No festive joy for shaky Hammers against Blues December 17, 2009 WEST HAM vs CHELSEA SUNDAY, 4.00PM SKY SPORTS 1 THE Premier League has been something of a baptism of fire for Gianfranco Zola and he has certainly suffered more than his fair share of bad luck. Financial crises and key injuries have caused big problems for the Hammers and the way they capitulated at Bolton [...]
Retail sales fall dampens hopes of festive boost December 17, 2009 The Christmas shopping season has got off to a slow start, with retailers reporting a fall in sales volumes in November, dampening hopes of a bumper festive period on the high street. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes unexpectedly fell by 0.3 per cent in November. Department stores [...]
Bank of America appoints Moynihan as new chief December 17, 2009 BANK of America has promoted Brian Moynihan to be its new chief executive with the task of nursing the conglomerate back to health. The appointment of Moynihan – who heads the bank’s retail division – follows the retirement of Kenneth Lewis. His promotion comes after the bank posted two quarterly losses in the past year [...]
JJB sales plunge 52% in “difficult” trading December 17, 2009 JJB sports has reported a 52 per cent plunge in sales in the past six months, with the Christmas season failing to reverse its fortunes. The struggling sports retailer has been trying to stage a fight back after it came close to going into administration earlier in the year. But the latest gloomy figures have [...]
FED: US ECONOMY IS IMPROVING SLOWLY December 16, 2009 THE Federal Reserve last night heralded further signs of improvement to the US economy but voted to keep interest rates on hold at 0.25 per cent. The jobs market was given a special mention by the Fed which noted that “deterioration… is abating.” However, the Fed’s upbeat reference to the recession-battered US economy was not [...]
BA in fresh talks with its unions December 16, 2009 BRITISH Airways (BA) will find out today whether its bid to block a devastating 12-day Christmas strike in the courts has been successful. The decision comes after the airline reopened talks with its unions yesterday, following the admission by Unite boss Derek Simpson that the length of the strike was “over the top”. Bruce Carr [...]
France goes after traders December 16, 2009 FRANCE will mirror Alistair Darling’s banking windfall tax by clawing back half of traders’ bonuses next year. Economy minister Christine Lagarde said she will single out frontline traders dealing in financial instruments for the 50 per cent tax on bonus payments. This differs from the UK tax, which affects all bankers. It will kick in [...]
Recession over but tough 2010 for UK December 16, 2009 THERE will be so many challenges confronting the British economy next year that it is hard to know where to start. The last remaining hard-core bulls, who still believe in a v-shaped recovery, will be bitterly disappointed; to a lesser degree, so will the perma-bears, who are still convinced that the UK banking system is [...]
Swiss back privacy laws December 16, 2009 THE Swiss government yesterday threw its weight behind the privacy laws which protect the clients of Swiss banks – institutions which are reputed for their secrecy. It rejected the idea of exchanging information – particularly involving tax – automatically, but said it was prepared to consider the introduction of withholding tax on offshore funds, which [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 16, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES INSURERS TO LAUNCH REPUTATIONAL RISK PRODUCT Insurers are planning to introduce a new product to help companies limit the financial fall-out when their brands or high-profile spokesmen such as Tiger Woods suffer reputational damage. DeWitt Stern, a 110-year-old US insurance broker, has already received expressions of interest from London underwriters about backing a [...]