US companies tweak CEO pay packages ahead of shareholder scrutiny January 5, 2011 LARGE US companies are taking pains to show how compensation is linked to performance as they prepare to present lucrative executive pay packages to shareholders. Nearly half of US firms surveyed by consulting firm Towers Watson were adjusting their pay-setting process ahead of the spring votes required at least every three years under the Dodd-Frank [...]
Citigroup wins $18m raid lawsuit brought by Oppenheimer January 5, 2011 US BROKERAGE Oppenheimer & Co has lost its eight-year battle to force Citigroup to pay over $18m (£11.6m) for luring away nine of its top financial advisers. A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel rejected claims from Oppenheimer that Citigroup conducted an unlawful “raid” on its brokerage business shortly after it was sold to New York-based [...]
US debt prices fall on significant employment rise January 5, 2011 NEWS of the huge jump in US private employment in December has caused US government bond prices to drop substantially. Treasury prices sold off after ADP Employer Services said US private employers added 297,000 jobs, three times greater than forecast. Prices reduced further after the Fed bought only $1.5bn in bonds ranging from 17 to [...]
FAO fears record food prices could head even higher January 5, 2011 WORLD food prices hit a record high last month, outstripping levels that prompted riots in 2008, and key grains could climb even further, the UN’s food agency has warned. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s measure of global monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar has reached its [...]
US private sector adds 297,000 jobs in December January 5, 2011 US PRIVATE employers added a surprisingly high 297,000 jobs in December, the biggest increase since at least 2001, a new report by ADP Employer Services report has shown. The figure is far higher than the median estimate of 100,000 private-sector jobs reported by economists surveyed by Reuters, and is also significantly above November’s revised figure [...]
Eurozone factory output rebounded in October January 5, 2011 Industrial orders in the eurozone rebounded from a slump in September to rise 1.4 per cent month-on-month in October, generating a 14.8 per cent year-on-year gain. The monthly rise in orders was largely due to a five per cent jump in demand for durable consumer goods, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said. In a [...]
Corporate profitability hits 18-month high January 5, 2011 Corporate profitability rose to an 18-month high in the third quarter of 2010, helped by manufacturers and oil producers, official data showed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the net rate of return by private non-financial corporations rose to 11.9 between July and September from 11.6 per cent between April and June. It was [...]
UK construction in unexpected fall January 5, 2011 Construction activity unexpectedly contracted in December for the first time since February 2010, the monthly Markit/CIPS purchasing managers index showed. The PMI index dropped to 49.1 from November’s unrevised reading of 51.8, a bigger drop than the fall to 50.9 which economists had forecast. Readings below 50 indicate contraction and after the data sterling weakened [...]
Panmure reports improved second half January 5, 2011 Stockbroker Panmure Gordon, which faced a takeover threat from rival Evolution Group last year, said its results improved during the second half. Panmure said its American division had a substantial improvement in results during the second half, while its core British business benefited from work on takeovers, fundraisings and restructurings. “Both the UK and the [...]
HMV warns that profit will be at lower end January 5, 2011 Music and books retailer HMV said full-year profit would be around the lower end of forecasts and meeting the terms of its lending rules would be tight after bad weather hit Christmas trade. HMV, which has been battling for years with competition from supermarkets and the internet, said on Wednesday it would exit about 60 [...]