Before the open – 29/07 – Asian stocks down, FTSE seen opening higher July 29, 2013 Asian stocks traded lower last night as weak Chinese manufacturing data heightened fears of a hard landing and investors showed caution ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy statement later this week. The Nikkei fell below the 14,000 mark for the first time in nearly a month as the yen strengthened against [...]
The news from this weekend – 29/07 July 29, 2013 Two of the world's biggest multinational advertising companies, French owned Publicis and US owned Omnicom, have announced merger plans worth around $35m (£23bn). Ross McEwan, RBS’s retail banking head, is thought to be the most likely candidate for the next chief executive of the state-backed bank, insider sources told the Sunday Telegraph. He could be [...]
Boris losing battle over London rail | City A.M. July 28, 2013 BORIS Johnson has failed to convince Whitehall that he should be given control over suburban rail services in London, with civil servants in the Department for Transport fighting a rearguard action to block his bid for control of routes into Liverpool Street, Cannon Street, and London Bridge. City A.M. understands that the Mayor’s ambitious proposal [...]
Evidence-based policy is the most meaningless phrase in politics today July 27, 2013 PLENTY of meaningless phrases dominate our public discourse. Think of “the global race” or “a fair share”. The former is a good soundbite, but who exactly are we racing and what does winning entail? History has shown us that prosperity is not a zero-sum game, so the idea our economic progress is someone else’s loss [...]
Another MP gets muddled up on Twitter July 26, 2013 Deputy Labour leader and shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman has become the latest MP to to get confused on Twitter, when she attempted to "@" Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee using her email address rather than her @pollytoynbee handle, and attaching a picture of Toynbee's article at a 90 degree angle rather than a link. Great [...]
Euro rises as Standard & Poor’s affirm Slovenia rating of A- with stable outlook July 26, 2013 Standard & Poor’s has affirmed Slovenia’s rating at A- with a stable outlook. The euro reacted positively. S&P affirms Slovenia at A-/A-2; outlook stable. EUR likes – moves up about 15 pips straight away — Yogesh Chandarana (@Yogi_Chan) July 26, 2013 S&P said that the country's strengths are being balanced out by a sharply increasing [...]
We won’t find out who the next Fed chairman is until the autumn July 26, 2013 The White House has said that US president Barack Obama is not expected to name a new Federal Reserve chairman until the Autumn, lowering expectations of an imminent announcement. The news was reported by the Associated Press, citing a senior White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity. Among the leading candidates are former [...]
IMF says balance of risks to US economy tilted to the downside July 26, 2013 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the fiscal deficit reduction in the US this year is “excessively rapid” and that the Federal Reserve must be very careful when tapering down its quantitative easing programme (release). In its conclusion of the Article IV consultation, the IMF said that the US recovery has remained “tepid” [...]
Chinese police detail further GlaxoSmithKline’s alleged crimes July 26, 2013 Chinese police have released more details of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) alleged bribery crimes in China, saying that sales agents were trained to build relationships with doctors by offering money and “catering to their pleasures”. Citing sources in the police force, China's official news agency Xinhua reports that bribes of ten to 20 yuan were offered each [...]
Former IMF head to be tried for pimping and could face ten years in prison July 26, 2013 The former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be tried on charges of “aggravated pimping”, prosecutors in Lille have said, following an investigation ongoing since 2012 into sex parties he attended. The former IMF head says he did attend sex parties in the Carlton Hotel in Lille, France, but that he was [...]