US and EU must coordinate regulatory reform May 3, 2010 We don’t need it next year…We need it now.” So said Barack Obama last week, referring to the US Financial Reform Bill, designed to change the way in which the American financial services industry is regulated. And, in public at least, President Obama appears to have support from Republicans and Democrats alike as they seek [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 3, 2010 Metric Property Investments Metric – set up by ex-British Land executives Andrew Jones (pictured), Valentine Beresford and Mark Stirling – has appointed three high-flyers following its £190m float on the LSE. William Evers, a former associate director at LaSalle, has joined as an investment executive. Juliana Weiss Dalton becomes head of investor relations and corporate [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 3, 2010 HUGO BOSS Deutsche Bank has upgraded its recommendation of Hugo Boss to “buy” and says ambitious targets for 2015 have been set by the clothing group, and comments on current trading are very positive. Deutsche Bank has issued a target price of €38 for Hugo Boss and says that uncertainties over management changes are now [...]
Avis to bid for Dollar Thrifty May 3, 2010 Car rental firm Avis gatecrashed an agreed deal between Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group and Hertz yesterday, sending Dollar Thrifty’s shares soaring 15 per cent to $50.62 in morning trading. Hertz last week offered to buy Dollar Thrifty for $41 per share, mostly in cash. After Dollar Thrifty investors signalled their dissatisfaction, Avis boss Ronald Nelson [...]
French pension protests flop May 3, 2010 The French government’s plans to reform the country’s costly pension system were given a boost by a lower than expected turnout at weekend protests against the measure. President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to increase the retirement age beyond the current 60 years. The 1 May trade union demonstration attracted 350,000 people. Last year, the number was [...]
EU carbon prices hit 17-mth high May 3, 2010 European carbon prices rallied into a second month yesterday, surging to a new 17-month high on the back of higher German power prices, a bailout package for debt-stricken Greece and a leaked EU document, traders said. EU Allowances futures for delivery in December climbed as high as 16.56 euros a tonne, up 62 cents or [...]
BUFFETT PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS BY CAVORTING WITH HOUSEWIVES May 3, 2010 WARREN Buffett has been a well-recognised face over in the States for what seems like forever, but the old man certainly hasn’t lost his star appeal yet. Buffett’s no stranger to popular culture – he’s even made cameo appearances before in US soap opera All My Children (when he came to the rescue of one [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK May 3, 2010 THESE six successful property tycoons hit Boyd’s Brasserie near the Embankment last week to continue celebrating a big deal after a night out on the town the evening before. Coffees were ordered all round as tonic for the sore heads, along with full English breakfasts – Lincolnshire sausage, grilled bacon, mushrooms, tomato, scrambled eggs, baked [...]
CAMERON WINS AS BROWN FADES AWAY April 29, 2010 DAVID Cameron won the final leaders’ debate by a clear margin last night, as the Prime Minister’s chances of re-election faded into the distance. Labour aides acknowledged that the debate on the economy marked the last opportunity for Gordon Brown to save the party’s flagging fortunes, but nearly all the instant opinion polls had him [...]
Nick Clegg snaps at heels of Tory victor April 29, 2010 DAVID Cameron might have emerged as the clear winner of last night’s election debate, but the Liberal Democrat leader is still too close for comfort. A instant poll from Populus even put Clegg and Cameron neck-and-neck on 38 per cent each, with the Prime Minister trailing in last place with just 25 per cent of votes. Cameron’s [...]