OIL PRICES ARE GOING TO SHINE October 23, 2011 ON THE CONTRARY WHILE some see uncertainty in the future direction of oil, (see feature, left) I take a bullish view. The recent crude oil review prepared by analysts at Morgan Stanley points to a very slowly improving supply outlook. Their analysts are forecasting a growth in supply by 1.1m barrels per day, on average, [...]
Presume you can do it until proven otherwise October 23, 2011 DRAGONS are supposed to be scary, but in real life Deborah Meaden is warm and approachable. She is surprisingly open about her weaknesses too: “Well, I never imagined I wouldn’t set up a business,” she explains. “Not least because I don’t take instruction very well,” she laughs. “I wasn’t academic. I didn’t like school, but [...]
INHERITANCE TAX: ENEMY OF ENTREPRENEURS October 23, 2011 AS chancellor George Osborne and his team try to simplify our over-complex tax system, they are looking at taxes whose harmful effects outweigh any good that comes from their revenue. Obviously the 50 per cent top rate of income tax must be a prime candidate, given that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has joined the [...]
CAREERS NEWS | IN BRIEF October 23, 2011 NUMBER OF MBOS HAVE TRIPLED The number of business owners prepared to consider a management buyout (MBO) has tripled in the last three years since entrepreneurs have had to consider all options in a difficult economic market, according to new research by Coutts. However, most entrepreneurs will only instinctively sell their business to their own [...]
FTSE hit by fresh Eurozone discord October 20, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading share index was pulled lower by financials yesterday as political discord again hampered efforts to resolve the Eurozone debt crisis, leaving it on course to snap a three-week winning streak. News of stalled talks between France and Germany to forge a “comprehensive” plan to end the crisis ahead of a meeting of regional [...]
Wall St edges up despite fear over Europe October 20, 2011 THE Dow and Standard & Poor’s 500 rose slightly yesterday after a joint statement by France and Germany eased some jitters over resolving the Eurozone debt crisis. Throughout much of the session stocks see-sawed between gains and losses as investors reacted to a flood of headlines about efforts to deal with debt-laden Eurozone states. France [...]
Find out if you can cut it as an arcade trader October 20, 2011 MATT Silvester is head of training on the Professional Trader Programme at Schneider Trading Associates. He sees himself as a sergeant-major figure – weeding out the weak and cultivating those who have what it takes to sit at the arcade – a facility that provides support to independent traders. The initial programme lasts for four [...]
Overwhelmed? Sometimes you have to say no October 20, 2011 LIKE plenty of others in the City, Julie Meyer is a busy lady. Ever since she appeared on the BBC’s online Dragons’ Den she’s been bombarded with requests from everyone: entrepreneurs who want investment, businesses who want her to join their board and pesky journalists wanting quotes. All that, of course, on top of her [...]
Investors spooked by Eurozone fears October 19, 2011 US stocks fell yesterday as traders, after sitting on their hands for most of the day, jumped to sell in a hair-trigger reaction to fresh reports underscoring that Europe remains far from a solution to its debt crisis. In a repeat of a now-familiar pattern, traders capitalized on headlines emerging late in the trading day, [...]
Time to debunk the silly myths about personal credit ratings October 19, 2011 A BAD credit rating is the financial equivalent of a six-year hangover. We should fear them. They can stop you getting a mortgage, new car and leave your credit card trapped on a crippling interest rate. But a lot of what is said about them is rubbish. For example, 71 per cent of people still [...]