Commodities drive FTSE 100 higher as prices tempt buyers March 17, 2011 COMMODITY stocks powered a bounce in Britain’s top shares by close yesterday, as heavy selling this week made equities look attractive from a technical perspective, with volatility set to persist. The FTSE 100 index closed 97.88 points or 1.8 per cent, higher at 5,696.11. It had fallen in each of the previous six sessions and [...]
Fat cat pay cheques push up the cost of civil service March 10, 2011 SURGING pay for public sector fat cats is pushing civil servant staffing costs out of control, according to a report published today by government watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO). Rising wages for those at the top accounted for half of a 10 per cent increase in costs over and above inflation since 2000, the [...]
Gaddafi’s UK assets are frozen February 28, 2011 GEORGE Osborne last night froze the British assets of the Gaddafi family, as the international community tightens the screw on the flailing Libyan regime. Following a special meeting of the Privy Council at 5.15pm yesterday, the chancellor acted to freeze the assets of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and five members of his family, including the second [...]
House swapping and geopolitcal disaster February 23, 2011 BEFORE I KNEW YOU BY AMANDA BROOKFIELD PENGUIN, £6.99 MID-Atlantic at 35,000 feet, two couples pass in opposite directions. They are on the seemingly perfect credit crunch vacation, an international house swap with suitably affluent, never-to-be-seen hosts. Sophie and Andrew Chapman leave their Victorian family home in south-west London, their teenage daughters and Sophie’s recent [...]
Catlin shakes off cat loss February 10, 2011 LLOYD’S insurer Catlin returned solid full-year results yesterday despite taking a $218m (£136m) hit from catastrophe-related losses. Catlin saw pre-tax profit fall by a third to $406m from $603m last year, but beat analysts’ forecasts of $382m. Underwriting profits grew five per cent to $683m, as it added ten per cent to the net premiums [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS February 9, 2011 42 PER CENT PREFER DOG TO PARTNER It is a sad day for British romance when 42 per cent of British people prefer their dog or cat to their partner. A survey conducted by M&S Pet Insurance shows that when it comes down to the “me or the dog” question, 42 per cent would always [...]
Alchemy for the digital age: turning charts into profits February 7, 2011 TO ACADEMIC economists, technical analysis is a pseudoscience, rather like water divining, or alchemy. The academics contend that traders are in fact not using technical analysis at all, at least not exclusively, or else are not actually profitable. One particular study described technical traders as “noise traders”, as opposed to “news traders”, concluding that technical [...]
Keeping it thin and funky in smart Chelsea February 3, 2011 ONE way to really be the envy of your neighbours is to live in a house that’s fundamentally much more stylish, fun and unusual than theirs. That’s one thing you could be sure of if you lived in the Studio House on Edith Grove in Chelsea. Almost certainly, any guests turning up at the Victorian [...]
Chief reformer Witty stays down to earth February 3, 2011 WHEN chief executive Andrew Witty took the helm at the world’s third largest pharmaceutical company in May 2008, GlaxoSmithKline was looking for change. After eight years with Jean-Pierre Garnier at the top – during which the Frenchman improved the company’s fortunes while attracting controversy for refusing to provide discount HIV drugs to Africa – Witty [...]
Why Ed Balls is a flawed economist January 20, 2011 LIKE the cat who got hold of the cream, Ed Balls, the new shadow chancellor, could hardly conceal his delight yesterday. But in addition to being the culmination of a colourful tale of personal intrigue, Alan Johnson’s shock resignation will have an electric effect on Westminster. Out goes an amiable, reasonable but incompetent and innumerate [...]