CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK THE CHINESE ECONOMY IS IN TROUBLE? March 5, 2012 NICO BAINS | ERNST AND YOUNG “I don’t think there is anything to worry about. The resources China has and the way it has been operating for the past 25 years will always get it back on top.” PAUL FRENCH | GLOBAL SAGE “I work in commodities and there is no way its economy is [...]
Eurozone slips back towards contraction March 5, 2012 ECONOMIC activity fell in the Eurozone in February, paving the way for a renewed recession across the currency area, new data showed yesterday. However, retail sales expanded slightly in January, particularly in eastern European members of the EU. Services activity fell in February, according to purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data from Markit, countering modest manufacturing [...]
Cash stored at ECB hits a new record March 5, 2012 DEPOSITS of cash stored at the European Central Bank (ECB) have hit a new record of €820.82bn (£683bn) following the Bank’s massive injection of liquidity last week. The new record high will stoke fears that the new long-term money being loaned to banks as an emergency measure is simply being hoarded rather than loaned on [...]
US recovery is looking healthy March 5, 2012 SERVICES activity in the US grew at a 12-month high in February according to figures from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), published yesterday. The index rose to 57.3 from 56.8, led by increasing new orders and business activity, though employment growth slowed slightly. The expansion represents the 26th consecutive month of services growth, and [...]
Europe urged to keep up reforms March 5, 2012 EUROPEAN governments should use the current period of calm on financial markets to further economic reforms, a top European Central Bank (ECB) official said yesterday. Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo told an audience in Spain that the current stability will not last “if it serves as a pretext for national governments to relax their efforts”. They should [...]
ECONOMISTS: BREAK UP EURO TO SAVE MONEY March 5, 2012 EFFORTS to hold the Eurozone together will cost the healthier countries at least €1.3 trillion (£1.08 trillion) by 2015, research from Lombard Street Research claimed yesterday, arguing efforts by leaders like Italy’s Mario Monti will end up being far more expensive than splitting up the currency union. Picture: GETTY
JET SHOWROOM LANDS IN LONDON March 5, 2012 The childhood dream is to sit in the cockpit of an aeroplane; the corporate dream is to own one. And now you can do both. The world’s first corporate aviation showroom, The Jet Business, has just opened on your doorstep, based in one of London’s greenest areas (and we mean dollars, not just Hyde Park). [...]
It’s going to be a very tough fight March 5, 2012 WHEN Boris Johnson took the Mayoralty from Ken Livingstone in 2008, many observers thought a repeat victory in 2012 was a foregone conclusion. If recent polls are anything to go by, that most certainly isn’t the case: with just two months to go, the race is too close to call. “The polls are very close [...]
Dunelm stock plunges as ex-chief sells 7.5m shares March 5, 2012 JUST OVER a year after stepping down as chief executive of Dunelm, Will Adderley, along with his wife Nadine, got rid of a 3.7 per cent stake in the soft furnishings family business. But Will, the son of the company’s founder, insists he “remains fully committed to Dunelm”, is staying on as executive deputy chairman [...]
Tablet sales cannibalising desktop PCs March 5, 2012 TOMORROW’S Apple announcement could bring more bad news for the desktop computer market, with the Cupertino-based company expected to reveal the third generation iPad and trigger a tablet shopping frenzy. When the iPad 2 was launched this time last year, online marketplace eBay sold 5,000 more tablets in March than in February as iPad-hungry shoppers [...]