Stuart Rose faces huge protest vote July 7, 2008 Up to 30 per cent of Marks & Spencer shareholders angry at Rose’s power grab Marks & Spencer is bracing itself for up to a third of its investors to abstain or vote against Sir Stuart Rose’s controversial plans to hold both chairman and chief executive positions at the retailer’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. [...]
Cash in on volatile financial markets July 4, 2008 More tips on how to succeed in financial betting At the core of speculation on the financial markets is a single premise – your opinion that the market will ‘do something’. The simple, fixed risk nature of fixed odds financial betting is such that you can never lose more than your stake, but has the [...]
Apprentice boss Sugar to quit Amstrad July 3, 2008 Sir Alan Sugar, the entrepreneur and star of the BBC reality TV show The Apprentice, has stepped down as chairman of Amstrad, the electronics firm he founded at the tender age of 21. Though Sir Alan, now 61, said the move had been “planned for a while”, the self-made multi-millionaire is adamant he is not [...]
FSA clamps down on CFD investors July 3, 2008 Rules forcing contract for difference (CFD) holders to disclose long positions of three per cent have had a mixed reaction in the City. A clampdown by City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has long been anticipated due to fears that investors are using CFDs, which give exposure to a share for a fraction of [...]
Using CFDs to jazz up a DIY pension July 1, 2008 New rules on Sipps mean that there are even more ways to plan for the future, says Katie Hope Last week, the government announced that as of October, the estimated 10 million people holding money in protected rights pension pots will be able to transfer it into a Self Invested Personal Pension, otherwise known as [...]
Secret shares, Visas, Directorships, Mistresses – why Blunkett had to go November 3, 2005 David Blunkett was due to appear before the Work and Pensions Committee yesterday morning Tony Blair claims that he did not call that meeting in order to sack his work and pensions minister. The formal statement from the Blair camp says: “David Blunkett chose to resign because he had reached the conclusion that the position [...]
CSR profits soar on Bluetooth November 3, 2005 Bluetooth wireless communications specialists CSR has rung up a 151 per cent growth in third quarter profits and the company has hired more staff to meet demand for its technology. CSR said pre-tax profits were $45.5m (£25.8m) in the period compared with $18.1m in the same quarter of 2003. The Cambridge-based firm also announced that [...]
RSA in $11m settlement November 3, 2005 Insurer Royal & SunAlliance (RSA) has moved to extricate itself from legal action over the Student Finance Corporation (SFC) by agreeing to pay $11m (£6.19m) to Wilmington Trust. The company revealed the latest payment yesterday as shares in the insurer spiked. City traders said that French rival Axa could be lining up a bid, although [...]
Deutsche Telekom to axe 32,000 jobs November 3, 2005 Deutsche Telekom is axing 32,000 jobs in a radical restructuring as the German phone group ruled out making a counter-bid for O2, leaving Telefonica with a clear run at the British mobile phone firm. The job losses, which amount to 12 per cent of the workforce, include 7,000 employees being outsourced. The remaining 25,000 will [...]
Blunkett quits after new allegations November 3, 2005 David Blunkett resigned yesterday as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, following intense criticism of his ill-judged directorship of a DNA company as yet more allegations of financial impropriety emerged. In a statement Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, said: “David Blunkett chose to resign because he had reached the conclusion that the position was [...]