Stress tests failed to test banks October 9, 2011 THE downgrade of a dozen UK banks and eight Portuguese banks on Friday morning ended another tumultuous week in the European banking sector. The Greek farce has dragged on so long that it has fallen from the headlines, despite its potential to bring Europe crashing down around our ears. Instead, focus has shifted to the [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD October 9, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Burberry will make its second quarter trading statement on Wednesday. China has been driving demand for luxury European goods, but there have been signs that this demand is beginning to abate, which will not bode well for the UK brand. ● Hargreaves Lansdown will release an interim management statement on Thursday. Many [...]
THE TIPSTER October 9, 2011 THOUGH Premier Foods served up a healthy slice of humble pie for investors with the profits warning last week, can this mark a turning point for the company? With mounting debts and falling sales it is certainly in something of a pickle so pressure will build to move ahead with the disposal of peripheral brands [...]
The printing press is whirring again: What does it mean for spread betters October 9, 2011 KATHLEEN BROOKS | FOREX.COM THE major surprise from last week was not only that the Bank of England would pump another £75bn into the UK economy, but also the resilience of the pound. Sterling rallied against all of the major currencies last week and reversed its initial decline immediately after the announcement. So is the [...]
Legal industry shake up is a business opportunity October 9, 2011 THE Legal Services Act has just come into force and it threatens to decimate high street legal firms. For years, in legal seminars across England and Wales, high street lawyers have been crying out against it. The new law hopes to create competition, but many have warned it could squeeze out smaller firms who lack [...]
NO END IN SIGHT: SMALL BUSINESS BANKING WOES October 9, 2011 I RUN a small but fast-growing group of pubs called The Draft House. We’re known for selling a wide range of craft beer, simple food and – I hope – a warm welcome. In 2009, we were days away from opening our second site in Northcote Road, Clapham. We were managing our cash carefully but [...]
ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF October 9, 2011 ONLINE TRADERS HAVE DOUBLED The number of people earning a second income by trading online has doubled in the last year. A survey by Collect Plus, a parcel delivery and returns service, dubs these online entrepreneurs “e-pportunists”, finding that a third of them earn over £10,000 a year. Over half (59 per cent) of those [...]
FTSE lurches up on economic optimism October 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares advanced yesterday as sentiment was lifted by hopes policymakers will take the necessary measures to stabilise stressed European banks and by the Bank of England’s decision to launch a second round of quantitative easing. “Central banks have come to the party and said ‘look, we’re really concerned about growth; we’re going to [...]
Europe lifts Wall St for a third session October 6, 2011 US stocks rose for a third day in a row yesterday as developing Eurozone plans to backstop European banks gave investors hope the threat of a financial crisis was waning. Bank shares led gains on Wall Street as the EU planned to recapitalise banks and the European Central Bank said it was ready to buy [...]
The Fear Index: The day has come to make a real killing… October 6, 2011 THEY gathered around the trading screen in Execution. One of the quants vacated his desk to give them a better view. “So, this is VIXAL-4 in operation,” said Hoffman. He stood back to let the investors get closer to the terminal. He decided not to sit: that would have let them see the wound on [...]
