Cyprus preparing for all eventualities on Syria August 28, 2013 Cyprus’ foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides has said the country is preparing for “all eventualities” with regards to the tensions brewing in Syria. On Tuesday, he denied speculation that British airbases on the island – in particular, RAF Akroti on the southern tip – could play a major role in any military strike against Syria. [...]
Mark Carney drops local knowledge with Jake Bugg reference August 28, 2013 Bank of England governor Mark Carney tried to impress with some regional knowledge in his Nottingham speech, dropping the name of local-born singer-songwriter Jake Bugg: Productivity growth has been anaemic and – remarkably – the UK is no more productive than it was back in 2005 – before Jake Bugg got his first guitar. We [...]
Carney’s productivity fixation August 28, 2013 While his predecessor Sir Mervyn King was no fan of uttering "productivity", Mark Carney has delivered a speech peppered with the word. This now appears to be a theme of Carney's public appearances, as he used the word repeatedly at this month's Inflation Report. Ben Southwood, Adam Smith Institute: It's interesting that Carney is putting [...]
Bank of England governor stresses that forward guidance will return inflation to target August 28, 2013 (Source: Bank of England) The governor says that he does intend to raise rates before the unemployment threshold of seven per cent is met. But with Monetary Policy Committee members already rebelling against this (as Martin Weale voted against at the last meeting), it's not clear that Mark Carney will be able to control policy [...]
US mortgage applications continue to fall August 28, 2013 Mortgage applications in the US fell by 2.5 per cent last week from the week before, according to survey data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). This follows a 4.6 per cent fall the week before. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased by 12 basis points to 4.8 per cent in [...]
US rules out unilateral action on Syria August 28, 2013 known to be trigger-happy A US official has ruled out unilateral military action against Syria, according to Agence France-Presse. If correct, this would confirm speculation that the US will not want to launch a military strike against Bashar al-Assad’s regime without the backing of its allies. Earlier today, the United Nations special envoy to Syria [...]
UN special envoy to Syria confirms use of “some kind of substance” in attacks August 28, 2013 Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, has confirmed that "some kind of substance” was used in an attack on 21 August resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people. Brahimi told reporters "it does seem like some kind of substance was used" in the alleged poison gas attack near Damascus last week. [...]
Businesses warn retail recovery isn’t sustainable as sales growth hits nine month high August 28, 2013 UK retail sales grew at the fastest annual pace in nine months in the year to August, while employment in the sector grew by the most in 11 years, according to survey data from the Confederation of British Industry. Nearly half (49 per cent) of retailers responding to the Distributive Trades Survey for August said [...]
Paddy Power shares fall despite profit growth August 28, 2013 Online betting company Paddy Power has reported a 12 per cent increase in pre-tax profits and basic earnings per share for the first half of the year (release). Pre-tax profits rose to €77.0m (£66.4m) from €68.7m in the same period the year before. Basic earnings per share increased to €1.394 from €1.240. However, investors ditched [...]
EU’s Rehn says it’s too early to put a number on the Greek financing gap August 28, 2013 The European Union's Olli Rehn has said that it's too early to put figures on the Greek financing gap, and that there will be a "proposal, possibly in Autumn". Steve Collins, global head of dealing at London & Capital Asset Management: German CDU politicians are going to be furious Rehn has slipped his gag with [...]