HSBC debuts ultra-low rate on home loan September 2, 2009 HSBC has waded further into the mortgage market by offering a new deal at 1.99 per cent for borrowers who can stump up a 40 per cent deposit. The rate, the lowest ever for a home purchase or remortgage and a substantial discount on the bank’s standard variable rate (SVR) of 3.94 per cent, will [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 4, 2009 Ernst & YoungErnst & Young is expanding its London and Bermuda business with the promotion of three staff. The insurance practice has admitted Richard Battersby and Jeff Soar as partners and promoted Andy Worth to director. Battersby will become the transactions advisory partner, Soar (pictured) will be providing tax services to Lloyd’s and London market [...]
Collapse in commodities ends BHP’s record run August 12, 2009 BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, yesterday reported a 30 per cent slide in annual profit excluding writedowns, its first fall in seven years, pummelled by a slump in metals prices and demand. It said there were emerging signs of demand improving in North America, Europe and Japan, but said it was too early to [...]
Collapse in commodities ends BHP’s record run August 12, 2009 BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, yesterday reported a 30 per cent slide in annual profit excluding writedowns, its first fall in seven years, pummelled by a slump in metals prices and demand. It said there were emerging signs of demand improving in North America, Europe and Japan, but said it was too early to [...]
Beware: we could soon face new bubble September 24, 2009 UNTIL recently, the worry about quantitative easing was that it was not working well enough, a view which has long stuck me as excessively pessimistic. But in recent days several top economists have started to express fears the policy may actually have worked too well and that all of the liquidity being injected into the [...]
Beware: we could soon face new bubble September 24, 2009 UNTIL recently, the worry about quantitative easing was that it was not working well enough, a view which has long stuck me as excessively pessimistic. But in recent days several top economists have started to express fears the policy may actually have worked too well and that all of the liquidity being injected into the [...]
European stocks near 11-month high September 7, 2009 EUROPEAN shares closed higher yesterday, led by UKchocolate giant Cadbury which soared 38 per cent following a £10.2bn bid approach from US company Kraft Foods. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 1.4 per cent to 975.90 points, just 0.3 per cent away from an 11-month closing high. The European benchmark index has [...]
EBAY HANGS UP ON SKYPE IN $2BN DEAL September 1, 2009 INTERNETauction giant eBay yesterday agreed to sell a majority stake in Skype, its free internet telephone business, to a group of private investors for $2bn (£1.23bn). The consortium, which is being led by USprivate equity firm Silver Lake, includes Andreessen Horowitz – a firm run by the Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen – and London-based private [...]
THE TIPSTER NEW SHARES PLACING LIFTS SAINSBURY’S July 12, 2009 SUPERMARKET chain Sainsbury’s had been doing well in the first months of 2009 despite consumers tightening their belts, and its share price reached a high of 347.25p in the middle of May. But its share price then slipped to around 309p and the stock has been trading broadly sideways since then. However, the announcement of [...]
THE TIPSTER NEW SHARES PLACING LIFTS SAINSBURY’S July 12, 2009 SUPERMARKET chain Sainsbury’s had been doing well in the first months of 2009 despite consumers tightening their belts, and its share price reached a high of 347.25p in the middle of May. But its share price then slipped to around 309p and the stock has been trading broadly sideways since then. However, the announcement of [...]