US manufacturing growth sinks to three month low October 1, 2013 The US manufacturing sector is still expanding according to new private sector data. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) has stayed at 52.8 in September from a flash estimate, implying that the sector is expanding (any number above 50 suggests growth). Analysts had been expecting a rise to 53.1, so this is a little disappointing, and [...]
Standard & Poor’s warns against prolonged US government shutdown October 1, 2013 Standard & Poor's has set out its analysis of the consequences of the US government shutdown and the implications for the credit rating of the US. In our opinion, the current impasse over the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling creates an atmosphere of uncertainty that could affect confidence, investment, and hiring in the U.S. [...]
Precious metal sell off sees gold, platinum and silver prices plummet October 1, 2013 Big price falls in commodities this afternoon as gold futures move below $1,300/oz and silver prices are down below $21/oz. Platinum getting slammed too. Not sure what's driving it yet, but we did see some precious metal buying in the run up to the government shutdown – it's possible that markets think a deal is [...]
Siemens tells employees no further restructuring October 1, 2013 Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser has said that there would be no further restructuring of the company following £4.9bn of cuts ending next year, in a letter obtained by Reuters. The news will come as a relief to workers who will already see their numbers drop by 15,000 by the end of 2014. Kaeser wrote: [...]
Nestle says brands overhaul looks likely October 1, 2013 There are portfolio decisions for Nestle to make as world's largest food company identifies businesses that have underperformed for too long. As first reported by Reuters, chief executive Paul Bulcke said today that there are shortlists for businesses that can be fixed and some that cannot. No specific brands were mentioned. In a meeting with [...]
GTA V plagued by problems at online launch October 1, 2013 GTA V has already broken records for Rockstar – netting $1bn (£620m) of sales in the first three days after launch – and now it seems to be breaking their servers. Keep on getting failed to host GTA ONline session. This was bound to happen — Sir Dean Veritiero~ (@SirCroftScion) October 1, 2013 The GTA [...]
No housing bubble says Bank of England October 1, 2013 The Bank of England does not think that there is a housing bubble. (Release) Despite differing opinions, the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has said that there were "few signs of house prices rising solely in anticipation of future price increases." The minutes of the 18 September meeting show that the question of [...]
Google backs down in face of EU anti-trust regulators October 1, 2013 Google has made a number of concessions to EU antitrust regulators, including displaying competitors logos on its search display results page. The EU investigation into Google began in 2010, seeking to find out whether Google was stifling competition. Google's proposals are intended to answer the problems that were highlighted under EU antitrust rules. 1) The [...]
Higher capital demands for banks under new stress test says BoE October 1, 2013 The Bank of England has released the record of a Financial Policy Committee Meeting which discloses plans for British banks to hold more capital than foreign competitors. Annual stress tests are set to start next year, with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Co-op, Standard Chartered and RBS all being tested. The Bank stresses its "key overarching priority would [...]
Italian instability is hiccup not crisis says Berenberg October 1, 2013 The instability in the Italian political system means Italy is heading for only a modest hiccup and not a new full-blown crisis according to economists at Berenberg. Berenberg's Italy update highlights the many dangers facing the Italian economy, which include the possibility of missing it's deficit target of 2.9 per cent of GDP. Should this [...]