London Report: FTSE slumps to a three-month low on US fears October 2, 2013 THE UK’S top share index slipped to a three-month low yesterday, with retailers bruised by a weak trading update from Tesco while broader sentiment was weighed down by concerns over a US government shutdown. The FTSE 100 index fell as low as 6,386.18 points, its lowest since July, as investors fretted about the continued partial [...]
New York Report: Washington impasse drags Wall St down October 2, 2013 WALL Street retreated yesterday, the second day of a partial US government shutdown, as political wrangling in Washington raised investor concerns that the stoppage could be prolonged. Adding to worries, a report showed private employers added fewer-than-expected jobs in September. Investors were looking for more guidance from this data because Friday’s broader, government payrolls report [...]
The new kids on the block October 2, 2013 The tablet market is no longer divided into “Apple” and “others”. With the release of Tesco’s budget Hudl and Microsoft’s revamped Surface 2, the market is hotting up in time for the Christmas splurge Microsoft Surface 2 From £359 Microsoft desperately wants to get a slice of the tablet market, surprising some observers by launching [...]
Infamous online marketplace Silk Road seized by FBI and arrest of alleged owner Ulbricht October 2, 2013 The darknet site Silk Road has been taken down by law enforcement. The site gained notoreity as a portal through which to purchase illegal goods, using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. FBI estimates suggest that the site has generated revenues totalling over 9.5m Bitcoins, and collected commissions from sales totalling over 600,000 Bitcoins. That equates to around [...]
EU aviation emission back-down after dispute October 2, 2013 As first reported by Reuters, Britain, France and Germany are prepared to dilute the EU's position on aviation emissions in order to attempt to strike a global deal following threats from some regions of a trade way after the EU put in place restrictions of its own, said sources close to UN talks currently taking [...]
Bulgaria to seek €360m loan from German banks October 2, 2013 Bulgaria's government said today that it will be seeking a loan of up to €360m from German banks to finance its budget shortfall this year. In a statement, the government said: The realisation of additional external financing of up to €360m (£300.3m) through placing debt under German legislation will lead to diversification of debt sources for financing and [...]
UK to test white space technology October 2, 2013 Ofcom has announced that the UK is to be one of the first countries in the world to test white space technology. 20 public and private organisations will be participating in Ofcom's pilot program in the next six months. White spaces are the gaps in the frequency band used to broadcast digital terrestrial TV. Ofcom [...]
Letta wins confidence vote by a landslide October 2, 2013 Prime minister Letta has won the vote of confidence in the Italian Senate. Silvio Berlusconi who earlier this week ordered his PDL party to withdraw from the coalition government, resulting in five ministers leaving the government, backed down and supported the prime minister. Mr Berlusconi said "we have decided, not without some internal strife, to [...]
Potential delay on retina display for new iPad Mini October 2, 2013 A new version of Apple's iPad Mini with a high-resolution "retina" display will not be rolled out this month, reports Reuters. This puts the tablet at a disadvantage compared to rival products from Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX. Sources said that Apple's supply chain is only now preparing to make retina diaplays [...]
Euro trades above $1.36 as ECB’s Draghi suggests monetary policy will stay loose October 2, 2013 European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has said that the central bank stands "ready to use all available instruments, including an LTRO". That's a heads up that monetary policy will stay loose (in addition to his usual "monetary policy will remain accommodative" spiel). Draghi's assessment of inflation risks saw no change – he said they [...]