Inflation on the up in July after airline fares rise August 14, 2012 INFLATION shocked analysts by flying up in July, driven by soaring air fares and early clothes sales, Office for National Statistics data (ONS) out yesterday showed. Inflation was 2.6 per cent on the consumer price index (CPI), up from 2.4 per cent in June and confounding city expectations of a steady decline. This higher rise [...]
RAPID RESPONSES August 2, 2012 Many hues of Boris [Re: After calls for Boris Johnson to stand for the Tory leadership, could it happen before 2015?, yesterday] The Olympics has provided Boris with an opportunity to allow his exuberant personality to be let rip. There are even more stages to be centre of than normal, which suits the mayor’s longer-term [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 16, 2012 Building problems [Re: London homes still horribly expensive for first time buyers, yesterday] Unfortunately, policy-makers are stuck in a house building dilemma. If they supply more homes to help first-time buyers, the price of the average home will drop – therefore moving many existing homeowners into negative equity. Stephen Bishop Private sector contractors are certainly better [...]
RAPID responses July 8, 2012 Cheapened money [Re: Why QE is not the answer to Britain’s economic problems, Friday] Quantitative easing is a disaster. Milton Friedman wouldn’t have supported this further injection if he were still alive, and he’d be right – as he was about most things. He predicted the euro would have about a 10 year lifespan. It [...]
ADVISERS GLENSTRATA MERGER June 27, 2012 LAZARD NICHOLAS SHOTT SPIRO YOUAKIM CHARLIE FOREMAN “Three cheers for the Qataris,” crowed one Xstrata shareholder yesterday after the Qatar Investment Authority made a surprise demand for better terms for its stake in the mining group. The Lazard bankers advising the QIA, which has quietly built up an 11 per cent holding in Xstrata over [...]
Cameron considers scrapping housing benefits for under-25s June 24, 2012 PRIME Minister David Cameron will today give more details on his idea to take away housing benefits from almost 400,000 low-paid and unemployed under 25 year olds – but union bosses claimed the move could spark riots. The Conservative leader will try to start a debate on Britain’s welfare bill by setting out plans to [...]
Slowing inflation opens door to money printing June 19, 2012 CONSUMER price inflation slowed again in May to its lowest rate since December 2009, according to official data out yesterday. Prices rose 2.8 per cent in the year to May, down from three per cent in the year to April, the Office for National Statistics revealed, leading economists to forecast a new round of quantitative [...]
Evidence of revolt at every single level May 20, 2012 THE shareholder spring has sprung. Since proxy season started, we’ve become accustomed to the sight of investors giving directors a bloody nose. I’ve decided to crunch the numbers to see just how rebellious the buy side has become. A win is a win. Just three firms have been voted down at their annual meetings in [...]
Evidence of revolt at every single level May 20, 2012 THE shareholder spring has sprung. Since proxy season started, we’ve become accustomed to the sight of investors giving directors a bloody nose. I’ve decided to crunch the numbers to see just how rebellious the buy side has become. A win is a win. Just three firms have been voted down at their annual meetings in [...]
Is GM’s decision to build the Astra in Britain a signal that UK manufacturing is reviving? May 17, 2012 YES David Crow Vince Cable was yesterday trying to take all the credit for GM’s decision to continue building the Vauxhall Astra at the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire. But the truth is that Vauxhall workers secured their own destiny during the last downturn, when the labour force responded with remarkable flexibility to a sharp [...]