Hertz withdraws profit guidance as recalls put brakes on rentals August 20, 2014 US CAR industry recalls have hit rental company Hertz hard and it has withdrawn its profit guidance for the year, prompting at least two brokerages to downgrade its stock. Hertz announced yesterday that it expected 2014 results to be “well below” its previous guidance given the massive auto recalls, higher operating expenses in the US [...]
City Moves for 21 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs August 20, 2014 Investec Specialist Bank The bank has announced the appointment of Stefan Szczurowski to its fund finance team. He has worked in Investec’s corporate and acquisition team in Australia since 2009. Szczurowski won a bronze rowing medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Tavistock The corporate and financial communications consultancy has announced the appointment of Matt [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 August 2014 August 20, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com DEBENHAMS Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its rating to “hold” from “sell”, but cut the target price to 65p from 70p. The broker still has concerns on the balance sheet and need to invest in the store portfolio, but thinks it will benefit from [...]
London Report: FTSE slips from five-day rise as ex-div firms fall August 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday retreated from a three-week high, halting a five-day winning streak, with companies trading without the attraction of their latest dividend putting pressure on the broader market. The benchmark index finished down 0.35 per cent, or 23.83 points, at 6,755.48 points. Despite markets pausing for breath after recent rises, Standard Chartered [...]
New York Report: Stocks end up as rate hike fears subside August 20, 2014 US STOCKS closed yesterday mostly higher, with the S&P 500 just missing a record close, after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting gave investors reason to believe that the central bank was in no rush to raise interest rates. The minutes were from the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in late [...]
Argentina proposes debt swap, and bond yields fall August 20, 2014 Argentina may have found a way out of its default debacle, but it could be messy and is unlikely to end in repayments for the holdout creditors. Read the background to the saga here. President Cristina de Kirchner, relentless populist to some and hero to others, is proposing a debt swap and the markets have [...]
Fed minutes: what you need to know August 20, 2014 The Federal Reserve has released the minutes from its 29-30 July meeting on monetary policy. As with the minutes published by the Bank of England earlier today, there was a certain amount of dissent from some of those present regarding the key issue of interest rate rises. From the release: Some participants viewed the actual [...]
Self-employment is at its highest for 40 years August 20, 2014 The rise in the employment rate since 2008 has largely been amongst the self-employed, according to new data from the ONS. What is more, the percentage of the workforce that answers only to itself is at 15 per cent, the highest rate for 40 years. To make matters worse, the average salary for a self-employed [...]
Poland wants to take Russia to court over food ban August 20, 2014 In the wake of Russia's ban on some European food products, Poland has asked the European Commission to complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Poland sent the request to European Trade Commissioner Karel De Grucht, who represents the EU in WTO cases. Marek Sawicki, Poland's agriculture minister has said that preliminary consultations are underway, and [...]
Is there life on Mars? Nakhla meteorite indicates it’s possible August 20, 2014 The question of whether there is – or ever was – life on Mars has rumbled on for centuries, but a meteorite that landed on Earth more than 100 years ago could offer scientists new clues about the environment of our neighbouring planet. The Nakhla meteorite, which landed in Egypt back in 1911, has [...]