Gold prices: The yellow has found a new pocket of opportunity April 18, 2017 “Don’t gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.” You may have to read the quote more than once, but Bob Marley knew what he was talking about. At the moment, investors seemingly disagree a bit with him, and they have pushed spot gold up around 8 per cent [...]
Turkish lira (TRY) rallies against dollar and euro following victory for President Erdogan in referendum for sweeping political changes April 17, 2017 A victory for Turkey’s President in a referendum on Sunday triggered a modest rally in the Turkish lira yesterday. The lira rose two per cent against the US dollar to $0.2726, according to Bloomberg data, and was up 0.7 per cent against the euro at €0.2557. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan clinched a narrow victory, [...]
Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland online banking customers will soon be able to use facial recognition technology for login instead of passwords with Microsoft Hello April 17, 2017 Lloyds is the latest bank to jump on the biometric bandwagon with new plans to let users login simply by showing their face to a camera. Online banking for customers of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland will now come with a new security option that replaces a password with a selfie or a fingerprint. [...]
That’s the (craft) spirit: Distillery numbers are booming in the UK as taste for independent gin and whiskey blossoms April 17, 2017 The UK’s growing taste for craft gin and scotch has created a boom in the number of distilleries springing up across the UK. There were 45 new ones set up last year, a rise of nearly a fifth, bringing the total number to 273, new figures reveal. And since 2010, the number has more than [...]
Bentley Bentayga review: The British marque’s first SUV gets gets the manufacturer’s first diesel engine April 13, 2017 Sadiq Khan is getting tough on diesels. From April 2019, owners of the most polluting cars will pay £12.50 (on top of the existing C-charge) to enter central London. And the Mayor has hinted that diesels could eventually be banned from the city altogether. Probably not the ideal time, then, for Bentley to launch the [...]
Union recognition and 20-1 executive pay ratios: Here’s Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to upgrade the economy April 13, 2017 Only companies which give full recognition to trade unions and have a 20-1 pay ratio will be granted public procurement contracts under new proposals Jeremy Corbyn will announce today. In a speech at the Wabtec train maintenance company in Doncaster this afternoon, Corbyn will say he wants to use the £200bn the government spends on [...]
Just Fund: Just Eat reckons these five startups will be food tech’s next big thing | City A.M. April 13, 2017 Just Eat is giving back, it seems: the food delivery startup has chosen five food tech startups to get £20,000 and receive training and mentoring as part of its seed programme. Buzzer, which helps restaurants harness feedback, and Nourish’d, which allows companies to subside healthy meals for their staff, are two of the firms which [...]
When blockchain meets online lending: The business using one to improve the other April 13, 2017 Leveraging technology to create a new asset class has been done a fair amount in the financial world – most notably in recent years by the P2P industry, which makes credit more accessible, faster and cheaper for individuals and business while delivering a return to investors, via increasingly accurate risk profiling. Sydney-based platform Othera goes [...]
Gold prices approach the key $1,300 mark after Donald Trump sparks a dollar sell-off April 13, 2017 Gold prices bounced up overnight as US investors reacted to comments from Donald Trump that sent the dollar tumbling. Investors were shaken after the US President said he thought the dollar was “getting too strong” and that he’d like the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low in an interview with the Wall Street Journal [...]
Spain over Gibraltar, Argentina over the Falklands: Who will be next to stake a claim in Brexit? April 13, 2017 With Article 50 now triggered, both the UK and the EU are drawing up their opening red lines for the Brexit negotiations. The UK has said that it is ready to walk away from the talks with no deal and base future trade relations with the EU on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. There is [...]