Apple’s live TV streaming plans “on hold” December 9, 2015 Apple's plans to stream live shows to its TV service have been put on hold, according to reports. The plans to bring live broadcasting from several US media companies to its internet TV platform have stalled, Bloomberg reports, as one TV executive said talks have paused. The service would work in a similar way to traditional cable subscription [...]
UK weather: Storm Desmond continues to hit Scotland and Northern England as government pledges help for affected communities December 9, 2015 The Met Office has updated its yellow weather warning for Storm Desmond over the next two days, as the government confirms it will cut taxes for affected communities. Further rainfall is expected across much of Scotland and northern England during Wednesday, with persistent heavy rain starting to clear from the more southerly areas affected from [...]
Government pledges world class train services to boost Northern Powerhouse as it awards contracts to Arriva Rail North and First Trans Pennine Express December 9, 2015 The government has promised to deliver world class train services for passengers in Scotland and the north with "unprecedented" packages of improvements being lined up. The Department for Transport has pledged to introduce more than 500 brand-new carriages, the removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacer trains, room for 40,000 extra passengers at the busiest [...]
Estonia pulls out of European Union’s controversial financial-transaction tax as Chancellor George Osborne voices opposition December 9, 2015 Estonia has refused to sign an agreement which would pave the way for the European Union's controversial financial transactions tax (FTT), as chancellor George Osborne continued to voice Britain's opposition to the legislation which some fear would hit the international competitiveness of the City. It comes as 10 EU finance ministers agreed the foundations of the [...]
Cyber attack on Wetherspoons could cost pub chain more than just beer money December 9, 2015 In the latest instalment of cyber attacks on British businesses, the personal details of up to 657,000 customers of pub chain JD Wetherspoons have been hacked. Email addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth were all stolen and put up for sale on what is known as the dark web. The attack was in June, but [...]
UK manufacturing in terminal decline as growth rate revised down through to 2017 December 9, 2015 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has downgraded its UK gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the year to 2.4 per cent, from a previous prediction of 2.6 per cent. At the same time its scaled back expectations for the next to years with 2016 and 2017 now both forecast for 2.5 per cent [...]
Best of the Brokers for 9 December 2015 December 9, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MORRISON SUPERMARKETS HSBC has upgraded Morrisons from “sell” to “hold” after a weak third-quarter trading statement from the supermarket last month caused shares to fall below HSBC’s target price of 150p. It has left its forecasts and target price unchanged. The broker said [...]
Miners see big sell offs pushing the FTSE downward – London Report December 9, 2015 The FTSE 100 index closed down last night, led lower by miners. The index shut 1.42 per cent down at 6,135.22 points. Anglo American’s share price fell 12.29 per cent, while Rio Tinto’s followed, dropping 8.37 per cent. Glencore was down 6.92 per cent, while Antofagasta and BHP Billiton dropped 7.57 per cent and 5.54 [...]
Christmas ‘tis the season to… sort out your finances: Use the holidays to prepare for a more financially savvy New Year in 2016 December 9, 2015 Christmas is a time of abundance, of eating, drinking and throwing money around like there’s no tomorrow. But the combination of profligate spending and time off work can make the festive period a good time to take stock of your finances. While cautioning readers about the pitfalls of over-spending at Christmas may make me [...]
Can robots be the victims of harassment in the workplace? The law will have to be revised to deal with more automation December 9, 2015 In November, the Bank of England warned that up to 15m British jobs are under threat from automation. And whether you work on the factory or the trading floor, the probability is high that you’ll have to get used to more machines in the workplace. But as the speed of technological change accelerates, law-makers [...]