Tax advisor turns hero in dramatic Thames rescue June 12, 2014 He spends most of his days helping people out with their tax arrangements but on Monday, KPMG tax advisor Paul Sopher helped someone with a little bit more than that – by saving them from the Thames. Sopher was winding down after work, having a drink with his girlfriend at a river boat bar [...]
European Central Bank still sees no deflation dragon to slay June 12, 2014 Falling prices can have a “benign effect” on the economy, the European Central Bank (ECB) said today, hitting back at critics of the current very low rate of inflation. The ECB has a target of keeping inflation below but close to two per cent. Currently it sits at 0.5 per cent, leading to [...]
US retail sales grow at half predicted pace June 12, 2014 US retail sales disappointed in May, creeping up by just 0.3 per cent last month. That's half what consensus estimates had suggested we'd see today, with economists predicting that we'd see growth of 0.6 per cent reported. Investors were expecting the pace of sales growth to pick up, with analysts at Rabobank pointing towards indicators [...]
The UK loves traditional news brands online, but readers don’t want to pay June 12, 2014 Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and other digital-only media companies continue to grow but have a way to go to overtake the digital readership of traditional news brand websites in the UK, a new study has shown. Traditional news media such as the BBC and Daily Mail still dominates digital news consumption, showing that the well established [...]
How hard will Japan’s sales tax hike hit growth? June 12, 2014 In March, I said that it could be the most important economic event this year. But how has Japan's sales tax hike gone so far? Japan has effectively created a fiscal shock, providing its own test of the ability of monetary policy to offset the impact. Noah Smith, who was initially skeptical of Japan's new [...]
Uber app wins the heart of EU commissioner after taxi protests June 12, 2014 Smartphone app Uber has found a new champion in the form of EU digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes. After protests against the San Francisco startup swept Europe yesterday, Kroes wrote "we cannot address these challenges by ignoring them, by going on strike, or by trying to ban these innovations out of existence." “The disruptive force [...]
RBS share price “going down, going down, going down” says analyst June 12, 2014 Despite a 16 per cent rise in the share price of state-backed bank RBS over the past six weeks, one analyst is less than confident that the performance will be sustained. Investec's Ian Gordon writes that "the share price (once again) reflects a triumph of hope over reality and should duly correct". Investec has downgraded [...]
For the price of a Starbucks coffee you can charge your phone wirelessly June 12, 2014 Starbucks will soon let you charge your phone wirelessly when you grab a coffee. It's planning to rollout wireless phone charging capabilities in its coffee shops after a successful trial in the US. Anyone who panics when their phone flashes five per cent will rejoice at the news that they can simply head to [...]
Iraq crisis has traders on edge as militants take Mosul. Here’s what you need to know June 12, 2014 The takeover of key Iraqi cities including Mosul and Tikrit by Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) forces has investors watching events closely. Writing in City AM today, Michael Stephens, deputy director of RUSI Qatar, describes the events as bad "even by Iraq's standards" as the US-trained Iraqi Army units in and around [...]
Mulberry share price drops as profits slump June 12, 2014 Luxury brand Mulberry has seen its share price drop one per cent on the back of news that the company suffered a massive drop in profit before tax of 45 per cent for the year ended 31 March. The handbag maker has issued two profit warnings so far this year and lost its chief executive [...]