Ford forecast lowers stocks – New York Report September 29, 2014 US stocks ended lower yesterday following protests in Hong Kong that added to worries about Chinese growth and after a disappointing forecast from Ford. The S&P consumer discretionary sector, down 0.6 per cent, had the most losses. Ford shares fell 7.5 per cent and the stock was the S&P’s biggest percentage decliner after it lowered [...]
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda cut petrol prices in latest battle in supermarket price wars September 29, 2014 Supermarkets clearly love the smell of diesel in the morning. Forget Brand Match promotions, in the latest battle between supermarkets in the long-waged war over low prices, the front of the petrol pumps re-opened. From tomorrow, Tesco and Sainsbury’s will slash fuel prices by up to five pence per litre while Asda will cut up [...]
Zalando shares priced at €21.50 valuing German online retailer at €4.9bn September 29, 2014 German online retailer Zalando has announced the pricing of its shares at the upper end of expectations- €21.50 (£16.79)- kicking off a bumper week for the German technology market. The six-year-old startup will make its market debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 1 October, floating 11.3 per cent of the business to raise €605m [...]
Mark Zuckerberg is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin September 29, 2014 Mark Zuckerberg is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken the three biggest billionaires in technology by accruing an additional $15bn in wealth since last year- more than any other billionaire this year. That's not bad for a yearly paycheque [...]
Bitcoin advocates meet with US military to discuss terror financing September 29, 2014 The US military is paying increasing attention to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The Business Executives for National Security recently organised a meeting between officials from US Special Operations Command and leading figures in the Bitcoin community. Simply called the "Virtual Currency Workshop", the invitation-only meeting was the first time the Bitcoin industry had directly met [...]
In pictures: After the “skinny house” comes the “skinny tower” – Sao Paulo high-rise is 80ft tall, but just 13ft wide September 29, 2014 We've heard of "gap houses" – in fact, they're currently popping up in disused alleyways all over London – but what about a "gap tower block"? Triptyque, an architect with offices in France and Brazil, has created a tower block designed to fit into a narrow gap between homes in Sao Paulo. The building is [...]
Alan Yarrow to succeed Fiona Woolf as Lord Mayor of the City of London September 29, 2014 Alan Yarrow is to succeed Fiona Woolf as Lord Mayor of the City of London, becoming the 687th person to take on the title. Yarrow is currently chairman of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, and has spent most of his career at Kleinwort Benson, though has also chaired the London Investment Banking [...]
Evens on another defection, 33/1 on Brooks Newmark: Bookies’ odds on the next Conservative MP to go to Ukip September 29, 2014 The second defection of a Tory MP for Ukip over the weekend has the rumour-mill in overdrive, but will there really be more and who might go? Mark Reckless is unlikely to be the last to jump ship, according to both political commentators and Ladbrokes. In fact, it’s evens any further MP will defect ahead of [...]
What is FireChat and how are protesters in Hong Kong using it? September 29, 2014 Protesters in Hong Kong are using mesh networking to avoid detection from authorities while organising themselves. This weekend tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters – many of them students – gathered to protest mainland China's ongoing selection of the city-state's chief executive. In doing so, many protesters have started using this relatively new [...]
Walmart goes hipster as it appoints Instagram founder Kevin Systrom to its board September 29, 2014 The world's largest retailer has come over more Walden than Walmart, after it appointed Instagram founder and chief executive Kevin Systrom to its board. The US-based supermarket, which owns Asda, said Systrom's "digital expertise will be invaluable" – so we can only presume Walmart is after his technical know-how, rather than is ability to attract beard-sporting, [...]