London nears fresh fall into bear territory July 7, 2008 The City is bracing itself for possible entry into bear market territory this week, after the FTSE fell 41.7 points to 5434.9 by midday on Friday, and saw the psychologically-important 5,400 level broken in the final hour. With the words “negative”, “topsy-turvy”, and “recession” dominating reports on the market at the end of last week, [...]
B&B drama caps another day of troubles for UK Plc July 4, 2008 A day of gloom for the global economy was capped late last night by the revelation that private equity group TPG had walked away from its rescue of Bradford & Bingley. The dramatic development, which will see the bank rescued instead by City institutions, came as Moody’s downgraded B&B’s credit for the second time. The [...]
US in bear territory July 3, 2008 Another torrid day of trading on Wall Street plunged America into an official bear market last night for the first time as oil prices hit a fresh high. A technical bear market occurs when shares are seen to have fallen by a fifth from their previous highs. Oil moved above $144 in New York, while [...]
Double dose of corporate woe leaves City investors reeling July 3, 2008 The city was left reeling yesterday after retail giant Marks & Spencer issued a shock profits warning and Britain’s largest housebuilder Taylor Wimpey admitted it had been unable to secure £500m in funding. The bleak news from M&S, an industry bellwether, that the consumer downturn was likely to be “longer and harder fought” than previously [...]
Buying off-plan means that you have control over your investment July 3, 2008 You can land a bargain if you are prepared to do your research, writes Timothy Barber Buying a property can be pretty much the most stressful process you can put yourself through. You can multiply that by ten when it comes to buying abroad. Whether looking for a holiday home or a simple investment, a [...]
Despite the gloomy market, investors still have something to cheer about July 3, 2008 Look beyond the doom-mongering, and there is still money to be made in property, says Alex Delmar-Morgan Property is a subject close to the hearts of the British people, and many home-owners have been chuffed over the past few years to see the prices of their properties increasing at massive rates. Surely, though, even the [...]
French jeweller who loves the Queen sees fine times ahead for Cartier July 2, 2008 Luxury goods maker’s man in London says that the market is doing just fine, writes Zoe Strimpel Arnuad Bamberger, the head of Cartier UK, is not your typical Frenchman. He loves the Queen, has more British than European friends, and loves nothing better than a good polo match well attended by tweedy toffs. Indeed, under [...]
Falling share prices set to fuel activism July 2, 2008 A wave of shareholder activism is expected to hit companies in the coming months as falling share prices galvanise shareholders into action. Tim Stocks, a leading city lawyer at law firm Taylor Wessing, told City A.M. he was already instructing on several activist shareholder cases and expected the numbers to increase rapidly. Stocks, who said [...]
Markets engulfed by turmoil July 2, 2008 The FTSE 100 is now facing a critical point as it teeters dangerously close to plummeting below its March 17th low, a leading strategist warned yesterday. “It is now at a critical point. If it retests these lows then it could go a good deal lower to the 5000 level. This would mark a 50 [...]
City warns: economy to slow further July 2, 2008 The UK economy, already in its weakest state since the early 1990s recession, is set to slow further, top City economists warned yesterday as the UK was hit by a triple whammy of bad economic news. Data released yesterday revealed that the manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest rate in seven years last month, the [...]