London Report: Pharma giants and Fed move lift FTSE to a two-week high December 19, 2013 BRITAIN’S main share index rose to a two-week high yesterday, helped by gains in pharmaceutical stocks and by a pledge from the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. Some investors expect the blue-chip FTSE 100 index to rally into the end of 2013, forecasting gains of roughly 50-150 points between now and the [...]
New York Report: Stocks flat in Christmas lull December 19, 2013 US STOCKS finished mostly flat last night as investors paused after a rally in the previous session, though the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed at its second record high in a row. The Nasdaq declined slightly on weakness in tech shares, though its loss was limited by a rally in Oracle shares a day after [...]
Any Other Business – 20/12 December 19, 2013 Need help getting home after that Xmas party? Apple announced its top apps of 2013 this week and one of the editor’s picks was London-born travel app Citymapper. For those who haven’t already used the app – it takes your destination and gives a range of options for getting there. For giggles, it also includes [...]
UAE pulls out of BAE Typhoon aircraft deal December 19, 2013 The UAE government has decided not to proceed with a BAE deal for the supply of defence and security services, including the supply of Typhoon aircraft. The deal would have been worth around £6bn. BAE had not "built this prospect into its planning assumptions." The company says that a timely agreement in 2014 would be [...]
Exclusive: It’s a miracle – Netflix releases Christmas Eve viewing figures December 19, 2013 It’s a minor Christmas miracle: Netflix has released some viewing figures. Sort of. The online TV service, notoriously quiet about its subscriber base or their viewing habits, issued a press release this morning about Britain’s festive telly plans. The release, from an external PR agency, contains statistical insights including “a quarter of us (23%) Brits… [...]
Hackers launch assault against Chinese central bank December 19, 2013 The People's Bank of China was hacked on Wednesday in possible retaliation for the country's crack down on the crypto currency Bitcoin. The attack made the Chinese central bank's website temporarily inaccessible. The website was disabled through a Distribute Denial of Service attack. The online Bitcoin exchange BTC China was also hacked. The attack follows [...]
What it’s like to get your secret santa from the world’s richest man December 19, 2013 Reddit's Secret Santa gift exchange took an interesting turn this year when 24 year old Reddit user Rachel received a gift from a surprising secret santa. Her secret santa was no less than the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. The world's richest man, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires, gave Rachel a stuffed cow representing a [...]
This week’s US jobless claims are 45,000 higher than expected December 19, 2013 This week's US initial jobless claims figures have shot up. Analysts had expected a fall from 369,000 (368,000) to 334,000 for the week ended 13 December, but claims have risen to 379,000 – 45,000 higher than expected. That's the highest number since March. But the data has lost its significance. While investors had been watching [...]
Government may face legal hurdles in regulation of zero hours contracts December 19, 2013 In the wake of the governments announcement of a 12-week public consultation on zero hours contracts, some have been questioning whether it is possible to impose to any clear regulation on the employment arrangements due their lack of of legal definition. Global law firm Eversheds commented on the announcement: The major problem faced by the [...]
Serco to repay government £68.5m for tagging scandal December 19, 2013 Serco has agreed to repay the government £68.5m for overcharging for its tagging of criminals, Justice secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed. Both Serco and rival G4S have been found to have overcharged on contracts dating back to 2005, in a review prompted by allegations surrounding the two firms. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a [...]