Cash-strapped MBA students look for money in new places October 14, 2009 THE topic of student funding is likely to be one of the major issues facing business schools over the next few years. While MBA students studying in their home countries can still rely on the traditional funding structures – ie, loans from banks – those who study in countries far from where they have been [...]
Shift to low-carbon economy will boost clean technology prospects October 14, 2009 INVESTING in clean technology used to be perceived as an activity that was primarily the domain of slightly hippy do-gooders with little interest in high-yielding returns. But any lingering misconceptions of tree-huggers and poor returns were swept away earlier this week when billionaire George Soros said he planned to invest $1bn in clean-energy technologies over [...]
GEAR UP YOUR EXPOSURE TO RECOVERY October 14, 2009 ALEXANDRE HOUPERTHEAD OF LISTED PRODUCTS UK, SG CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKINGa LAST year there were hopes that emerging markets, particularly in East Asia, had decoupled from the crisis that was plaguing the most developed economies in the world. But they did not remain immune from the global downturn and stock markets saw sharp falls. But [...]
Dow above 10,000 on surprise results October 14, 2009 THE Dow industrials pierced the 10,000 level yesterday for the first time in a year on surprisingly robust company results and better-than-expected retail sales. With major indexes up more than 1 per cent, the Dow’s milestone shows how far the market has come since last year when investors fled collapsing financial markets as the economic [...]
EU red tape slowing down M&A boom October 13, 2009 THE increase in M&A activity in recent weeks has been taken in some quarters as a tentative sign of economic recovery. The potential Kraft and Cadbury deal, Disney’s $4bn acquisition of Marvel, health company Johnson & Johnson’s purchase of 18 per cent of Dutch biotech business Crucell, and Ticketmaster’s attempt to buy Live Nation are [...]
Changing oil currency wouldn’t hurt the buck October 13, 2009 QUESTIONING the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency has become almost de rigueur in the past few weeks. In fact, it has been an ongoing discussion for some months now. It was discussed at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh at the end of September and then a news report last week suggested that the [...]
LAST CHANCE TO PLACATE THE TAX MAN October 13, 2009 SIMON NEWSHAMNEWSHAMS TAX SOLICITORS TAXPAYERS with unpaid taxes on foreign interests have been offered an amnesty by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), but time is running out for them. The amnesty, known as the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) allows UK resident individuals and companies with unpaid taxes on offshore bank accounts or overseas assets, including [...]
CHOOSE YOUR LETTER, AND FX OUTLOOK October 13, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT READING currency market research these days can be a little like watching Sesame Street. Every scenario assigns a different letter of the alphabet to the shape of the recovery. The direction for the dollar for the next 12 months could be determined by whoever is correct in their alphabet [...]
Sterling falls to six-month low on grim outlook for UK economy October 13, 2009 STERLING is once again the whipping boy of the forex markets. It fell to a six-month low against the euro on Monday after a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) suggesting that sterling could hit parity versus the single currency. And despite relatively healthy retail sales and house price data, inflation [...]
Banks drag down the FTSE as miners and energy drop October 13, 2009 BRITAIN’S top shares closed 1.1 per cent lower yesterday, as weakness in banks outweighed strength in defensive issues, while sentiment was dampened by falls on Wall Street after disappointing corporate earnings. The benchmark FTSE 100 closed 56.02 points lower at 5,154.15, slipping below the 5,200 level which it hit for the first time in more [...]