Forward guidance is crumbling – what comes next? January 22, 2014 Two years ahead of the Bank of England’s original schedule, forward guidance is circling the drain, with unemployment now within 0.1 percentage points of the threshold for reconsidering a rate hike. With productivity and wage growth still much diminished, and without significant improvements to exports or investment, the Bank is expected to alter forward guidance [...]
Collapsed UAE deal talks will not be revived, says BAE’s King January 22, 2014 BAE Systems chief executive Ian King today confirmed that collapsed talks to sell its Eurofighter Typhoon jets to the UAE would not be revived, but insisted the deal’s failure would not impact its ability to sell to other nations. King told reporters at a London event that the defence giant’s aircraft “met the UAE’s very [...]
EU backs down on binding targets for renewable energy January 22, 2014 The EU has confirmed that it will not set binding national targets for renewable energy provision. The announcement came as the European Commission set out its plans to tackle climate change over the next 16 years. Countries such as the UK and Poland had lobbied strongly against binding renewable targets, arguing the measures would drive [...]
Everything you thought you knew about the global banking crisis was wrong January 22, 2014 You thought the crisis was global. You thought the problem was banks’ losses on boom-era loans. You were wrong, according to these startling four charts from Oliver Wyman. Banks in Latin America and Asia-Pacific are doing just fine, the consultancy’s numbers show. Drivers of changes in banking returns 2006-12, for the largest banks in Latin [...]
We don’t believe you, Mark Carney January 22, 2014 When dapper Canadian Mark Carney imported the policy of "forward guidance" to the Bank of England last summer, the idea was to reassure investors – and the public – over interest rates. "Fear not for your mortgages!" they may have said, to paraphrase. "We promise that we will not raise rates until unemployment falls to [...]
Why Sainsbury’s is SocGen’s favourite supermarket January 22, 2014 When it came to supermarkets’ Christmas performance in the UK, the discounters claimed the victory. Aldi and Lidl saw sales leap, both increasing their market shares. It was good news for high-end store Waitrose, too, which also saw a bumper festive period. It’s the Big Four – or, at least, three of them (Tesco, Asda [...]
Vicky Pryce returning as government adviser January 22, 2014 Economist Vicky Pryce is returning to a government job. After being jailed for taking the speeding points of her former husband and then MP Chris Huhne, Pryce is back to her old job on Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) panel. She returns to the role she first worked in over a decade ago. The role [...]
Bankers claim strong demand for Altice flotation – The first test of 2014 January 22, 2014 Bankers have just said that their books have been covered for the upcoming £1bn plus issue of shares in Altice, which owns French and Belgian cable companies and mobile operations in Israel. It is the first Initial Public Offering (IPO) to price in Europe in 2014. Although the issue has a few days of marketing [...]
Britain defeated as ECJ upholds ban on short selling January 22, 2014 Britain's attempt to overturn the EU's ban on short selling of shares in market emergencies has ended in failure after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed the case. The UK had argued that the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was given greater discretion than was justifiable under EU law. The court rejected all [...]
Unemployment drops like a stone to 7.1 per cent – But the Bank of England isn’t budging January 22, 2014 We've got a two for one on big economics releases in the UK. Unemployment down The three month ILO unemployment rate has dropped/risen to 7.1 per cent in the period to November, from 7.4 per cent prior, according to the Office for National Statistics. Consensus estimates saw that three month rate falling to 7.3 per [...]