House of Fraser owner Sanpower pulls investment in digital challenger bank Tandem March 20, 2017 Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate which owns House of Fraser, has been forced to pull back on a multimillion pound investment in digital challenger bank Tandem, City A.M. can reveal. A £29m tranche of cash due to bolster the startup's capital requirements for launching as a full bank has been halted over concerns that Chinese authorities are [...]
Gold prices have hit a two-week high as the US dollar continues to edge lower March 20, 2017 Gold has built on gains made last week as the US dollar slides to six-week lows. The yellow metal edged up $5.30 to $1,235.50 per ounce, hitting a two-week high, after making substantial gains following the Federal Reserve's decision to hike interest rates last week. "Gold has continued its rally that began after Wednesday’s Fed meeting, with the fresh [...]
Worrying mood music on global free trade from the G20’s summit in Baden-Baden March 20, 2017 The way in which the world’s most advanced economies understand and attempt to order global trade policy underwent a quiet revolution over the weekend. The German spa town of Baden-Baden hosted the annual meeting of the G20 at a critical and sensitive time. China has started to talk the talk on free trade, even if [...]
Britain needs a smart state, not big government, to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution March 20, 2017 In her first party conference speech as Prime Minister, Theresa May declared it was “time to remember the good that government can do”. Setting out a new approach to the role of the state, she rightly acknowledged that Whitehall doesn’t have all the answers but should instead be a proactive “force for good”. That’s certainly the right [...]
Consumer spending growth heading for four-year low as wages stagnate March 20, 2017 Real earnings growth is forecast to be up just 0.1 per cent in 2017, slowing sharply from 1.8 per cent in 2016. As a consequence consumer spending will rise by only 1.7 per cent, its weakest rate since 2013, according to the EY ITEM Club. Last year saw a 12-year high of 3.1 per cent [...]
FTSE 100 falls off record highs to end the week March 17, 2017 The UK's bluechip index fell off a record high in late afternoon trading, but nevertheless ended the week almost 100 points up. The FTSE 100 finished at 7,423.6 points, 0.1 per cent higher. Both risers and fallers were a mixed bag, with insurer Admiral Group leading the way, rising 1.8 per cent to 1,941p, followed by healthcare [...]
Euro falls against the US dollar after construction fall hints at weakness in recovery March 17, 2017 The euro fell sharply today against the US dollar as new data cast doubt on the narrative of an uptick in economic activity in the European Union. The euro fell to lows of $1.0728 against the dollar after having reached highs of $1.078 earlier this morning. Construction in the Eurozone dipped markedly in January, falling [...]
Former chancellor George Osborne has been appointed editor of London daily the Evening Standard – Twitter reacts March 17, 2017 George Osborne has announced yet another new job, and Twitter has gone a bit nuts… The former chancellor has just been appointed Editor of the Evening Standard and it's fair to say the news came as a surprise to basically everyone. I am literally dumbfounded. Trying to imagine Osbo drumming up page leads. "Don't we need a nib [...]
European Commission fines British Airways £90m for its role in an air cargo cartel March 17, 2017 British Airways is to be fined €104m (£90m) by the European Commission for its role in a major price-fixing scandal dating back to 1999. Some 11 airlines will be fined a total of €776m for their role in a cartel to fix fuel and security charges on flights to and within the European Economic Area between [...]
How inflation helps ‘value investing’ March 17, 2017 ‘Value investing’ has been resurgent since last summer, as explained here. Inflation can help this type of investing. Kevin Murphy, an author on The Value Perspective blog, explains why. At the very end of last year, in our post Three important investment lessons to take from 2016, we noted in passing that President Trump’s intention to [...]