BANK OF ENGLAND BOFFIN KNOCKS THE SPOTS OFF THE COMPETITION March 31, 2010 WHEN it comes to pepping up weighty speeches with witty references to popular culture, the boffins from the Bank of England aren’t exactly known for being trailblazers. But Andrew Haldane, the Bank’s executive director for financial stability, tore his peers’ stuffy image to shreds in a speech in Hong Kong this week by managing to [...]
Warm up this winter with a chic hip flask January 26, 2010 MAYBE it’s because of the rough year and a half we’ve just been through, or maybe it’s because fashion designers have a sixth sense and predicted this would be a particularly icy winter. Whatever it is, hip flasks have become such a must-have fashion accessory that Dunhill’s models sported them on the catwalk at last [...]
Bearish US sentiment likely to buffet Europe too January 24, 2010 European stock markets are headed for a major tumble this morning, as a sell-off on US markets gathered steam on Friday evening. GFT is forecasting the UK’s FTSE 100 to open down a hefty 90 points from Friday’s close, around 5,212. The German DAX is expected to open down 105 points at 5,590 and the [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND January 14, 2010 FILM THE BOOK OF ELI Denzel Washington goes into action in post-apocalyptic America. ALL ABOUT STEVE Sandra Bullock plays a zany crossword expert who falls for her blind date. Dreadful. CRUDE Documentary about the oil industry’s contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon. DVD THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 Weak remake with Denzel Washington and John Travolta. [...]
Barclay brothers buy DHL parcels unit January 6, 2010 SIR David and Sir Frederick Barclay started the year with a major acquisition for their home delivery business. They snapped up DHL’s parcels business for an undisclosed sum to merge with their Home Delivery Network (HDN). The deal will vastly increase the scale of HDN, doubling its turnover from £300m to £600m. Briant Gaunt, chief [...]
PayPal boosts profit at eBay January 20, 2010 EBAY outperformed expectations in its final quarter, with net profits soaring to $1.4bn, or $1.02 a share. More than $20bn (£12.3bn) was processed in the quarter – the first time the mark has been surpassed. The auction site smashed the previous year profits of $367m, or 29 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, profit [...]
Microsoft unveils new tablet PC January 7, 2010 MICROSOFT chief executive Steve Ballmer unveiled a new Hewlett-Packard tablet computer yesterday, beating Apple’s hotly anticipated move into the market. But analysts were sceptical that Microsoft and HP could generate as much consumer excitement as Apple’s new device, widely expected to be unveiled on 27 January, though the company has not said anything about it [...]
E-book readers, 3D TVs and tablet PCs compete to be top dog of 2010 January 10, 2010 HYPE and prototypes dominated the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. From the Ford car that lets you send Twitter messages while driving, to the scuba diving mask that can shoot high definition video at depths of 130 feet, the vast majority of products on display will not hit the mainstream. The [...]
Wall St hit as tech results disappoint January 28, 2010 US stocks fell yesterday as poor outlooks from Motorola and Qualcomm dented optimism in the technology sector while worries about Greece’s fiscal health dragged on sentiment. Qualcomm shares tumbled 14.2 per cent to $40.48 and Motorola slid 12.4 per cent to $6.48 after both companies’ earnings and outlooks fell short of expectations. “They did exactly [...]
DR Horton cements construction stocks February 2, 2010 US stocks rallied for a second day yesterday as better-than-expected earnings and encouraging data calmed investors after the market’s recent sell-off. Rising sales of previously owned US homes and robust earnings from bellwethers representing consumer and industrial businesses, including Whirlpool and Cummins, pointed to a steady rebound in demand. “The housing data, followed by the [...]