How accurate is it for Osborne to say that the UK’s finances are improving? July 19, 2013 There are enough variations of today's public borrowing figures that you can twist them to fit almost any narrative you'd like. But can chancellor George Osborne really say that the deficit is shrinking? We've got some analyst reaction. Martin Beck, UK economist, Capital Economics: The public finances have yet to see much of a boost [...]
Regulator bans and fines former insurance broker £140,000 July 19, 2013 Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned Paul Cable from working in the financial services sector and fined him £140,000 for misleading a client. Whilst the sole director of Media and Entertainment Insurance Service Limited (M&E), Cable misled a client by telling them that he had arranged insurance policies for them when no such [...]
National debt at its highest level since the 1960s July 19, 2013 Public sector borrowing statistics for June have been released, and the ONS has the numbers in a variety of flavours, depending on your preferred measure (see below). Sky's Ed Conway reports that national debt is at its highest proportion of GDP since the 1960s: Britain's national debt has just gone through the £1.2 trillion mark. [...]
Italian industrial orders suggest the sector could be on its way to recovery July 19, 2013 We get a mixed picture from this morning's Italian industry figures. While industrial sales have fallen 5.2 per cent in the year to May, orders this month are looking better. Despite sliding by 1.1 per cent in the year to May, orders saw a rise of 3.2 per cent in May, from a 0.8 per [...]
Before the open – 19/07 July 19, 2013 The FTSE 100 is expected to open down after US companies including Google and Microsoft posted earnings missing for the second quarter. Asian markets saw some decline on profit taking before the election this weekend. ETX Capital #morningcall: FTSE100 down 30 points, the DAX lower by 40 points and the CAC40 off by 17 points [...]
Vodafone revenues drop on competition in Germany and the UK July 19, 2013 Vodafone revenues have dropped by 3.5 per cent in the quarter ended 30 June as competition intensity has increased, with declines of 5.1 per cent in Germany and 4.5 per cent in the UK (release). Elsewhere, conditions in southern Europe resulted in revenues falling by 17.6 in Italy and 10.6 in Spain. Vittorio Colao, chief [...]
House prices hit record high in July July 19, 2013 UK house prices hit a record high in July, according to online real estate portal Rightmove, with sellers raising prices for the seventh consecutive month. The average asking price rose 0.3 per cent from June to £253,658 – up 4.8 per cent from July 2012. That’s £11,561 over the past year. London asking prices jumped [...]
Emerging financial centres to watch for a future career July 19, 2013 AS THE world’s leading financial centre, London is one of the best places in the world to work in finance. The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 2013 gives London a rating of 807 – far ahead of rivals New York (787) and Hong Kong (761).But more cities are making their mark, and Richie Holliday of Morgan [...]
Fed’s Bernanke says that nobody really understands gold prices July 18, 2013 The Federal Reserve's Ben Bernanke has said that "nobody really understands gold prices and I don't pretend to understand them either" when asked by a member of Congress about the recent fall in the price tag of the precious metal. Bernanke said that a fall in the price of gold is not necessarily a thing, [...]
Fed’s Bernanke stresses that monetary policy has limitations July 18, 2013 Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has that "monetary policy is not a panacea" when it comes to low growth and high unemployment, and that "there is still room for congress to address these problems". "It's not my place or the federal reserve's place to force Congress to come to any particular outcome" — Ben Bernanke, [...]