New York Report: Wall St drops again on doubt over Fed policy August 7, 2013 US stocks fell for a third straight day yesterday on growing concerns over the longevity of the Federal Reserve’s stimulus policy, which has been widely credited with fuelling the market’s gains this year. Even after shares suffered their biggest decline since 24 June on Tuesday, the market was unable to shake off comments from a [...]
Keep busy when the sun goes away August 7, 2013 Summer is rubbish for technology releases. Screens don’t work very well outside, and everyone is too busy lounging on the beach or frolicking in fields to appreciate them, anyway. Thankfully we’ve only got a few weeks more before we’ll be holed up in our freezing flats, shivering and pretending the outside world doesn’t exist. And [...]
Any Other Business – 08/08 August 7, 2013 ■ Mark Carney Watch was on red alert yesterday, as the new Bank of England governor gave his much-anticipated inflation report. And bookmakers didn’t waste any time releasing odds on when Carney would break his own forward guidance policy. Bookies Ladbrokes gave the governor 1/3 to renege before his term finishes (Carney won’t be too [...]
VIDEO: Bank of England governor explains forward guidance policy August 7, 2013 Here's Bank of England governor Mark Carney explaining the forward guidance policy he announced earlier.
Vodafone to lure customers onto new 4G service with sport and music services August 7, 2013 Vodafone has announced it will be launching its high speed 4G service on the same day as rival O2 on 29 August. The operator will be looking to get the edge on its rival by offering 150 hours of Premier League football from Sky Sports or music from online streaming service Spotify Premium – as [...]
Fitch affirms AAA rating for Germany assuming strong growth and no more contributions to eurozone crisis mechanisms August 7, 2013 Ratings agency Fitch has affirmed Germany’s rating as “AAA” with a stable outlook (release). Fitch said the affirmation reflects a number of factors including: The government has overachieved on some key fiscal targets, beating its target for headline fiscal balance for the second consecutive year in 2012 with a surplus of 0.2 per cent of [...]
City inhabitants nearly three times more productive than UK average August 7, 2013 City residents account for nearly three times the GDP output per person than the UK average, according to a new study by trade union GMB (release). The study measures GDP using the purchasing power standard (PPS) per individual, which is intended to eliminate differences in purchasing power between regions and countries. By this measure, GDP [...]
Canadian building permits plummet more than expected in July – the first fall in half a year August 7, 2013 Permits for the construction of new buildings in Canada fell by a greater than expected 10.3 per cent in June – the first decrease in six months. Analysts had expected a slightly less drastic decline of 3.2 per cent following the previous month’s revised 5.8 per cent growth. Despite this, the total value of building [...]
New Portuguese treasury secretary resigns over swap contract reports August 7, 2013 Portugal’s new treasury secretary Joaquim Pais Jorge has resigned just weeks after taking the position after media reports questioned his role in the offering of swap contracts to the preceding government while working in his previous role at Citigroup. Swap contracts have been a particularly controversial subject in Portugal over the last few months, with [...]
Obama cancels meeting with Russian president amid tensions regarding Snowden and human rights August 7, 2013 US president Barack Obama has cancelled meetings with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow amid tensions over former National Security Agency IT contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden. The meetings had been scheduled for September, but it now appears they will not be going ahead. A Kremlin aide said Obama's decision was "disappointing". Russia has [...]