Kraft Heinz sales jumped 165 per cent in the first quarter – due to the merger May 4, 2016 Kraft Heinz has revealed a massive jump in sales during the three months to 3 April, driving the group's share price up by over five per cent in after hours trading. The company, which was formed out of the merger of Kraft and Heinz last year, said a 165 per cent increase in sales – [...]
Are emerging markets getting their mojo back? May 4, 2016 Emerging markets may be getting some of their mojo back after a tough couple of years. So says Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), citing a rally in emerging market bonds. Yacov Arnopolin, a portfolio manager for the GSAM emerging markets debt team, is encouraged that the recent interest in emerging markets has been broad-based and [...]
Just what has the EU got against e-cigs? May 3, 2016 The e-cig is one of the great success stories of our time. For decades, public health officials have worried about the effects of tobacco smoking, and market-driven innovation has ridden to the rescue. What a triumph the e-cig, or vaping, could prove to be. Public Health England concluded last year that these little devices are 95 [...]
The problem with Ukraine and Iraq isn’t Putin and Islamic State: It’s that both countries are basket cases May 3, 2016 “The gods help them that help themselves.” – Aesop When it comes to the seemingly intractable crises in both Ukraine and Iraq, a comforting, if wholly untrue, narrative has taken hold. The chaos that has laid low these two plucky, overmatched, but deserving states is entirely the fault of the world’s two most obvious Bond [...]
Draghi lashes out at hawks and defends low interest rates in Europe during Asian Development Bank speech May 2, 2016 The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, lashed out at hawks today and argued there is no current alternative for low interest rates. In a speech given to the Asian Development Bank, Draghi acknowledged that low interest rates are not harmless, as they put pressure on the business model of financial institutions by squeezing [...]
TTIP leak is a “storm in a teacup” says EU trade commissioner after Greenpeace publishes secret documents May 2, 2016 A leak of confidential information claiming to reveal the disagreements in negotiations between Europe and the US on the TTIP free trade deal have been labelled a "storm in a teacup" by a senior official in Europe. Draft documents detailing the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks were published by Greenpeace in the Netherlands, which it said show serious cause for [...]
British astronaut Tim Peake to control a UK-based rover from outer space April 29, 2016 British astronaut Tim Peake will control a UK-based rover as he orbits the earth from the International Space Station. The live space-to-ground test today involves Peake — who is located hundreds of miles away — operating the rover nicknamed "Bridget" in a specially built "Mars yard" at Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The experiment will help researchers learn more about the [...]
Venezuela orders two-day working week as energy crisis bites April 29, 2016 Venezuela has given public sector workers a two-day working week as its government fights to weather a worsening power crisis. Britain was forced to introduce a three-day week to combat energy shortages during the 1970s. A coal miners' strike followed the first oil crisis when an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) embargo sent prices soaring. Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, said on [...]
Seven reasons Brexiteers are wrong to think EU exit negotiations would be easy April 29, 2016 Some eurosceptics think that Brexit negotiations would be a piece of cake. But if Britain decides to leave the EU, it will have no choice but to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. That will set in motion a complicated procedure that puts the departing member state at a disadvantage. The Leave [...]
Sick-man France’s economic reform failures risk restarting the Eurozone crisis April 29, 2016 Although Britain had its own strike this week, this time by junior doctors, spare a thought for the French public who once again faced widespread industrial action yesterday. A strike was held over proposed reforms to France’s employment rules. Reform is desperately needed. Employment protection in France is higher than in any other major western economy, [...]