2 more gold miners slash production – What will 2014 bring for them? January 23, 2014 Last year gold prices tumbled 28 per cent – the worst fall in thirty years – and the slump in the price of the yellow metal is hitting this year’s output. Production costs are flooring and, in response, miners around the world have slashed costs, delayed new work and hedged. Today, two Russian gold miners – [...]
TfL to use its own Olympic volunteers to staff stations during strikes January 23, 2014 Transport for London has found a new benefit to the Olympic legacy – it is drafting in trained volunteers from its back offices to man the stations as “ambassadors” during next month’s strikes. Around 1,000 TfL staff, from accountants to former drivers, have offered to lend a hand to passengers during the RMT walkouts on [...]
Here’s why one bank thinks Marks & Spencer is set to outperform January 23, 2014 Exane BNP Paribas has shown some kindness to poor Marks & Spencer this morning after generously upgrading its recommendation to “outperform”, sending shares up more than two per cent. The French bank, which previously had an “underperform” rating on the stock, bravely argues that after three years of difficult trading and a history of underinvestment, [...]
1 chart that proves France is still the sick man of Europe January 23, 2014 It wasn’t the focus of the Eurozone crisis 18 months ago, but France is now doing worse than countries like Spain. The crisis in Spain and Greece was – and still is – terribly painful. But it led to a series of tough economic reforms to free up key areas like the jobs market, as [...]
Here’s the struggling handset division Nokia is selling to Microsoft January 23, 2014 Nokia’s handset division slumped during the fourth quarter to sales of €2.6bn (£2.1bn), down five per cent on the previous quarter and down 29 per cent year on year. The division, that will be transferred to Microsoft during the first quarter of 2014, is now classified as a discontinued operation in Nokia’s results. The Finnish [...]
Did you see this flashmob at the Royal Exchange this morning? January 23, 2014 Commuters walking past the Royal Exchange around 9am this morning spotted something unusual. A flashmob of pink and red leotarded aerobics dancers prancing in front of the steps of the historic building, to be precise. Not exactly Bank's usual suspects. Why were they there? Drumming up publicity for Shelter's tower running challenge, [...]
Free trade and less government says Australia’s Abbott January 23, 2014 Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister, has been championing small government, private business and free trade. Speaking at the World Economics Forum in Davos, Abbott said the global economic crisis was “not a crisis of markets but one of governance”, adding that “better governance does not mean more government”. The prime minister pledged to use [...]
Here’s how a snow blower got revenge for all those shattered iPhone screens January 23, 2014 The clear-up of Tuesday's snowstorm has left a New York Apple Store resembling the company's iconic (and sometimes shatter-prone) iPhones. A 32-foot high glass panel at Fifth Avenue's Apple Store has been left in pieces, after it was cracked by a snowblower-wielding clean up crew. AppleInsider reports that "a single pane positioned in the southeast [...]
The main winners from Help to Buy? Rich men in London January 23, 2014 Nearly 40 per cent of would-be homeowners under the age of 40 are planning to apply for the government's controversial Help To Buy scheme in 2014, according to research from Experian Consumer Services. In November, Halifax and RBS reported strong interest in the first phase of Help to Buy receiving more than 2,000 applications in [...]
Estimated crimes in UK hit 32-year low January 23, 2014 Crime is falling in Britain, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The downward trend in crime numbers continued last year, with the police recording 3.7m offences in the year ending September 2013 – that's three per cent down on a year earlier. Household crime dropped by 10 per cent in the year [...]