Hike in commodity costs hits miners and energy stocks November 19, 2009 Britain’s top share index fell 1.4 per cent yesterday as sagging commodity prices dented miners and energy stocks, while reduced risk appetite hurt banks. The FTSE 100 ended down 74.43 points at 5267.70, its biggest daily fall for three weeks, after closing 0.1 per cent lower on Wednesday. Miners were the biggest drag on the [...]
Technology firms drive USsell-off November 19, 2009 Technology stocks drove a broad-based US sell-off yesterday as a brokerage took a dim view of demand prospects for the semiconductor sector, while economic data underscored the fragility of the recovery. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch cut its 2010 growth outlook for the semiconductor industry on concerns about a rising inventory glut. It downgraded 10 stocks, [...]
BRITAIN SINKS EVER DEEPER INTO THE RED November 19, 2009 UK PUBLIC borrowing reached a record high in October, according to official figures published yesterday, revealing the state of public finances to be much worse than many economists feared. Borrowing ballooned by £11.4bn during October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, around double the consensus forecast. National debt has spiralled to £829.7bn – equivalent [...]
WANTED: STEADY HAND AT THE TILL November 19, 2009 THE departure of Wm Morrison boss Marc Bolland won’t blow the supermarket off course, retail experts said yesterday as the Bradford-based company posted another set of strong sales figures and customer growth. With Bolland sidelined ahead of taking the reins at Marks & Spencer in January, finance director Richard Pennycook took responsibility for yesterday’s trading [...]
Goldman hires 272 new MDs November 19, 2009 GOLDMAN Sachs has invited 272 executives to join the ranks of its managing directors, in yet another sign of its rude health following the global downturn. The promotions will make the executives eligible for more of Goldman’s lucrative bonus pool next year. The group of 272 is smaller than the 299 promoted during 2007, a [...]
Horlick loses fund contract November 19, 2009 NICOLA Horlick’s Bramdean Asset Management has lost its lucrative management contract at listed investment fund Bramdean Alternatives, five months after the end of a bruising spat with its biggest shareholder, property mogul Vincent Tchenguiz. The contract has been passed to Aberdeen Asset Management for an initial three-year period. The fund’s board added it would bring [...]
British economy is back to 2005 levels November 19, 2009 JUST in case you were in any doubt about the scale of the crisis engulfing Britain’s public finances, yesterday’s official figures demonstrated that the situation is, if anything, worse than even the gloomiest economists had been predicting. Government revenues collapsed by 9.1 per cent year on year in October; they have slumped by a tenth [...]
L&Gready to name chair November 19, 2009 Legal and General will name its next chairman within the next ten days, City A.M. understands. The group is understood to have picked John Stewart, former boss of Woolwich, as its front-running candidate. Sources close to L&G say the candidate has been picked, but must now be vetted by City watchdog the FinancialServices Authority. L&G [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE?VEXED BY VERIZON STANCEThe chief executive of Vodafone yesterday said that the question of dividend payments from Verizon Wireless, its US joint venture, was one of the most pressing items on the company’s agenda. Speaking at a MorganStanley investor conference in Barcelona, Vittorio Colao said: “We need to solve the US situation.” EUROPEAN [...]
Windows 7 selling strongly November 19, 2009 Sales of Microsoft’s Windows 7 are at twice the level of any previous version of the operating system, the company’s chief executive Steve Ballmer said yesterday. Windows 7, launched a month ago, has “already sold twice as many units” than its predecessors after the same initial period, Ballmer told shareholders at the technology giant’s annual [...]
