RBS to cut jobs to reduce costs January 11, 2014 ROYAL Bank of Scotland is expected to announce job cuts next month as part of plans to reduce its cost base. Chief executive Ross McEwan, who took the helm last October, said he wanted to cut the group’s cost base, reducing its cost to income percentage target to the mid 50s from its current 65 [...]
Carney welcomes nomination of former colleague Stanley Fischer as Fed vice chair January 10, 2014 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has shared some kind words for a former colleague, Stanley Fischer (pictured). Carney says that he is "delighted by the prospect of Stan Fischer re-joining the global community of central bankers" as Fischer was nominated to the position of Federal Reserve vice chairman by US President Barack Obama today. [...]
This analyst says the Federal Reserve needs to learn a crucial hockey skill January 10, 2014 The Federal Reserve's job is complex. It has to simultaneously avoid high unemployment while keeping inflation steady, and that can sometimes lead it to cause "new, potentially bigger problems down the road" says Deutsche Bank strategist Oleg Melentyev. That's meant that policy makers have created new and complex monetary tools. Current monetary policy is "creating [...]
Bitcoin wins the heart of libertarian CEO January 10, 2014 Encouraged by positive Senate hearings in November and enthusiastic Bitcoin processors, online retailer Overstock.com has decided to take the plunge and accept the cryptocurrency. In the first 90 minutes of Bitcoin sales, the site received around 150 orders. Overstock took the decision several months earlier than had been planned. The libertarian chief executive of Overstock.com, [...]
UK growth slowed at end of 2013, says think tank January 10, 2014 The UK's economy grew just 0.7 per cent in the three months to December, according to estimates by think tank Niesr. That's down from the 0.8 per cent that Niesr estimates GDP grew in the three months to November, and sees the level of GDP at 1.2 per cent below its pre-recession peak. Niesr say [...]
Does snow explain Canada’s job losses? January 10, 2014 Many economists have just put the shock disappointment of the US December jobs report down to the extreme weather the country's been seeing. But, as Sebastien Galy of Societe Generale highlights, Canada's economists are presumably better used to shutdown linked to cold weather. "I remember quite well Hydro Quebec’s electric lines collapsing under the weight [...]
US weather sees jobs additions fall to 2011 low January 10, 2014 A nasty number for the US economy. Nonfarm payrolls have come in at just 74,000 for December, far lower than the 196,000 job additions analysts had expected. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that weather had been a major factor in the low payrolls number. Those unable to work because of the bad conditions stood [...]
As retailers suffer poor Christmas sales – is a tech revolution their only hope? January 10, 2014 In the wake of poorer than expected Christmas trading results, a veteran of the retail trade is warning that if businesses fail to innovate, they will continue to face challenges getting customers to walk through their doors. Chief executive of mobile payment solutions specialist Powa Technologies, Dan Wagner, says that innovation is key for retailers [...]
Is QE finally on the way for the Eurozone? January 10, 2014 A day after the European Central Bank (ECB) did what everyone thought it would do and didn't cut interest rates, Capital Economics thinks president Draghi knows he needs to act sooner rather than later, and that there's a good chance he will. "We think the ECB has more work to do in 2014", says [...]
Here’s a novel new way to estimate US jobs figures January 10, 2014 We can't say this isn't an innovative way to estimate nonfarm payrolls. Waiting for the cat to come in from the garden for this month's US non-farm payroll predictions #NFP pic.twitter.com/icS9Ji60cV — Craig Drake (@csdrake) January 10, 2014 Consensus estimates say that the US will have added 196,000 jobs in December. We'll add Bob [...]