Better outlook for banks one year after Lehman September 14, 2009 WHEN Lehman Brothers collapsed a year ago, it seemed that the world would never be the same. Global markets wobbled and once giant investment banks were crippled as sub-prime mortgages and credit default swaps unravelled and we braced ourselves for a worldwide recession. Wall Street had shrunk to less than a third of its pre-Lehman [...]
Bonus debate is heading out of control August 17, 2009 THE row over City bonuses shows no signs of petering out, certainly if the last 24 hours is anything to go by. Yesterday the focus of everybody’s attention was Bob Diamond’s BarCap and its £30m offer to hire Todd Edgar, a commodities trader, and four other members of his team. Edgar and his colleagues left [...]
Don’t expect miracles in housing market June 11, 2009 IT is beginning to look as if house prices won’t be falling much further. This won’t be of any use to the one in ten Brits that have already been plunged into negative equity, however; and even if the market reaches bottom this year, it will struggle in 2010. We must hope, for the sake [...]
THE LONDON REPORT August 5, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed down 0.5 per cent yesterday, after weaker than expected economic data in the US dragged equities lower, with oil producers and miners leading the losers. The index ended 24.24 points lower at 4,647.13, shy of Monday’s close when it hit its best closing level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers late [...]
BOND YIELDS ARE A THREAT TO RECOVERY June 17, 2009 GEORGE TCHETERTAKOVHEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH, ALPARI UK THE bond markets are often underestimated and overlooked by investors because they are usually very stable, in fact almost too stable for some traders to take notice. However, over the past 18 months they have not only been volatile, but also pivotal in influencing banks, governments, central banks [...]
Writedowns hit BNY Mellon July 22, 2009 BANK of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) saw its second-quarter profit fall by 43 per cent, due to charges on the state aid it received from the US government, coupled with losses in securities and writedowns relating to the housing market. The New York-based custody bank said net income sank to $176m (£107m), or $0.15 [...]
Rock appeal gathers pace June 10, 2009 INVESTORS in nationalised lender Northern Rock yesterday launched a legal bid to overturn a High Court decision which they claim will leave them with “derisory” compensation. Institutional investors RAB Capital, SRM Global and a collective of private shareholders numbering more than 200,000, who are backed by the UK Shareholders Association, say the government’s compensation scheme [...]
MPs question Miles’ MPC job July 2, 2009 QUESTIONS were raised yesterday over new Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) policymaker David Miles’ existing position as non-executive director of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The Treasury committee, which formally endorsed Miles as an external MPC member, said there could be a conflict between the two roles. The former Morgan Stanley chief UK [...]
Drop in house prices easing July 14, 2009 HOUSE prices only fell marginally in May compared to the previous month, taking the annual decline to 12.5 per cent, data from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) showed yesterday. In the three months to May, UK house prices fell by 0.4 per cent compared to a fall of 4.8 per cent in [...]
Swedish retail giant Ikea to slash workforce again July 7, 2009 THE continued decline in consumer spending is forcing Ikea to downsize its workforce further, and put a sharp halt on planned growth and expansion having already trimmed 5,000 employees from its pay roll. Only weeks after the company had to announce massive global job losses and the abandonment of plans to open stores in India, [...]