Dignity shares slide after regulator proposes funeral competition probe November 29, 2018 Shares in listed-funeral provider Dignity dropped 15 per cent today following an announcement by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of a potential probe of the sector. The CMA today proposed a “major funerals probe after identifying serious concerns”. Shares in Dignity fell 15 per cent, from 864p to 847p following the news. The CMA [...]
Instagram has become a scammer’s paradise November 29, 2018 Today, like every day, £87,000 will be lost to online scams, with social media platforms used as a key access point. Fraudulent activity is particularly prolific on Instagram, where scammers use the unregulated landscape and image-oriented design to pose as traders and con people out of thousands of pounds. Instagram’s success has been built around [...]
Bitcoin scrambles back above $4,000, on course for biggest rise since April after week of plunging value November 28, 2018 Bitcoin has bounced back above $4,000 (£3,128) today after plunging in value earlier this week. The cryptocurrency hit $4,205.47 during today’s trading, bouncing back from a 14-month low of $3,474 on Monday according to data from Luxembourg-based Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp. Today’s rally has seen a rise of more than 11 per cent and puts the world’s largest [...]
Italy ‘looks for space’ to revise budget in the face of EU disciplinary action November 28, 2018 The Italian government was working to amend its budget today to attempt to avoid disciplinary action from the European Commission. But EU commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said a “substantial correction” was needed, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa and Germany's Handelsblatt. Italian finance minister Giovanni Tria told the Senate the government was working to find “financial space [...]
Royal Mail could be sent packing from FTSE 100 in final reshuffle of the year November 28, 2018 Royal Mail could be sent crashing out of the FTSE 100 next week as insurer Hiscox stakes a claim to replace the UK postal service in the blue chip index. The final FTSE reshuffle of the year takes place on Tuesday and barring a miracle Royal Mail, which delivered a shock profit warning in October, [...]
Thomas Cook shares continue to fall, dragging FTSE firms down with it November 28, 2018 Package holiday provider Thomas Cook's share price has continued to fall for a second day, after having more than £175m wiped off its market value yesterday. The firm announced its third profit warning in five months, blaming the UK's long summer heatwave for a decline in Brits heading abroad. Shares in the FTSE 250 company declined by [...]
Expensive stocks & high debt: A concern for investors November 28, 2018 At no point in the lifetime of any investor operating today has the US not been the largest stock market on the planet and yet it recently notched up a new kind of record. According to numbers crunched by analyst Scott Irving of Jefferies International, at the end of September, the US accounted for 62.4 [...]
Igas begins drilling at its first UK shale well in Nottinghamshire November 27, 2018 Igas hopes to become the second company to frack in the UK as it today begun drilling at an exploratory well in the Midlands. The energy company said it had started work on the TL-1 exploration well at Tinker Lane in Nottinghamshire. The exploration, which was given planning permission in March last year, aims to [...]
Sterling dips as Trump and Fallon launch attacks on Theresa May’s Brexit deal November 27, 2018 Sterling suffered another fall today amid increased doubt over whether the Prime Minister’s Brexit bill will pass through parliament. Theresa May announced yesterday that the Commons vote on her deal will take place on Tuesday 11 December. But division among MPs has taken its toll on the markets, which remain wary of a no-deal Brexit. [...]
Equity markets to “regain footing” in 2019 as economy grows and sees off risks after tumultuous year, Credit Suisse predicts November 27, 2018 Global stock markets will “regain their footing” in 2019 and shareholders will see increased returns, Credit Suisse has predicted. The Swiss banking giant, in its 2019 investment outlook, said the emerging market equities would recover from this year's weakness, while innovation would make the tech and healthcare sectors more attractive. Financial markets have experienced a [...]