MARTIN ON THE MARKETS July 5, 2009 AFTER Friday’s non-session, as the US Independence Day holiday suppressed volumes, get ready for a pivotal week set to be dominated by one thing: US earnings. Stock markets have rallied of late on the back of hopes that we’ll see a bounce in profits, and this week investors will start to see those hopes look [...]
THE LONDON REPORT July 5, 2009 OUSEBUILDERS will come under scrutiny this week, with giants Persimmon and Barratt Developments set to update markets. Traders will be hoping for further signs that there is an an uptick in mortgage availability, as banks repair their balance sheets and are able to resume lending to homebuyers, feeding through to the battered sector. Barratt, set [...]
London markets sag in the heat but Diageo refreshes July 2, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 2.5 per cent lower yesterday, with market sentiment hit by data showing US employers cut more jobs than expected in June and unemployment in Europe hit a 10-year high. The index ended down 106.44 points at 4,234.27 after closing 2.2 per cent higher on Wednesday, the first day of the new [...]
Jobless figures hit hopes of recovery July 2, 2009 US stocks tumbled yesterday, driving the S&P 500 down to its third-straight weekly loss, as a steeper-than-expected slide in June non-farm payrolls revived caution about economic recovery prospects. News that US employers shed nearly half a million jobs last month and the unemployment rate jumped to 9.5 per cent, the highest in nearly 26 years, [...]
FTSE gains on commodities rally after price of oil rises July 1, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 2.2 per cent higher yesterday, fuelled by a rise in the oil price which prompted a strong rally in commodity stocks, and on hopes that the recession may be drawing to a close. The index was up 91.50 points at 4,340.71, after closing 1 per cent lower on Tuesday. “When (the [...]
The parachute regiment comes to the rescue July 1, 2009 IF all the talk of bottoming out and green shoots is to be taken seriously, one career sector looking to benefit is interim management, the arena of senior executive trouble-shooters. A development from the older American model of turnaround specialists, interim management – in which executive-level experts are parachuted into companies to address specific operational [...]
US stocks jump on green shoot hopes July 1, 2009 US STOCKS rose yesterday, the start of the third quarter, as reassuring manufacturing data from China, Europe and the United States reinforced hopes that the world’s economy is on the road to recovery. A day after the benchmark S&P 500 wrapped up its best quarter in a decade, investors ploughed new money into stocks, boosting [...]
CAREERS CLINIC July 1, 2009 RICHARD REIDPSYCHOTHERAPIST AND DIRECTOR OF PINNACLE PROACTIVE“I work in a small department, and have completely fallen out with a colleague. He questions everything I say, and I feel I can’t express my ideas. There’s a lot of tension between us and it’s beginning to affect my work, but my manager won’t stand up for me. [...]
Trainee problem threatens pyramid June 30, 2009 THIS year is turning out to be one of the worst to be a trainee lawyer. This September Clifford Chance will axe 21 of its 70 trainees on qualifying, giving the firm a retention rate of 70 per cent. Last year the firm kept on 95 per cent. American firm Jones Day will keep on [...]
LOOKING TO NEW PLACES FOR LAWYERS June 30, 2009 DAVID MORLEY SENIOR PARTNER, ALLEN & OVERY IN April, the initial findings of the government’s Panel on Fair Access to the Professions were announced. It said that the most socially exclusive professions are law, politics and the media. The situation is getting worse, and these professions more exclusive. Partly, this is down to informal networks [...]