based in the U.S declined 38 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, while those in Europe fell 56 percent to 460.9 billion yen.

Share prices rise 2.25pc ahead of minister’s visit

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark index increased by 2.25 percent to a two-month high of 11,775 points on Friday as the volume surged to a three-and-a-half month high of 178 million shares ahead of finance minister’s visit to the Exchange on Saturday (today), said dealers.

“KSE invited euphoric buying after the exchange announced the visit of Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Saturday,” said Hasnain Asghar Ali, head of research at Aziz Fidahusein.

He added that the minister might announce relaxation for stock market investors under capital gains tax (CGT) regime.

European Stocks Rise as Spain, France Sell Bonds; Commerzbank Shares Climb

European stocks gained for a fourth day, extending a five-month high for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as Spain and France sold bonds at lower yields and fewer Americans than forecast filed claims for jobless benefits.

Commercialism AG (CBK) led a rally in financial shares, surging 14 percent, after outlining measures to boost capital. Alston SA (ALO), the world’s third-largest power-equipment maker, jumped 13 percent after predicting “strong” orders in its fiscal fourth quarter.

Carefuller SA (CA), the biggest retailer in Europe by sales, dropped 1.6 percent after saying profit was at the lower end of its forecasts.

What is ‘appropriate’ pay at RBS?

Royal Bank of Scotland’s shares have slumped more than 40% over the past year – so that taxpayers currently face losses of around £23bn on their 81% stake in the bank.

RBS has shed many thousands of jobs in that period. Also it recently announced that its investment bank was performing worse than it hoped, so RBS is abandoning share trading and advising companies on takeovers – and a further 3,500 jobs will go.

U.S. Stock Futures Advance on IMF Lending Plan

U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will climb for a second straight day, as Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ projections.

Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, added 2.3 percent as the company cut costs in response to falling revenue. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) rallied 3.4 percent as Jerry Yang’s exit may remove a barrier to find a buyer or negotiate a sale of stakes in Asian assets worth more than $10 billion.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 0.3 percent to 1,293.30 as of 7:54 a.m. New York time. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 31 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,451.

Investing for all stages of life

“Even if you’re on the right track, “you’ll get run over if you just sit there”, said cowboy humorist Will Rogers. As an investor, you want to make progress. To succeed, you need to know:

1. Where you are headed, and;

2. What’s the best way to get ahead?

Your answers will change accordingly. It is true that nothing is constant in finance. The stock market moves up and down, interest rates rise and fall, mutual fund portfolio managers come and go. Most predictably, you get older. The right portfolio of investments when you’re 25 won’t be the right portfolio when you’re 45 with kids in college, or 65 and ready to retire.