SocGen sees gold prices rising to $1,400 August 2, 2013 Societe Generale predicts that gold prices will reach $1,400 per ounce in 2013 friom $1,308.29, before falling to $1,150 in 2014. The same note suggests silver will climb to $22 this year from $19.58 before dropping back to $20 in the next. Societe Generale's Robin Bhar: Our latest study of the global gold hedge book, [...]
IMF: A quarter of Spaniards will still be out of work in 2018 August 2, 2013 The International Monetary Fund has warned Spanish unemployment could be stuck above 25 per cent for another five years as it calls for decisive reforms to generate jobs and growth (release). Existing reforms have not been enough to address labour market rigidities, the IMF says, and the businesses need greater internal flexibility. Meanwhile, private sector [...]
US factory orders choke in June August 2, 2013 US factory orders have grown by just 1.5 per cent in June, behind analyst estimates of a 2.3 per cent increase. Last month saw orders up 3.0 per cent (revised up from 2.1 per cent) so there's still some good news in the latest data. Regardless, while economists had been hoping for an acceleration from [...]
Dell founder agrees last minute $25bn deal and postpones record date and vote August 2, 2013 Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake have sweetened their Dell buyout deal even further (despite saying their last offer would be best and final), keeping the price at $13.75 (£9.08) per share but offering a 13-cent-per-share special dividend. In exchange Michael Dell and Silver Lake would receive the voting modifications they asked for, [...]
HSBC shakes up auditors for first time in over two decades replacing KPMG with PwC August 2, 2013 HSBC has announced that it will be switching its current auditor KPMG for PricewaterhouseCoopers for the year ended 31 December 2015 (release). The change will be recommended to shareholders at HSBC's 2015 AGM. KPMG will continue to undertake the audit of the bank's consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013, and subject to [...]
US consumers’ incomes increase at slower rate than household expenditure in June August 2, 2013 US citizens increased their personal spending above wage rises in June, despite a fall in real disposable incomes. However, this spending increase looks set to fall next month, as average weekly incomes fall 20 per cent in July. On aggregate, US citizens received a $45.4bn (0.3 per cent) boost in personal income in June, lower [...]
Fed probably won’t raise rates until 2015 as US jobs market disappoints August 2, 2013 The US jobless market has come in weak, with only 162,000 new jobs in July (seasonally adjusted of course). Analysts had expected a number of 185,000, from 188,000 last month (revised down from 195,000). Reuters now report that the reaction by traders of short-term US interest-rate futures suggests that they think the Federal Reserve will [...]
HMRC poaches Vodafone IT head August 2, 2013 HM Revenue & Customs has appointed Vodafone UK’s chief information officer (CIO) Mark Dearnley into the equivalent role at the British tax administrator after receiving approval from the Prime Minister. Dearnley, who has been CIO at Vodafone UK since 2010 and held similarly senior positions at Cable & Wireless and Boots (helping to set up [...]
Shares in Berlusconi’s companies remain elevated despite threat of political instability August 2, 2013 Shares in the companies owned by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi have fallen on the news his four-year prison sentence for tax evasion was upheld, but still remain elevated from gains made since his final appeal with the supreme court began on Tuesday. While the court ruling arguably has no direct impact on the companies [...]
Some more good news: Liquidations and personal insolvencies fall in second quarter August 2, 2013 The number of personal insolvencies and corporate liquidations in England and Wales both fell in the second quarter of the year, building on respective short and long term trends. The number of personal insolvencies fell to 25,717 – a decrease of 6.1 per cent on the same period last year. Bankruptcies were down 20.1 per [...]