FTSE edges up as UK unemployment falls July 18, 2012 The FTSE 100 tracked gains on Wall Street as investors were given hope that the US Federal Reserve could pump in more monetary stimulus. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver further testimony to the US Congress today, having already indicated that more aid to the economy was possible. Meanwhile UK unemployment dropped by 65,000 in [...]
RAPID RESPONSES August 1, 2012 Sporting nations [Re: Entrepreneurial nations win big in medal tables, yesterday] Stefania Lovo raises some interesting thoughts in her article, but the truth is more complicated. Why, for example, have some large nations not won more medals? The answer is linked to cultural characteristics of each particular nation. Many countries provide winning athletes because they [...]
Standard Chartered is the victim of US warfare against British banking August 7, 2012 STANDARD Chartered, one of the few British banks hitherto left untainted by allegations of misconduct, saw its share price nosedive yesterday, after accusations by a New York regulator that it had violated sanctions against Iran. I’m now left more convinced than ever that US politicians and regulators have a hidden objective in exposing the wrong-doings [...]
More homes would make climbing the second step easier September 9, 2012 GETTING a foot on the property ladder is hard. But, taking the second step could be even harder. Agonising market conditions mean that it could now be the most challenging time to be a “second stepper” in years. Research shows that a first-time buyer stays in their first property for around four years. Since the [...]
FTSE edges down as UK borrowing rises July 20, 2012 Telecoms giant Vodafone pushed the FTSE 100 lower while UK government borrowing came in above estimates this morning. The Office for National Statistics said that public sector net borrowing excluding financial sector interventions rose last month to £14.4bn from £13.9bn in June 2011. On London’s blue chip index Vodafone fell 1.3 per cent after the [...]
Rapid Responses September 25, 2012 The shale debate [Re: Britain needs to embrace the global shale revolution, Friday] Britain must position itself at the forefront of the shale revolution. The US has had a head start because, firstly, its government has allowed extraction. Secondly, its main shale fields are in remote locations away from residential areas. Thirdly, it’s been developing [...]
Women in the City are more than just voices for caution August 12, 2012 IT WAS once famously said that “whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good.” While I tend not to subscribe to clichés, when I started in the City in the late 1990s, the dearth of senior women suggested something was awry. Just 15 years later, we [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU CONFIDENT THE EURO WILL SURVIVE? October 20, 2011 CHRIS GAZE | VERINT “No, I think the Euro has too many fundamental flaws and is too complex to survive. It was doomed to begin with and I would like to see it go.” PAUL SMITH | INCEPTA “Yes. As a group of countries we trade together, our economies are interdependent and it provides collective [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU CONFIDENT THE EURO WILL SURVIVE? October 20, 2011 CHRIS GAZE | VERINT “No, I think the Euro has too many fundamental flaws and is too complex to survive. It was doomed to begin with and I would like to see it go.” PAUL SMITH | INCEPTA “Yes. As a group of countries we trade together, our economies are interdependent and it provides collective [...]
Northern firms drag down UK private sector June 10, 2012 BUSINESSES in the north of England fell further behind their southern rivals in May, helping to drag down growth in the UK private sector, figures out today show. The private sector remains in growth overall, with a purchasing managers’ index reading of 52.3 in May according to Lloyds TSB. However, it has slowed from 52.6 [...]