The cost of popularity: How a fear of looking stingy makes us overspend June 25, 2014 Over half of adults in the UK apparently spend more than they can afford on their social lives, but what's driving this habit? It is not a genuine desire to spend, but rather an eagerness to be regarded as generous in the eyes of others, according to a survey by the Money Advice Service. Appearing [...]
Orange juice set to become cheaper June 25, 2014 Bets by traders on orange juice indicate that the soft commodity is likely to become cheaper. According to Bloomberg data, futures contracts for orange juice traded on the US ICE market dropped 4.5 per cent overnight and settled at $1.541 a pound. Trade body Florida Department of Citrus has also released data showing that retail [...]
Iraq is in the midst of a Sunni revolution, not an Isis revolution, say rebels June 25, 2014 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is the real cause of the deep schism forming between Sunnis and the Iraqi government, according to Sunni rebels and refugees in the north of the country. They say that Isis is being portrayed as the main propagating force behind the rebellion, when, they claim, it is in fact a [...]
Russia could face new US sanctions June 25, 2014 Russia could face more economic sanctions from the US amid the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine. The new sanctions would affect exports, reports the FT. According to industry executives, US companies would be required to apply for licences if they wish to export technology to Russia. The rules would apply to new projects rather than existing [...]
Shares: The greedier the CEO, the lower the value June 24, 2014 Avaricious CEOs are bad for business, according to a report published by the Journal of Management. Called “When More Is Not Enough: Executive Greed and its Influence on Shareholder Wealth”, it examines the effect of a CEO's greed on share value for over 300 publicly traded firms. Professor Katalin Takacs Haynes and her team at [...]
Isis takes control of most important oil refinery in northern Iraq June 24, 2014 Radicals from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) have taken control of northern Iraq's most important oil refinery. Based at Baiji near the town of Tikrit, the refinery is responsible for producing a third of Iraq's oil output. It had been under attack by the militants for the past 10 days. The [...]
Shoe Zone releases positive results following IPO June 24, 2014 After listing as a public company last month, Shoe Zone has released positive initial results. Pre-tax profit rose to £2.7m, a large increase from £200,000 in the first half of the last financial year, and earnings per share rose to 3.7p. There were few signs of disappointment for the UK footwear retailer. Although revenues were [...]
A human step for artificial intelligence June 23, 2014 Robots are getting smarter. They still need instructions, but they no longer need to be so detailed. Now you can just say “make me a bowl of noodles”, rather than telling them that they need to heat the water, too. This is because of work being done by a scientist in California, who is designing them [...]
Hedge fund loses millions after being hacked June 23, 2014 An unnamed hedge fund has lost millions of dollars after it was hacked last year, according to BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. The attackers stole portable company secrets by installing malware software, and in the process slowed down high-speed trading. The attack took place over a two-month period and has accumulatively cost the fund millions of [...]
Islamic Bank of Britain looks to halt losses with new CEO appointment June 23, 2014 The Islamic Bank of Britain has just appointed a new CEO, with the hope that he will drive profits for the first time since the bank began ten years ago. In his previous role as interim managing director, Sultan Choudhury successfully oversaw the bank's takeover by Qatari Sharia financing firm Masraf Al Rayan, which had [...]
