THE TIPSTER March 21, 2010 THIS week the focus will be on Wednesday’s Budget and its political ramifications for the upcoming general election. The Labour Party will have been given a boost by last week’s encouraging public finances and Lloyds Banking Group’s announcement on Friday that it expects to turn a profit this year. But is it too little, too [...]
Higher tax will make us all worse off April 11, 2010 ECONOMICS is not always intuitive – and that is what makes it such a fascinating and important discipline. Take what economists call “incidence” – the study of who actually bears the burden of a particular tax. It is obvious enough that employees pay income tax. But it is much harder to actually work out who [...]
FTSE closes flat as miners and banks fall, while pharmaceuticals gather pace March 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares ended flat yesterday as banks and miners paused for breath after recent gains, offsetting a rally in drugmakers and energy stocks. The FTSE 100 finished almost unchanged at 5,642.62, having closed at a 21-month closing peak on Wednesday. Banks and miners slipped after recent strong gains, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland [...]
Treasury to meet with bankers July 14, 2010 Britain’s biggest banks are set to clash with the government today as ministers try to force HSBC, Barclays and Santander to agree to commitments on business lending. George Osborne and Vince Cable are also expected to push for the introduction of net lending targets when they meet with the banking bosses at the Treasury this [...]
Hammerson buys offices August 4, 2010 REAL estate investor Hammerson has teamed up with a Canadian pension investor to buy the long leasehold of 10 Gresham Street for £183m. The joint venture has bought the Foster & Partners-designed building from Union Investment, a German fund. Union purchased the property from Standard Life in May last year. Hammerson has paid £55m for [...]
FTSE slips on caution over banking stocks and falling commodity prices March 15, 2010 FALLING commodity prices dented miners and energy stocks and banks fell, pushing Britain’s top share index 0.6 per cent lower yesterday, with investors cautious before central bank policy meetings later in the week. The FTSE 100 index ended 31.80 down points at 5,593.85, having risen 0.5 per cent last week. Miners, sensitive to shifts in [...]
PETTIGREW CALLS ALL ABOARD FOR STEAM RIDE October 5, 2010 IT was all aboard at Tower Pier last night as City bigwig Jim Pettigrew added an unusual venture to his impressive CV, which includes stints at Marks and Spencer, CMC Markets, Icap and, in his current role, Aberdeen Investment Managers. Pettigrew played host as fellow City figures arrived to experience his latest venture: the relaunch [...]
Lloyds in £6.3bn loss February 26, 2010 PART-NATIONALISED Lloyds Banking Group has reported an operating loss of £6.3bn for 2009. The lender is still saddled with bad debts but the loss is less than the record £6.7bn reported in 2008 after the bank’s rescue of stricken HBOS. The bank is 41 per cent-owned by the state, down from 43 per cent after [...]
FIRST LADIES OF THE CITY GET TOGETHER FOR A GOOD OLD GOSSIP March 1, 2010 FORGET austerity and po-faced über-networking – get a bunch of ladies in a room together and we all know what’s going to happen. It was gossip galore up at the top of the Lloyds Banking Group headquarters on Gresham Street yesterday morning, as the sunlight streamed through the ninth floor windows and the City’s most [...]
Let your employees Chatter all day long September 9, 2010 SALESFORCE.COM launched a mobile application for Chatter, their “Facebook for business”, this week. An employer would not be alone if she baulked at the thought of her workers checking their friends’ status updates during the working day. Particularly when a study conducted by Peninsula, the employment law firm, has found that 233m hours are lost [...]