Four ways the Brexit deal could change Britain’s economy October 22, 2019 MPs are once again poised to vote on Boris Johnson’s “great new Brexit deal,” following the official release of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill by the government. Read more: Government threatens to pull Brexit bill if MPs vote against timetable Should the House of Commons today pass the bill alongside a motion to ram through legislation [...]
Copper production slips at Anglo American amid Chilean drought October 22, 2019 Anglo American, one of the world’s largest miners, today lowered its full-year forecast for copper production amid the worst drought to hit Chile in sixty years. Output of the metal will drop by eight per cent in the third quarter of 2019 due to water shortages at the Los Bronces mine in Chile. Annual production [...]
US equity outlook – more gains to come? October 22, 2019 | City Talk The S&P 500 is near record highs, the US economy continues to grow, and the Fed is gently cutting rates in order to help sustain the expansion. Yet sentiment remains fragile at best. Investors are it seems determined to find the ‘next 2008’ at every turn, fretting that a US recession is near and that [...]
Ofgem proposes new rules to stop energy firms going bust October 22, 2019 Ofgem has proposed further reforms for existing energy suppliers as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of supplier failure and strengthen the safety net for consumers. The new rules would allow the regulator to request independent audits of suppliers’ customer service operations and financial status. Read more: Renewable energy set to grow by [...]
UK manufacturing firms planning lowest investment since financial crisis October 22, 2019 British manufacturing companies are planning to invest at the lowest rate since the financial crisis next year, a survey showed today, as Brexit uncertainty batters the sector. Read more: What’s in the WAB? Government’s Brexit bill explained The sector’s slowdown worsened in the three months to October, with orders for products falling at the fastest [...]
Government borrowing jumps by a fifth in run up to Brexit October 22, 2019 UK public borrowing shot up by a fifth in the first six months of the financial year, figures have shown, as promises of extra spending spelled the end of Conservative debt reduction. Read more: Sajid Javid promises to increase national living wage to £10.50 The UK public sector had to borrow £9.4bn in September to [...]
European markets open flat as cautious traders await Brexit showdown October 22, 2019 European markets opened flat this morning, as traders remained cautious ahead of a crucial three days for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The FTSE 100 is trading down at 0.2 per cent, with Anglo American and Glencore taking the biggest gains while Reckitt Benckiser leads the fallers after posting mixed results. The Dax and [...]
Is the Woodford Patient Capital trust a good buy opportunity? October 22, 2019 Following months of turmoil for investors, it took just days for Neil Woodford’s investment business to come crashing down. News that Woodford’s £3.1bn flagship Equity Income fund was to be wound up marked the beginning of the end, and sent the share price of another of his offerings, the Patient Capital trust, spiralling to 32.5p. [...]
‘Legitimacy crisis’: Bank of England needs new policies and more transparency, says report October 22, 2019 The Bank of England needs major reform to maintain the public’s trust, including the creation of a credit policy and a new approach to choosing the next governor, research and campaign group Positive Money has said. Read more: Bank of England’s Mark Carney defends move not to publish governor shortlist However, some economists have pushed [...]
MPs demand parliament’s pension fund divests from fossil fuels October 22, 2019 Three hundred MPs are calling on the trustees of the £700m Parliamentary Pension Fund to end their investments in fossil fuel companies. The cross-party initiative has the support of the leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP as well as senior Conservatives. It comes as the fund’s trustees are preparing to announce a [...]