iOS7: Need to know September 18, 2013 LAST week, the world was abuzz with the unveiling of Apple’s iPhone 5S and 5C.If you’ve been sitting in a queue for one since Monday, you’ll know that the new models – out tomorrow – come preloaded with Apple’s newest mobile operating system iOS7.If you’ve been sitting on your sofa with a cup of tea [...]
App, app and away: the best going out apps September 18, 2013 Barchick barchick.com The logo may not suggest this is the most sophisticated app in the world but it’s actually pretty comprehensive. Those barchicks certainly get around. The search tool asks you to sort by area, then by what kind of boozer you’re after (options include “killer cocktails”, music, gay & lesbian and people watching, among [...]
Any other business – 19/09 September 18, 2013 Investment giant Prudential could soon be getting a new slogan, if comments yesterday from chief executive Tidjane Thiam are anything to go by. The Pru’s man in charge was speaking at the annual Institute of Directors conference about changing times: “The man from the Pru is now a woman with an iPad riding around Southeast [...]
Portugal cut to BB by S&P on second bailout fears September 18, 2013 Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has cut Portugal's sovereign debt rating to BB with negative implications. From their release: On Sept. 18, 2013, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services placed its 'BB' long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Portugal on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, we affirmed our short-term sovereign [...]
Berlusconi’s back: Former Italian PM will reform his Forza party September 18, 2013 Controversial (or disgraced, take your pick) former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has announced that he's reforming his Forza party. He's vowed to stay in politics – saying that it can be "done outside Parliament" – ahead of a Senate committee vote to decide whether he be allowed in public office. Berlusconi also hit out [...]
Three big bets see odds on Kohn for top US Fed job shorten September 18, 2013 All eyes on the bookies for an indication of who might replace US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. The odds for the second favourite – Donald Kohn – have narrowed after three big bets on his name. The disance between him and the clear favourite – Janet Yellen – is now a lot narrower. @LorcanRK [...]
ARM shares surge on takeover rumour September 18, 2013 Shares in electronics company ARM have jumped on (completely unconfirmed) talk of an Intel takeover. They're up just over three per cent for the day at the moment. You'll find ARM chip designs in the majority of the world's smartphones, and that dominance has taken the Cambridge based company from strength to strength.
Banks fined up to ten per cent of sales over benchmark rigging September 18, 2013 European Commissioner, Michel Barnier, gave a press conference today to discuss draft legislation on market benchmarks that will see banks fined as much as 10 per cent of their yearly sales for failure to safeguard against benchmark rigging. The legislation will enable regulators to force banks into participating in benchmark setting panels, following a series [...]
US housing starts and building permits miss in August September 18, 2013 Disappointing numbers for the US construction sector. Building permits are down three per cent from 0.954m (revised from 0.943m) to 0.918m in August. Economists had expected growth to 0.95m. Housing starts are also ugly. They climbed 0.9 per cent from 0.883m to 0.891m, but missed analyst estimates of a jump to 0.917m. Paul Diggle, property [...]
European Commission says Cyprus is on track despite huge hikes to unemployment forecasts September 18, 2013 The European Commission has announced that Cyprus' economic programme is on track, with modest growth expected to return in 2015 (release). That will follow a forecast cumulative contraction of 13 per cent in 2013/14, and an 8.7 per cent contraction this year. However the EC noted that downside risks remain substantial. The island's public debt [...]