Economy remains in focus as inflation signs look benign August 16, 2009 LAST week the markets were updated on the views of central bankers from both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, the Bank of England published their quarterly Inflation Report and from the US we heard comments by the Federal Open Market Committee, accompanying their regular rate-setting meeting. Both presented a benign outlook for inflation. [...]
Freddie’s final fling looks worth a punt August 16, 2009 SAD to say, anybody who put money on the number of points that Michael Schumacher would make in his glorious return to Formula One for Ferrari will have wasted their money, following the news that the old champ’s neck is not up to the rigours of motor-racing. Thankfully, though, there are still spread bets to [...]
Managing a strategy for career change August 12, 2009 IT’S HARDLY unusual for people in their late twenties to decide that the area they’re working in isn’t actually the career they want to pursue. Tristan Smith had been working successfully in the airline industry for eight years – even moving from her home town of Sydney, Australia to the US city of Chicago – [...]
CAREERS CLINIC August 12, 2009 MICHAEL MORANMANAGING DIRECTOR OF FAIRPLACE I work in asset management. My boss is moving to another firm, and he is asking me to come with him. Should I join him? YOU have to weigh up the pros and cons here carefully. It’s a good signifier of your own abilities if your boss is reliant on [...]
Large cap index back on the up as sentiment stays high August 12, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed up by 1 per cent yesterday, as investors took their positions ahead of last night’s Federal Reserve statement on US growth prospects. The index ended 45.42 points higher at 4,716.76, after closing down 1.1 per cent on Tuesday, its biggest fall in a fortnight after hitting 2009 highs on Friday. “Great, [...]
US stocks buoyed by Fed’s optimism August 12, 2009 US stocks powered higher yesterday as the Federal Reserve said it saw signs of a more stable economy. Stocks had been on track to close at their highest level in 10 months, led by technology and financials, but shares lost steam in the last half hour of trading. The Federal Reserve said the economy was [...]
Big Brother in the Square Mile raises legal issues August 11, 2009 THERE is nothing so British as fear of Big Brother. And perhaps, not without reason – the UK has 20 per cent of the world’s CCTV cameras. But the latest fear is being spied on at work. City firms have begun to import state-of-the-art tactics to keep a close eye on employees, and it is [...]
Undervalued peso poised to benefit from US recovery August 11, 2009 GIVEN the poor state of Mexico’s economy, you might think that its currency, the peso, would be suffering. Hit hard by global recession and falling oil prices, the real economy is expected to shrink by 5.5 per cent in 2009 while the country’s industrial production is contracting month-on-month. And even the country’s growing tourist industry [...]
A BONUS CAN BE A RIGHT August 11, 2009 SPEAKER’S CORNERROBERT JAMES WASHINGTONASSOCIATE, HOGAN & HARTSON PEOPLE who have lost their jobs as a result of the current recession might not like it, but as the reports of banking profits last week suggested, bonuses are back. Or in any case, they will be soon. This bonus season, though, PR might dictate that some firms [...]
YEN RECOVERY BAD NEWS FOR JAPAN August 11, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT NO country in the G20 has suffered more from the global recession than Japan. Although relatively low compared to the rest of the industrialised world, the country’s unemployment rate remains at 5.4 per cent, the highest rate of joblessness in more than five years and the second worst in [...]