We can not continue deriding financial services October 11, 2009 Behind the political rhetoric there is real work to do. Big beasts like Vince Cable, Lord Mandelson and Ken Clarke have been in the City eye over the last weeks as we took a team to each of the party conferences to find out what they are really thinking. In a time of anonymous public [...]
GREENGREENBACKS October 11, 2009 Billionaire George Soros has promised to invest $1 bn (£626m) in clean energy technology as part of an effort to combat climate change. The Hungarian-born US investor also announced he would form and fund a new climate policy initiative with $10 million a year for 10 years.
Russia’s economy set to shrink October 11, 2009 President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russia’s economy will shrink by 7.5 per cent in 2009, but said intervention by the Kremlin had prevented a worse decline. The country, which relies massively on oil exports, has been hit by the massive slump in energy prices. Medvedev said his government had been surprised by the severity [...]
Gatwick sale steps up a gear October 11, 2009 BAA is edging closer to a sale of Gatwick airport, a week before the airport owner goes to the Competition Appeals Tribunal. Joint venture group Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is lined up to be the buyer, after other bidders dropped out of the race earlier this year. BAA is challenging a ruling from the competition [...]
Airlines agree to new green rule October 11, 2009 The world's airlines have agreed to new fuel efficiency and carbon emission targets which go much further than the levels required through regulation, an industry group said this weekend at a meeting in Montreal. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines, said that carriers, airports and aerospace firms had pledged to improve [...]
Rollercoaster ride for gold seen ahead October 11, 2009 GOLD has stormed higher over the past week or so to hit new highs as the US dollar came under severe pressure and inflation fears rose. But with the precious metal still above the $1,000 mark, gold bugs and bears alike are asking how much higher it can go. Spot gold reached a record $1,061.20 [...]
WILL GOLD CONTINUE TO RISE OVER THE COMING MONTHS? October 11, 2009 JULIAN JESSOP CAPITAL ECONOMICSWe would not be surprised to see gold break higher in the coming weeks. However, a mix of unfounded inflation fears, conspiracy theories and speculative demand looks more like the ingredients for a speculative bubble than the grounds for a sustainable increase in prices. Gold looks vulnerable to a roller-coaster ride in [...]
Xstrata’s Anglo bid in doubt October 11, 2009 MINER Xstrata looks set to pull out of its hostile bid for Anglo American, after its rival issued a three-week “put up or shut up” clause on the deal. The usually bullish Xstrata boss Mick Davis is likely to walk away from the proposed merger, which would have created a mining giant worth £56m to [...]
Glut of City empty offices shrinks as market rises October 11, 2009 Two full years after the commercial property market crash began, the flow of vacant office space that flooded the City of London and West End has finally started to subside, reveals research from NB Real Estate, the leading commercial property agency. According to NB Real Estate the percentage of office space in the City of [...]
Standard goes free from today October 11, 2009 The London Evening Standard will today become a free newspaper and double its circulation, a move that has already led to record ad revenues. The 182-year-old title announced earlier this month that it would drop its 50p cover charge and increase the number of copies it prints to 600,000 per day, in what many have [...]