London Report: FTSE pares back losses after ECB weighs rate cut November 20, 2013 THE UK’s FTSE 100 was dragged down yesterday by heavyweight stocks such as Vodafone trading ex-dividend, but briefly pared its losses after a report that the European Central Bank was considering negative deposit rates. Bloomberg reported that the ECB was considering a cut in its deposit rate to minus 0.1 per cent from the current [...]
New York Report: Fed minutes drive Wall St into reverse November 20, 2013 US stocks fell yesterday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting said the central bank could begin to scale back its stimulus program at one of its next few meetings. While Fed officials said such a move would happen only if economic conditions warranted it, some analysts said the minutes suggested the central bank [...]
Get more out of the slopes this season with this tech November 20, 2013 The weather’s freezing, the trains are up the creek because of a few leaves and your summer holiday tan vanished months ago. But there’s one good reason to be cheerful – there’s fresh snow in the Alps. Keith Perry brings you the latest ski gadgets. ATOMIC BLACKEYE TI SKIS WITH ARC TECHNOLOGY (£525) www.ellis-brigham.com Atomic’s [...]
Any other business – 21/11 November 20, 2013 Airplane meals are not particularly tasty, but it seems a bit excessive to pack a lunch for your flight. When the cleaners of a Jet Airways plane stumbled across two lunch boxes stashed in the toilets they assumed they were bombs. However, on closer inspection the boxes turned out to contain 12 gold bars each. [...]
Lloyds boss to receive £2.3m share bonus – but will have to wait five years for it November 20, 2013 Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio is to receive his 2012 bonus as 3m or so in shares – worth £2.3m at currency values. That's because the Lloyds share price has been above the government's break-even point for 30 consecutive trading days. But the boss of the state backed bank will have to wait five [...]
Co-op Bank and Flowers in line for multiple probes November 20, 2013 Prime minister David Cameron announced this afternoon that there may well be an inquiry into the disgraced Paul Flowers' appointment as chairman of the Co-op Bank, and his suitability for the role. There are "lots of questions" to be answered, he said. The inquiry would be ordered by chancellor George Osborne and arranged by the [...]
Euro plummets on suggestions of negative deposit rates November 20, 2013 The euro just took a beating against the dollar, falling on news that the European Central Bank (ECB) is considering negative deposit rates. They're weighing the option of a minus 0.1 per cent deposit rate. That's according to Bloomberg, who say that the central bank is considering a "smaller-than-normal cut" if the officials do decide [...]
Fall in US home sales picks up pace in October November 20, 2013 The number of completed transactions on home sales in the US fell 3.2 per cent in October, with the existing home sales index coming in at 5.12m. The reading follows September's drop of 1.9 per cent, to 5.29m. Analysts had expected a fall of 2.6 per cent to 5.15m. Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital [...]
US business inventories see largest rise since January November 20, 2013 US business inventories rose by 0.6 per cent in September – their largest jump since this January. Analysts had expected an increase of just 0.4, the same as that seen in August (revised up from 0.3 per cent). Business inventories data is compiled by the US Census Bureau and measures the change in inventories from [...]
Government lavishes over £400,000 on PR for Green Deal November 20, 2013 Figures released to Sky News under the Freedom of Information Act show that the government spent £413,815 on PR consultants to promote its Green Deal initiative. The lavish spending works out at £1,889 for each household which has had energy efficient measures installed. The Green Deal has so far been implemented in only 219 properties [...]