Silicon valley is being flooded through by a torrent of cash December 20, 2010 CALIFORNIA itself may be on the brink of bankruptcy, but its most famous Silicon Valley firms very much are not. By one estimate, the top 15 most capitalised technology firms have $316bn (£203.6bn) of cash and short term investments racked up. Apple, now the world’s second largest company by market capitalisation, has about $50bn in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 8, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES US TO PAY BIG FOR WALL ST TIPS New US whistleblowing incentives within the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill – that could net informants multimillion dollar pay-outs – are likely to generate a surge in allegations against US-listed companies and Wall Street banks, lawyers say. The SEC is expecting a sharp increase in tip-offs [...]
Unilever sees sales rise despite tough market conditions November 4, 2010 UNILEVER saw its underlying sales rise by 3.6 per cent in the third quarter – but warned it could raise prices because of rising commodity costs. The Anglo-Dutch consumer giant, whose products include Knorr Soups and Dove soap, was upbeat about the company’s prospects despite consumers tightening their belts. After the announcement yesterday shares in [...]
THE WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD November 28, 2010 THERE is no sign that investors’ headaches from Europe are going away, but early indications of strong holiday spending and an improving labour market could soothe Wall Street this week. Fears that Europe’s debt crisis could spiral out of control have pushed stocks off two-year highs hit earlier this month. Since 5 November, the S&P [...]
THE WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD November 28, 2010 THERE is no sign that investors’ headaches from Europe are going away, but early indications of strong holiday spending and an improving labour market could soothe Wall Street this week. Fears that Europe’s debt crisis could spiral out of control have pushed stocks off two-year highs hit earlier this month. Since 5 November, the S&P [...]
UK public borrowing hits record high December 21, 2010 UK public sector net borrowing unexpectedly surged in November to the highest level ever recorded, official figures have shown. The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing, which smoothes some of the monthly volatility in government revenue and spending, came in at a record £22.77bn in November – up from £16.72bn a year [...]
Retail sales rebound after World Cup boost June 8, 2010 RETAIL sales bounced back in May – fuelled by warmer weather and TVs for the World Cup according to official figures. The British Retail Consortium said sales last month was 0.8 per cent higher than a year ago on a like-for-like basis, a big improvement on the 2.3 per cent decline recorded in April. Total [...]
Wall St cheers bumper results July 22, 2010 WALL Street bellwethers cheered investors with a raft of good results last night, pushing up US indices and raising hopes of a sustained economic recovery. Corporate stalwarts UPS, Caterpillar and 3M all posted double-digit profit growth for the last quarter, while Microsoft surpassed Apple’s recent sales to report a record rise in revenue. The upbeat [...]
Returning consumer confidence gives UK retail sales a much-needed boost October 12, 2009 BRITISH retailers will breathe a sigh of relief today following the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which showed a healthy improvement in like-for-like retail sales last month. The data showed that UK retail sales values rose 2.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis in September compared to the previous year when turmoil [...]
Service sector activity plunges to 20-month low January 6, 2011 Large swathes of the service sector suffered their first fall in output since April 2009 last month, a major survey showed on Thursday, pointing to a sharp slowdown in economic growth at the end of 2010. GDP probably grew by just 0.4 per cent in the last three months of 2010, lower than many economists [...]