Member of German opposition party says joint euro debt inevitable July 24, 2013 The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) may have lost a few more fans after its candidate for chancellor Peer Steinbrueck’s chief economic policy adviser said the introduction of some form of joint European debt liability to resolve the eurozone crisis would be inevitable. The SPD is the second major party in Germany next to Angela [...]
US new home sales jump to five year high July 24, 2013 New home sales are up in the US, rising from 0.459m (revised from 0.476m) to 0.497m in July. Economists had forecast an increase to just 0.485m. That's an 8.3 per cent change, up from 1.3 per cent last month. This comes after existing US home sales missed on Monday.
Greece missing just one requirement for next aid tranche July 24, 2013 Following yesterday’s news that the latest tranche of Greek aid was to be delayed after the country failed to confirm five of the 22 conditions required, the Eurogroup of finance ministers has said Greece has met 21 of the conditions and it is possible the final one will be met tomorrow. The condition yet to [...]
US manufacturing surprises analysts with a strong surge in growth July 24, 2013 Following strong manufacturing figures from France, Germany and the eurozone, the US has surprised analysts with decisively strong growth to a four month high in July. The Markit purchasing manager's index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 53.2 from 51.9, against analyst expectations of a flat rate of growth at 51.9. Any figure above 50 implies [...]
Goldman Sachs says that 10 year bonds are now less appealing than cash July 24, 2013 In a new note, Goldman Sach's investment research team suggests that trackers are weighting 10 year government bonds too highly, and should now prefer cash. For the best returns, equities are set to deliver 13 per cent in the next 12 months say Goldman. That's a far higher rate of return than the two per [...]
Dell offer raised by founder – it’s apparently his final and best July 24, 2013 Technology giant Dell has announced that its founder Michael Dell and the private equity group Silverlake have hiked their offer for the firm to $13.75 per share. That's an increase of $0.10 per share, and constitutes what Michael Dell says is his final and best offer. The Dell special meeting has been delayed until Friday, [...]
US spy fugitive Snowden may have been granted temporary asylum in Russia July 24, 2013 State-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported that former NSA contractor and US fugitive Edward Snowden has been given an official pass to leave Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Snowden has been living in the transit zone since arriving from Hong Kong on 23 June 2013. He has requested asylum in a number of countries and [...]
GlaxoSmithKline reports solid second quarter results but warns over impact of bribery scandal July 24, 2013 The pharmaceutical company at the centre of a Chinese bribery investigation GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has reported a second quarter net profit of £1.05bn, and an expected four per cent rise in core earnings per share to 26.3p (release). Total group turnover in the second quarter was up two per cent to £6.6bn, while it remained flat [...]
More pharmaceutical firms could be implicated in Chinese bribery scandal July 24, 2013 China’s official news agency Xinhua has indicated that more foreign and local pharmaceutical firms could be implicated in the corruption scandal gripping the industry. This comes amid bribery accusations against GlaxoSmithKline, which is set to report its results at midday today. It will not be surprising if more pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, domestic or international, [...]
Commuter crush: Seven out of 10 most overcrowded trains in Britain go to London July 24, 2013 The latest figures from the Department for Transport show that of the 10 most overcrowded train services in Britain, seven are London-bound. All of the worst journeys started at or ended in the capital last spring. Services running during spring and autumn of 2012 were monitored by the government, and this top 10 list represents [...]