Is Vladimir Putin right that Russia’s economy will be back on its feet within two years? December 18, 2014 Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, says Yes. Russia’s citizens have been here before – they know the drill. Everything looks terrible now, but the positive spin is that we could see a new start in 2015. A solution to the Ukraine crisis is a pre-condition, laying to rest the political and financial stand-off [...]
Putin: Effects of the rouble crisis will “last two years under the most unfavourable circumstances” December 18, 2014 Buoyed, presumably, by the triumph of being named Russia’s man of the year for the 15th year in a row just hours ago, this morning Vladimir Putin climbed on to the podium to give a press conference to 1,300-odd journalists in what has become known as his answer to a “state of the nation address”. [...]
The UK, Alibaba and Nigel Farage are the biggest winners of 2014 December 18, 2014 As the year draws to a close it's a good time to reflect and look back on who will be cheerfully toasting 2014, after looking at those poor souls who've been dealt nothing but coal this year. This lot have plenty of reason for good cheer this holiday season – here's our pick of the [...]
Yellen pledges patient approach before starting to hike rates December 17, 2014 US POLICYMAKERS yesterday voted not to change its policy stance while also saying they would be “patient” before beginning to raise interest rates. The term “considerable time” was ditched from the Fed’s statement. It was initially used to signal how long rates would stay low for after the asset purchase programme ended in October. Instead, [...]
Nigel Farage, The Brand New Heavies and Innocent Drinks founder shake it up at Jim Mellon’s Christmas party December 17, 2014 What do nineties band The Brand New Heavies, Nigel Farage and Innocent Drinks founder Richard Reed have in common? They were all at millionaire fund-manager Jim Mellon’s Christmas party last night, of course. The shindig took place in Mellon’s pub in Notting Hill. The Capitalist had the pleasure of meeting the man the boozer was [...]
US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro to end trade embargo after 50 years December 17, 2014 US President Barack Obama has just announced the end of the longest-standing trade sanctions in US history, as part of a ground-breaking thaw in relations with Cuba. The two long-time enemies, which sit on the opposite ends of the political spectrum, have agreed to “open economic and travel ties”, the most significant improvement in [...]
Chancellor George Osborne confirms government will sell more Lloyds shares December 17, 2014 The chancellor has announced the government will sell more shares in Lloyds Banking Group within the next six months. The sale, to be managed by investment bank Morgan Stanley, will help the government raise up to £2bn, UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body which manages the government's investments, confirmed. Presently it owns around 17.8bn ordinary [...]
Mark Carney’s Bank of England stress tests lived up to their name December 16, 2014 The Bank of England certainly knows how to conduct a stress test. It even managed to give the City’s hacks a stress test of their own at the crack of dawn yesterday. The press briefing began at the impolite hour of 5am and was punctuated by a power cut and subsequent change of venue. Having [...]
Putin’s disaster economy now faces a perfect storm December 16, 2014 VLADIMIR Putin is surely receiving his long-awaited comeuppance, as his country struggles to deal with a full-blown currency rout, driven by plunging oil prices. For if the US and Saudi Arabia are indeed in cahoots to drive down the price of oil to smite their Russian enemy, as I have previously posited, one must admit [...]
Mark Carney: Stress test proves banks are “significantly more resilient” December 16, 2014 Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England (BoE), has said the results of today’s stress tests prove the new-found resilience at the core of the banking sector. Seven banks and Nationwide building society were tested, with only one, Co-operative Bank, failing. The test scenario was considered especially harsh and included two years of [...]