Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
Will Apple take the Dow over 27,000 this week? Only a fool would bet against it January 30, 2018 How much higher, and how quickly, can Wall Street rise? It’s a question this column has asked a couple of times, but it’s one that bears repeating after the Dow Jones hit a new record close on Friday. Might we see the Dow break 27,000? Market sentiment suggests yes. Moreover, it suggests it could do [...]
Facebook, Apple, Alphabet, earnings preview: The “big tech” backlash has yet to reach Wall Street January 28, 2018 A flurry of earnings from the world’s biggest tech companies are this week expected to show consumer and investor appetite has not yet been dampened by a growing backlash. Apple, Facebook, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are worth almost three trillion dollars between them and make up half of the top 10 most highly [...]
Online stalwart Asos is in for a fashion face-off with Amazon’s wardrobe service January 26, 2018 What do Debenhams, House of Fraser, Mothercare and Asos not have in common? Cracking Christmas clothing sales. While the high street’s stalwarts struggled to attract bargain-hunting shoppers over the festive season, their smaller online-only rival yesterday revealed a 30 per cent rise in sales for the final four months of 2017. Asos, or as As [...]
The warning lights for the next economic crisis are starting to flash January 25, 2018 The global economic zeitgeist has shifted. A decade on from the financial crisis, the world economy can at last see over the hill and make out the features of the “Promised Land” called normalisation. There is a palpable sense that the world economy has crossed three important lines. First, that it is finally achieving synchronised [...]
Belmond Andean Explorer review and prices: All aboard one of the highest train routes in the world January 24, 2018 South America’s first luxury sleeper train traverses Peru’s high Andes along one of the highest train routes in the world. Lizzie Pook packs her altitude sickness tablets and checks in. It’s 2am and there’s a loud, metallic clank outside my train cabin. I’d be alarmed, but I already know what it is: oxygen tanks. The [...]
World’s richest football clubs 2018: Manchester United hold off Real Madrid and Barcelona in Deloitte Football Money League January 23, 2018 Manchester United have retained their billing as the world’s richest club after they pipped European champions Real Madrid to first place in Deloitte’s Football Money League. United, who benefited from winning the Europa League and lucrative new Premier League broadcast contracts, outstripped Real and Barcelona last season despite the fall in value of the pound. [...]
Facebook’s promising to help Europe learn digital skills and invest more in Paris artificial intelligence research centre January 22, 2018 Facebook is the latest US tech giant to jump on the digital skills bandwagon, promising to train one million people across Europe by 2020. And it’s also putting more cash behind its artificial intelligence efforts, investing €10m more in its Paris-based AI research lab. Read more: Facebook to expand probe into possible Russian influence on [...]
Amazon share price opens higher as Prime membership cost increases January 19, 2018 Amazon Prime customers in the US will now have to pay $12.99 (£9.37) a month for the service after the tech giant bumped up prices from $10.99. Shares in the company opened up more than one per cent. Students members will also face a monthly price rise of one dollar to $6.49. But users who [...]
Revealed: The 20 cities Amazon has shortlisted for its new HQ2 January 18, 2018 In Amazon’s X-Factor-style competition for choosing a city for its new headquarters, HQ2, the tech giant has narrowed it down to a 20-strong shortlist from more than 200 entries. Here they are: – Atlanta, GA – Austin, TX – Boston, MA – Chicago, IL – Columbus, OH – Dallas, TX – Denver, CO – Indianapolis, [...]
Banks face a seismic technological upheaval – PSD2 is only the start January 16, 2018 The Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) came into force across the EU last Saturday, opening access to consumers’ financial data to thousands of companies that aren’t banks. The UK went a step further with Open Banking, enabling fintech players and retailers to take over the ownership of customer relationships from major banks. In the Open [...]