Corbyn the Musical: the Motorcycle Diaries to launch in Waterloo Theatre East in April January 21, 2016 In a year set to be dominated by heavy political events including the EU referendum and a number of elections, the public will be afforded some respite by the launch of a musical about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. In April, London's Waterloo Theatre East will open the production titled Corbyn the Musical: the Motorcycle Diaries, a musical-come-political-satire. [...]
London trains turning Overground orange will revolutionise the capital and commuters’ journeys January 21, 2016 The London Underground map is a design classic. But it has one major problem: there’s not enough orange – the colour of London Overground. And there’s not enough south London, which is a foreign land to most of the tube network. London’s suburban rail users – particularly in south London – are faced with a [...]
From every angle, the outlook for global liquidity looks bleak: Policy makers must adopt “QE4” or risk officers must plan for low liquidity future January 21, 2016 Recent investor concerns over decreasing market depth across many fixed income segments reflect more serious downstream problems in funding markets. These problems are now coming to a head, have four components which taken together combine to undermine the long-term supply of global liquidity. They explain why our monthly GLI index measure is declining. Looking ahead, they [...]
Mortgage lending hits post-recession high of £220bn in 2015 January 21, 2016 Mortgage lending rose by eight per cent last year compared with the year before, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said this morning. Lenders approved £19.9bn of home loans in December, taking the 2015 total to £220.3bn – the highest annual figure since 2008. December's lending figure was slightly down on November, but was 23 per [...]
Everyone agrees TfL running London’s trains like the Overground is a brilliant idea January 21, 2016 It's pretty difficult to bring together political parties and several different parts of government and get them to agree, but now there's one thing that has – an apparent shared dislike of commuter trains into London. Nothing brings people together like a collective resentment towards train companies such as Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink, and now plans to [...]
Market turmoil terminology: What are the definitions of a a bear market, a bull market and a correction? January 21, 2016 The New Year sell-off has sent equity markets across the world into bear territory. But rather than a single, fatal trigger, it appears a general sense of unease over the slowing global economy is sending investors running for the hills. Yesterday, the FTSE 100, Japan's Nikkei and the MSCI All-Country World indices all joined the Shanghai Composite, France’s Cac 40, the German Dax [...]
Buoyant in Bexley or sad in Sutton: These are London’s happiest and saddest boroughs, according to Twitter January 21, 2016 If you live in Sutton and find it hard to drag yourself out of bed in the morning, it's not your fault, it turns out. A new survey, which has ranked London's boroughs from happiest to saddest based on their tweets, has found Sutton is London's most miserable borough. Enfield comes a close second, with Lewisham [...]
The IMF’s Christine Lagarde praises blockchain and bitcoin’s potential to slash costs and improve speeds for financial industry January 21, 2016 IMF director Christine Lagarde has joined the massed ranks of those backing blockchain, the hyped technology powering digital currencies like bitcoin, as the IMF lauds its potential in a new report. Presenting the report “Virtual Currencies and Beyond” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Lagarde praised the cryptocurrency's possible benefits. The IMF suggested both digital currencies [...]
EU referendum: Out campaign Leave.EU calls for seat at negotiating table in Brexit scenario while banks donate to In campaign January 21, 2016 In the event the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union, a prominent Out campaign has called for representatives from its organisation to be part of the team that will negotiate the UK's new relationship with the EU. Leave.EU is urging Prime Minister David Cameron to accept that if the British people vote for Brexit, its organisation [...]
RICS: Housing demand jumps as buy-to-let investors go on a mad dash to buy properties January 21, 2016 Demand for property in the UK hit a three-month high in December, as prospective buy-to-let investors rushed to beat the impending rise in stamp duty. Figures by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed the balance of new buyer inquiries rose to plus 16 in December, from plus seven in November. In November, chancellor [...]