My predictions for 2014 for the economy, markets and politics January 6, 2014 HAPPY New Year, dear readers, and welcome to our first edition of 2014. As ever, we devote a sizeable chunk of this issue to trying, as best as we can, to predict some of the big economic, political, market, financial and corporate events of the year ahead. We do so with humility: as Mark Twain [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 22 November 2013 November 21, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Independence could lose sterling Scotland will be forced to quit the sterling currency union if it votes for independence next year, a cabinet minister has said, in the starkest warning yet for Scottish voters to remain in the UK. Speaking to the Financial Times days before the Scottish government releases its vision for [...]
Scarlett fever: Under The Skin is a classic March 13, 2014 FILMUNDER THE SKINCert 15 | By Alex DymokeFive Stars IF YOU were considering the filmic potential of Scotland, first to come to mind would probably be the highlands; the dramatic barrenness of the western isles, the bronze light that illuminates the Grampians every evening. You probably wouldn’t think of Asda, Tescos, or obscure ring-roads on [...]
Aussies can tempt Sir Alex out of retirement, says ex-United star October 15, 2013 HE MAY be only five months into his retirement but former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has already received an SOS to take charge of Australia at next summer’s World Cup. Ex-United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich has urged football chiefs in his native Australia to break the bank and hire the Scot, who stepped down [...]
Morgan Stanley venture going ahead with tidal power project September 16, 2013 THE SCOTTISH government said yesterday it has given consent for work to begin on the largest tidal energy project in Europe in Pentland Firth, which separates the Orkney Islands from mainland Scotland. MeyGen, a joint venture between investment bank Morgan Stanley, utility International Power and tidal technology firm Atlantis Resources Corporation, will install the 86-megawatt [...]
Five shocks that could hit businesses over the next few years November 26, 2013 BUSINESSES are often very good at predicting the trends in their own, narrow markets – but they are not always able to see the big picture clearly. So here are five possible shocks that firms and investors should look out for over the next three or four years. 1) THE SCOTTISH REFERENDUMA break-up of the [...]
Post-breakup Scotland would rely on Bank, says City analyst January 8, 2013 EVEN if Scotland left the UK, the Bank of England would remain guarantor of the Scottish financial system, Capital Economics predicted yesterday. First Minister Alex Salmond plans to keep Scotland on pound sterling even if the country left the union, meaning that it would be likely to negotiate a deal maintaining the Bank’s backstop position, the [...]
RBS and Lloyds results look set to show losses February 24, 2013 STATE-BACKED banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are both expected to announce full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting both lenders will remain loss-making. Investec believes RBS, which will deliver its 2012 figures on Thursday, will announce an attributable loss of £2.2bn for the final quarter – or a £5.6bn loss for [...]
Italy probe on Euribor claims February 4, 2013 ITALIAN prosecutors in the town of Trani are investigating five foreign banks for possible manipulation of Euribor, the euro-priced counterpart of scandal-hit Libor bank-to-bank lending rates, court sources said yesterday. The five banks are said to be Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Societe Generale, according to the court sources. The probe [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 29 November 2013 November 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Apollo in Aviva’s UK property deal Apollo Global Management is closing in on the purchase of a £400m block of distressed UK property holdings put up for sale by Aviva, the FTSE 100 insurer, said people familiar with the matter. The private equity house has emerged as the preferred bidder for the assets. [...]