Jobhunters get suited and booted September 8, 2014 SHARP-SUITED City men, take note. If you’re looking to update your wardrobe, make sure you do another would-be man about town a favour by donating your old suit. House of Fraser is currently supporting Suited & Booted, a charity which gives donated interview clothes as well as job interview advice to vulnerable and unemployed men [...]
A second look at portfolio risk: Are you really playing it safe? October 28, 2014 I’VE NEVER been a fan of the “best buy” lists published by the major fund platforms. But I always find it interesting to see what is attracting the hard-earned savings of private investors. The best-selling funds lists for September reveal the usual suspects: UK equity income, emerging markets and a couple of specific sector funds [...]
What is a put option and how is Mike Ashley using it to bet on Tesco? September 25, 2014 Mike Ashley's Sports Direct has taken a punt on Tesco by entering into a put option agreement with Goldman Sachs. But what exactly is a put option and how is he using it to make money? In short, Sports Direct is selling the option to Goldman, meaning that if the share price goes up, [...]
London tech sector sparks City building boom at Silicon Roundabout November 10, 2014 London’s thriving tech sector has helped to drive a resurgence in building activity in the City over the past six months as developers push the start button on a record number of schemes in areas such as Old Street. Developers kick-started work on 10 new schemes in the City in the six months from April [...]
Lord Myners report rescues Vince Cable over Royal Mail IPO December 18, 2014 The government received unexpected praise over Royal Mail’s float. But the City is being told to make some changes. One quick glance at the share price told the City’s critics’ everything they wanted to hear. The Royal Mail privatisation was another classic case of over-paid charlatans ripping the taxpayer off to the tune of [...]
London Metal Exhange hikes trading fees by a third September 29, 2014 The average cost of trading fees on the London Metal Exchange (LME) will rise by 34 per cent from next year, as its new Hong Kong-based owners look to raise more profit following a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) takeover two years ago. The 137-year-old exchange had previously been member-owned by brokers and banks, with fees kept quite [...]
Bovis Homes share price up as housebuilder delivers record property sales August 18, 2014 Bovis Homes revealed a 166 per cent leap in first half pre-tax profits as Britain’s buoyant property market helped the housebuilder to sell a record number of homes. The FTSE 250 company, which builds most of its homes in the south of England but outside London, completed 1,487 property sales in the six months to [...]
London property market in graphs: Where is the easiest place to sell a house? July 18, 2014 We all know London house prices have been skyrocketing, and a 20 per cent rise in the last 12 months shows a market where demand is high and supply is low. But where is the easiest place in London to sell a house? Data from property website Rightmove shows how long a house stays on [...]
Crowdfunding: Beware the celebrities offering investors strange deals September 14, 2014 I am a great fan of crowdfunding – it really is a cheap way of using modern technology to enable investors, including very small ones, to invest in all manner of things. So what can go wrong? Well, the regulators can stop it as effectively as they have made share offers to the public so [...]
The art of theft: Why do thieves steal famous paintings when they’re so hard to sell? October 28, 2014 On a freezing Stockholm evening just before Christmas 2000, a group of six to eight Middle Eastern men put into action a plan they’d been working on for months. The group parked cars in the middle of the three central roads leading to the Swedish National Museum and set them ablaze. As fire engines [...]