David Cameron facing Tory backlash over plain cigarette packs January 22, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron is facing a bruising from his own party over proposals to have cigarettes sold in plain, unbranded, packaging, with a senior Tory MP telling City A.M. that “half the parliamentary party” could be against it. Several Conservative backbenchers were fuming at the proposals yesterday, put forward in a surprise announcement by [...]
ECB’s €1tn QE plan: Economists surprised, but leaders warn on reforms January 22, 2015 European politicians have been warned not to ease off on economic reforms now that billions of euros worth of quantitative easing (QE) has been launched, while economists have been surprised by its scope. “Regardless of what the ECB [European Central Bank] does,” Angela Merkel said in Davos yesterday, “it should not obscure the fact that [...]
ECB’s €1tn QE plan: Greek parties trade pre-election blows ahead of Sunday crunch time January 22, 2015 Political tensions simmered in Greece yesterday as the two main rival parties fretted over the country’s inclusion in Europe’s newly launched quantitative easing (QE) ahead of Sunday’s election. The European Central Bank (ECB) has said that countries who do not have investment grade bonds must stick to bailout conditions to benefit from its bond buying. [...]
London FinTech heads for NYC with Boris Johnson trade mission January 22, 2015 A delegation of London’s financial technology startups are joining Mayor Boris Johnson on a trade mission to New York next month. Digital Shadows, a cybersecurity firm whose clients include the Bank of England, and Azimo, a money transfer business which raised $10m (£6.6m) in funding last March, will go on the trip to showcase London’s [...]
ECB bond-buying programme sends indices soaring up – London Report January 22, 2015 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank’s €1.14 trillion bond-buying programme sent UK shares to their highest level for four months yesterday. The FTSE 100 finished up 68.59 points, or 1.02 per cent, at 6,796.63, its highest since 19 September last year. Among the risers Royal Mail gained 3.55 per cent to 445.80p after a good Christmas performance [...]
The Eurozone desperately needed Mario Draghi’s QE stimulus – but the euro isn’t safe yet January 22, 2015 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi has done what many in the markets had hoped for, and announced a massive package of QE of over €1 trillion – promising more if need be. This is much bigger than had generally been expected, indicating Draghi’s determination to deal decisively with the Eurozone’s deflation problem. If [...]
As the ECB unveils a massive QE boost for the Eurozone, will this set back structural reform? January 22, 2015 Richard Batley, senior economist at Lombard Street Research, says Yes Without structural reform, successive European Central Bank (ECB) monetary palliatives can only temporarily ease the symptoms of deflation and low growth. They can’t address the causes. In almost every euro area country, private sector and government debt-to-income ratios are higher than before the financial crisis. [...]
ECB QE pushes S&P 500 into positive for the year January 22, 2015 Draghi's decision to unleash his biggest "bazooka" has helped push the S&P 500 into positive for this year. The US blue-chip index erased its losses for the year jumping 1.6% to 2,063.98 points in a late-afternoon rally on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq also erased its losses for the year, rising 1.8 per cent to 4,750.62 points. The S&P [...]
Newcastle named the 19th richest club in the world – but how much of Mike Ashley’s money goes on transfers? January 22, 2015 Newcastle United are the 19th richest football club on the planet. In an era in which St. James’ Park has become synonymous with fan discontent, that seems tough to believe. Yet according to Deloitte’s Football Money League for the 2013/14 season, the north east club made more cash than European giants such as Roma, [...]
Video: Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella at Davos 2015 January 22, 2015 On day two of this year's biggest gathering of world leaders, the focus moved to tech. During one session Google chairman Eric Schmidt joined Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella to discuss the future of the digital economy, and whether we have what is needed to ensure a thriving, open [...]