Airbnb doubles bookings June 19, 2012 US home rental site Airbnb said yesterday it had seen a dramatic rise in bookings in the last five months. The number of nights booked on its site has doubled to 10m as the number of properties listed also doubled to 200,000. Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s chief executive, has highlighted international expansion as the reason for [...]
Connaught debt to reach £100m after bills found November 7, 2010 Collapsed property services firm Connaught’s debts could pass £100m after the administrator KPMG discovered 50,000 additional invoices. Bills for everything from Dairy Crest milk to RBS bank loans have been left unpaid, according to a report by KPMG following Connaught’s collapse in September. Unsecured lenders exposed to the firm’s social maintenance arm will recover at [...]
The time has finally come to go short on oil September 8, 2008 Decreased production and low consumption mean that fuel prices are falling, says Katie Hope The black stuff is finally on the slide. From the heady heights of July this year when oil hit $147 a barrel and analysts were predicting it could catapult to $200 a barrel, forecasters are now betting the next move will [...]
Don’t over-complicate your approach to the market September 1, 2008 I spent last week away from the markets and enjoying Paris. I saw many of the sights – the Eiffel Tower, the Opera – but not the secret signs from the Da Vinci Code which are scattered around Paris. That got me thinking about the markets. Lots of people think they have secret codes or [...]
Premier falls on failed well in Vietnam August 29, 2008 Shares in Premier Oil slumped 6 per cent yesterday, after the British-based oil explorer revealed that a Vietnam well it had been drilling had failed. The firm, led by chief executive Simon Lockett, said its Chim Cong well was being plugged and abandoned because “the oil flow rate achieved was marginal”. Its stock closed down [...]
ITV faces exit from FTSE 100 August 29, 2008 Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse and broadcaster ITV are in danger of being ousted from the blue chip FTSE 100 at its next quarterly review. The two will join pub chain Enterprise Inns and Ukrainian iron ore producer Ferrexpo, which have both fallen below 111th position in the FTSE ranking, based on their market capitalisation, [...]
Plunge into a dark pool in the new era of trading platforms August 26, 2008 Project Turquoise is here, and promises to shake up the world of trading. But what does it mean for you?, asks Katie Hope Within two weeks, Project Turquoise will launch in full. The hotly awaited new trading platform set up by a consortium of nine investment banks, started quietly almost two weeks ago trading just [...]
How wave power can help you to read the markets August 26, 2008 The markets are anything but random, say proponents of Elliott Waves. Understanding them will improve your trading. Most people are led to believe that the markets are completely random and that there is no way of forecasting the next move, either up or down. But others seem to make large amounts of profits catching the [...]
Tesco to open wholesaling chain in India August 13, 2008 Supermarket giant Tesco yesterday said it was pushing into India by launching a wholesale cash-and-carry business. At the same time it announced a deal with Indian titan Tata to help it expand its fledgling hypermarket business. Tesco will invest £60m in its wholesale business – which will supply Tata’s chain of food stores, as well [...]
Smurfit profits rise despite higher costs August 12, 2008 Shares in Smurfit Kappa, the Irish cardboard packaging group, spiked yesterday after the firm reported better-than-expected results for the first half of the year. Operating profit at Smurfit Kappa, which floated in Dublin in March 2007, rose four per cent to €312m (£244m) despite rising energy costs and increased competition from US rivals benefiting from [...]