Barclays weighs up bid for BGI May 21, 2009 Talks between Barclays and private equity house BC Partners over a counter-bid for exchange-traded funds unit iShares are said to have cooled, after the bank entered talks to sell its entire Barclays Global Investors (BGI) division. Barclays was looking to attract new bids for iShares to trump the £3bn offer it received from CVC Partners. [...]
I didn’t see the axe coming, insists betrayed boss Hughes December 20, 2009 MARK HUGHES hit back at Manchester City chiefs last night, insisting he was given no warning of his ruthless sacking. Hughes’ 18-month reign as City boss came to an end after Saturday’s 4-3 victory over Sunderland with the club’s billionaire Arabic owners announcing Roberto Mancini as his successor. On reflection, Hughes’ demeanour during Saturday’s match [...]
Greece woes spoil continental party January 18, 2010 EUROPEAN shares rose in early trade yesterday, recovering some of Friday’s losses, with miners gaining on higher metals prices. In morning trading, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 per cent at 1,058.15 points. Miners were among early gainers, as copper rose on hope that strong Chinese demand could cut inventories. Precious metals were also [...]
WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FROM THE PRE-BUDGET REPORT? December 6, 2009 MICHAEL SAUNDERS CITIGROUPThis would be a good time to detail a phased fiscal consolidation for the next few years. However we do not expect this to happen in the PBR. Fiscal policy in the PBR will aim to reinforce Labour’s pre-election political strategy, rather than to re-establish fiscal sustainability.SIMON HAYES BARCLAYS CAPITALThe report provides the [...]
FINES ALONE WON’T MAKE FSA CREDIBLE January 12, 2010 ROBERT FALKNER REED SMITH LLP LAST year the FSA began talking the talk, with a number of policy speeches about the need for enforcement to “deliver credible deterrence”. Indeed, 2009 was a record year for bank fines. FSA rules for the registration of directors and senior managers – persons holding significant influence functions – for [...]
This year, look out for the rise of the rupee February 2, 2010 WHO would want to be an emerging market central banker at the moment? Having stormed ahead of their Western rivals during the financial crisis, economies in Asia and Latin America are now facing the prospect of rising prices. The authorities face an unenviable task – they need to strangle inflation without derailing growth. In these [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 11, 2010 Weir Group Jon Stanton will join the company this Spring as group finance director. Stanton, 42, arrives from Ernst & Young where he has worked since 1988. He has been a partner in the London office since 2001 with responsibility for the audit of several FTSE 100 clients, including Invensys, Hanson and InterContinental Hotels. Stanton [...]
Happy Monday for financials as US data lift big cap shares February 1, 2010 Britain’s top share index closed 1.1 per cent higher yesterday, helped by upbeat US manufacturing data, with banks and commodity stocks topping the list of gainers. The FTSE 100 closed up 58.89 points at 5,247.41, having dipped to 5,163.57 earlier in the session. The index ended 0.8 per cent higher on Friday. Experts said the [...]
THE TIPSTER December 7, 2009 GOLD bugs will have been disappointed with the sharp correction in the precious metal as it was unable to sustain its record highs above $1,200 an ounce. But for now gold seems to have found some support around the 23.60 per cent retracement when drawn from the April low so this could present a good [...]
Boost your trading toolkit by watching moving averages January 31, 2010 FUNDAMENTAL traders have been speculating for some time about two trends: a resurgent greenback and an asset price bubble in China. And, if the technical analysis is correct, confirmation of both these moves came at the end of last week. On Wednesday, the US dollar index – which is a measure of the US dollar [...]