Bitcoin price (BTC) tumbles below $12,000 while ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) also sink January 16, 2018 Bitcoin tumbled back towards $11,000 today, falling as much as 20 per cent to a four-week low, as the notoriously volatile digital currency shed nearly $1,000 in just an hour. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin was down 14.14 per cent at $11,911.5 a coin according to Coinmarketcap. Rival cryptocurrency ethereum also [...]
Investors think an equities peak in 2018 is less likely, as stocks steal popularity from bonds January 16, 2018 Global investors are less worried about stock markets peaking in 2018, according to a new survey, as the consensus expectation for when prices will begin to decline has slipped from the second quarter of 2018 to 2019 or beyond. The number of investors taking out protection against a near-term correction in the markets, meanwhile, has [...]
Carillion rescue “undermined” by Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander January 16, 2018 Carillion’s biggest lenders restricted funding to the stricken firm three days before it went bust, “undermining” efforts to save Britain’s second-biggest contractor, it has been claimed. In witness statements filed with the High Court, former boss Keith Cochrane alleges the Royal Bank of Scotland “undermined” the Carillion’s attempts to conserve cash, Sky News first reported. [...]
Forget bitcoin and dogecoin, there’s joke cryptocurrency based on Theresa May, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron January 16, 2018 Bitcoin might be on a downward turn (for now at least), but Theresa May coin is on the up. Yes, the Prime Minister has been minted into the cryptocurrency world in another example of the craze. Who wouldn’t approve of going to all that effort just for a pun about being strong and stable? Read [...]
Uber will introduce a cap on driver hours in the UK from next week January 16, 2018 Uber will introduce a cap on the number of hours drivers can work in the UK after MPs criticised working conditions and raised concerns about safety risks from working long hours. Drivers will be forced to log out of the app and will be unable to accept rides for six hours after 10 hours of [...]
Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund sells out of BAE Systems, AECOM, Fluor Corp, Korea Line Corp, Evergreen Marine Corp in an ethics push January 16, 2018 Norway’s massive $1.1 trillion (£777bn) sovereign wealth fund has pulled its investment in UK defence company BAE Systems, as it continues an ethical push. The fund – which has traditionally focused on oil, but decided to ditch oil and gas investments last year – has also sold off its stake in another eight companies as [...]
It’s easy to criticise the UK apprenticeship levy – but we need to give it a chance January 16, 2018 The start of 2018 has seen renewed criticism of the apprenticeship levy, with last year’s fall in apprenticeship starts being widely cited as evidence that it has become another business tax. In fact, the levy represents a milestone in transforming the way employers access talent and how the post-18 education system operates for young people. [...]
UK house prices: Here’s how much London property prices fell in November January 16, 2018 London house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in November, official figures have shown, suggesting the cooldown is showing no signs of abating. Average prices in the capital fell to £482,000 in November, down 0.9 per cent on the month before, and 1.6 per cent lower than the £490,000 peak they hit [...]
Banks face a seismic technological upheaval – PSD2 is only the start January 16, 2018 The Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) came into force across the EU last Saturday, opening access to consumers’ financial data to thousands of companies that aren’t banks. The UK went a step further with Open Banking, enabling fintech players and retailers to take over the ownership of customer relationships from major banks. In the Open [...]
Carillion’s collapse – ministers hold emergency Cobra meeting January 16, 2018 The government’s emergency Cobra committee met last night to discuss “the most immediate issues” from Carillion’s spectacular collapse earlier in the day. Straining under a £1.5bn debt pile, Britain’s second-biggest contractor failed shortly before 7am on Monday morning, after eleventh-hour talks between the government and creditors ended without an agreement. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington [...]