What hamburgers can tell us about the Norwegian krone February 3, 2014 You might not think to base your financial forecasts on takeaway trends. But The Economist's somewhat tongue in cheek "Big Mac index" has been offering investors a foreign exchange indicator, based on McDonald's famous burger of course, since 1986. The purpose of the index is to compare the prices of the same good – the [...]
Google puts pressure on Sochi games with anti-discrimination logo February 7, 2014 Search giant Google has joined the ranks of those hitting out at Russia's dire record on civil liberties. Russian rules against "gay propaganda" have been widely critiscised for promoting hatred against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups. Google's move to change its homepage logo follows comments from US Olympic team sponsor AT&T, who made clear [...]
Ministers delay pension rate cap change to 2015 January 23, 2014 MINISTER Steve Webb has announced that a cap on pension charges for workplace pensions will not be announced until at least April 2015, a year later than planned. The government is seeking to give employers at least 12 months to prepare for changes to the way auto-enrolment pensions are provided, Webb said in a written [...]
Floats are stacking up on Aim as pallet maker RM2 makes debut January 6, 2014 PALLET manufacturer RM2 joined the junior stock market yesterday after raising £137.2m to finance its expansion plans. The IPO is one of the biggest floats of the past year on the Alternative Investment Market. RM2 designs, makes and supplies pallets for transporting goods, using materials it claims are much stronger than the traditional wooden designs. [...]
Balfour Beatty named preferred bidder on Canada health project January 13, 2014 FTSE 250-listed construction group Balfour Beatty said yesterday that it has been named as preferred bidder to build a C$350m (£196m) children’s and women’s hospital project in Canada. The Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia has commissioned the project, which covers the design, construction, financing and facilities management of a new children’s and women’s [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 10, 2014 S&P 500 futures suggest a muted, probably lower, open for US markets. Stocks around the world have been coming off six-year peaks after unexpectedly weak Chinese trade data and ongoing Ukraine worries. And after the buzz around Friday’s jobs numbers, which saw bourses hit fresh highs, there are no economic data releases of note today. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 14 March 2014 March 13, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Zuckerberg attacks US surveillance Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and chief executive, has strongly criticised the US government for dragging its heels on plans to reform its mass surveillance programme. In a post on the social network, Zuckerberg said he had called President Barack Obama to express his “frustration” over the damage the government [...]
The week in brief March 30, 2014 Soft drink adverts a success Britvic’s annual Soft Drinks Review found that “heavyweight marketing campaigns” helped low-sugar soft drinks like Coke Zero and Pepsi Max to post a rise in the value of sales last year. While the rest of the diet soft drink segment saw a marginal decline, high-budget advertising was found to have [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: US stocks on a high despite mixed earnings January 19, 2014 THE initial reads on earnings have been mixed, and yet US stocks are hovering near all-time highs. This week, investors will see whether the first companies out of the gate were a harbinger of what’s to come. More than 60 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release results next week, including more than half a [...]
City Moves for 03 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 2, 2013 Holley Holland The consultancy has appointed Alex Cameron as a principal consultant. He has over 25 years’ experience in financial services, qualified as a solicitor at Allen & Overy, and has worked with the Bank of England, Barclays Capital and Barclays Business Banking. Altius Associates The private equity advisory firm has appointed Rhonda Ryan as [...]