Noren is Monty’s unlikely Ryder Cup pace-setter September 7, 2009 FINALLY, Colin Montgomerie can start putting his 2010 Ryder Cup plans into place. The European Masters in Switzerland at the weekend signalled the start of the qualifying for the event at Celtic Manor next summer, and already Monty has plenty to ponder. Relative unknown Swede Alexander Noren is the first to emerge following his fine [...]
How M&A-spotters can make big bucks October 4, 2009 F OR those of us trading the financial markets over the last two years, large mergers and acquisitions may now be a distant memory. Figures from markets analyst Dealogic indicate that acquisition volumes are down 55 per cent in Europe and 61 per cent in the US compared to this time last year. So much [...]
Anglo chairman slams merger July 20, 2009 Anglo American chairman Sir John Parker yesterday slammed rival Xstrata’s plan to force a £40bn merger. Parker, who will succeed Mark Moody-Stuart as chairman of London-based Anglo on 1 August, said the merger proposed by rival mining company Xstrata Plc has a “clear value gap” and is a “great distraction” to management. “What looks good [...]
Deflation fears rule out early rate hikes August 12, 2009 INFLATION is forecast to remain well below the Bank of England’s two per cent target until at least 2011 if interest rates were to rise in line with market expectations, the Bank of England said yesterday in its quarterly Inflation Report. But should interest rates remain at 0.5 per cent and quantitative easing (QE) at [...]
US retail sales decline in July but jobless claims fall sharply August 6, 2009 US RETAILERS reported their eleventh straight month of sales declines for July yesterday, but data showed that jobless claims fell last week, fanning hopes that the job market may be stabilising. July sales fell 5.1 per cent from a year earlier, compared with June’s 4.9 per cent decline. “You still have a picture of the [...]
Now we know the grim truth about cuts September 16, 2009 EVEN if you already suspected that Gordon Brown’s post-1997 public spending spree had been an unaffordable disaster, yesterday’s leaked Treasury forecasts made depressing reading. Everybody knows that there will have to be major spending cuts and that the current tax base cannot finance our bloated government; the Institute for Fiscal Studies had long since worked [...]
Qinetiq: 1.3bn shortfall plugged July 5, 2009 A group of defence firms led by Qinetiq has said there is no longer a £1.3bn gap in a military training programme. The group, known as Metrix, has said the issue over the project, a £12bn plan to centralise technical training in Wales, has been resolved. The shortfall came to light after a Ministry of [...]
MBAs give you a flexibility that employers love September 9, 2009 IF there are people who doubt the value of an MBA, the Home Office isn’t one of them. A few years ago it introduced a points-based system for those wishing to immigrate to the UK. The receipt of a Nobel prize, Oscar or an Olympic medal gets you 25 points. If you have an MBA, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 22, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE TO REJIG MOBILE INTERNET STRATEGYVodafone will set out a significant revamp of its services strategy for mobile phones tomorrow as it tries to bridge the gap with global rivals. Vittorio Colao, chief executive, will outline new services that are intended to capitalise on the rising popularity of surfing the internet on mobiles.Some [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 22, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE TO REJIG MOBILE INTERNET STRATEGYVodafone will set out a significant revamp of its services strategy for mobile phones tomorrow as it tries to bridge the gap with global rivals. Vittorio Colao, chief executive, will outline new services that are intended to capitalise on the rising popularity of surfing the internet on mobiles.Some [...]