Hipstergeddon? Etsy share price plummets in after-hours trading as as losses jump May 19, 2015 Shares in newly-floated craft site Etsy fell as much as 15 per cent in after-hours trading after its first results since it listed showed its net loss for the three months to the end of March had risen to $36.6m, from $500,000 during the same period last year. That's enough to put a droop in [...]
Airbnb is about to muscle in on the professional property management business May 19, 2015 Flat rental site Airbnb may have built its reputation on the sharing economy – but with a valuation of about $20bn, it was only a matter of time before it got into the professional property management business. Read more: Escape it all – the 21 most deliciously remote Airbnb rentals Now, it's been reported the [...]
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has released his summer reading list – it includes Richard Dawkins’ latest, and the XKCD book May 19, 2015 Now in its third year, Bill Gates' summer reading list has become something of a tradition for Gates-watchers. While last year's was hardly a laugh a minute (it featured Tim Geithner's Stress Test and Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction. Festive), this year Gates is clearly in a breezier mood – 2015's list even features an anthology of [...]
Video: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is far better than Transport for London at explaining why Tube delays happen – and how they’re solved May 19, 2015 Presumably in an effort to quell commuters' constant rage, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has released a video explaining the science behind delays on the subway – and it's in the style of an 8-bit video game. So what happens? According to the video, subway (and, presumably, London Underground) trains usually have a regular interval [...]
Euro falls below 1.2 against the dollar as ECB hints it will ramp up QE May 19, 2015 The euro fell back below $1.12 today, after a European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker hinted that the Bank is preparing to ramp up its bond-buying programme before the summer. By mid-afternoon in New York, the currency had fallen 1.42 per cent to $1.1154 – the first time it has dropped below the $1.12 mark since [...]
Richard Branson calls for bike-only streets May 19, 2015 Richard Branson has called for whole streets in cities to be closed for all vehicles but bikes – a comment guaranteed to set the lycra brigade against drivers everywhere. London cyclists would likely welcome the idea – the capital’s streets are notoriously dangerous when compared to other European cities, even if the chances of any [...]
Lack of London office space drives a 24 per cent increase in office construction May 19, 2015 The amount of office space under construction in London rose by 24 per cent in the six months to the end of March, rising to 9.5m square feet. A report by Deloitte shows the improving economy is driving a rise in speculative building, with more and more office space available to let. A dearth of [...]
Ukip spokesman Patrick O’Flynn resigns May 19, 2015 Patrick O'Flynn has resigned as Ukip's economics spokesman and apologised for describing Nigel Farage as "snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive". The MEP was caught in the middle of Ukip's inter-party disputes following the general election, but has since backtracked on his criticism of Farage, describing the former leader as his "political hero". However, O'Flynn also described [...]
Potus tweets, world listens: Barack Obama finally gets his own Twitter account May 19, 2015 Barack Obama is used to enduring long battles but even by his standards, a six-year wait to get a Twitter account must have been something of a slog. Still, he's made his point, gaining 1.77m followers in less than 24 hours, easily beating poor old David Cameron, who languishes down the table with * [...]