Chancellor to declare the winners and losers June 21, 2010 WITH tax rises and spending cuts expected in today’s Budget, many equity strategists are advising investors to steer clear of stocks heavily reliant on UK-based revenues. Instead, contracts for difference (CFD) traders should target equities with international and private sector exposure. The emergency Budget is likely to focus on tax rises instead of detailed spending [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES JPMORGAN PUSHES ON WITH TALKS OVER BRAZILIAN HEDGE FUND JPMorgan Chase is pushing ahead with talks to buy a large Brazilian hedge fund and private equity group, in spite of impending US legislation designed to limit the involvement of commercial banks in such activities. People close to the situation said the US financial [...]
Tories best to tackle our fiscal crisis May 5, 2010 AT first sight, there are few similarities between Greece, a tiny and desperately mismanaged economy on the fringes of Europe, and Britain, one of the world’s largest economies – and for all the Labour party’s blunders and mismanagement, still an astonishingly prosperous country. Thanks to what turned out to be virtually the only good decision [...]
DEBAUCHED BISHOPS AND OPTIMISM April 27, 2010 DICK TURPIN MANAGING DIRECTOR, ARTEMIS CHARITABLE. That’s the only word for investors’ sentiment these days, as markets move on up. It all reminds me of the attitude of the historian Gregory of Tours towards Droctigisilus, the debauched Bishop of Soissons around 545 AD: “Although he was a voracious eater, and drank immoderately, no one ever [...]
Hertz drives forward with growth plan April 26, 2010 CAR rental group Hertz yesterday agreed to buy smaller rival Dollar Thrifty for about $1.2bn in a deal that will make it the second-biggest US car rental company. Shares of Hertz, which also raised its earnings and revenue outlooks for 2010, rose as much as 18 per cent to touch a two-year high after the [...]
Opportunities for growth in green Asia April 13, 2010 TAKE a trip around emerging Asia these days and you won’t just see skyscrapers and coal-fired power plants growing out of places where there were once nothing but fields. Wind turbines, solar energy plants, incinerator manufacturers, water treatment plants and microirrigation developments are just as likely to spring up before your eyes. There is now [...]
Mything in action March 31, 2010 Film CLASH OF THE TITANS Cert: 12A THE first action blockbuster of the Spring is no classic, but as forgettable, brain-dead holiday entertainment it just about gets the job done. Starring man-of-the-moment Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation) as Greek demi-god Perseus, it’s a remake of the 1981 film that was chiefly notable for its stop-motion [...]
Greek tragedy will continue despite bailout and bond issue March 29, 2010 RIDING the wave of positive sentiment following the announcement of the EU’s support mechanism, the Greek Debt Management Agency yesterday sold €5bn of seven-year government bonds. As predicted, the response was poor and the yield very high, raising the chances that Greece will have to ask for help and Germany – despite its recent protests [...]
CITY TAKES AN OUTSIDE PUNT ON THE BUBBLY March 23, 2010 AMUSED ripples radiated from the City yesterday following this column’s speculation as to what tipple George Osborne – likely to be the country’s next chancellor if the Tories win the election – might drink if he ends up presenting the next Budget. It seems most readers agreed with The Capitalist’s prediction that Osborne would stick [...]
The budget is Darling’s last chance to convince voters and markets March 23, 2010 MORE than one budget is expected this year, and there is a good chance that tomorrow’s will be superseded by another once the election has been fought and won. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that there is still an awful lot riding on chancellor Alistair Darling’s words this week. Firstly, the budget provides [...]