Best City spots for a winter warmer November 18, 2009 When there’s a nip in the air, there’s nothing quite like getting your mitts around a nice, hot glass of mulled wine. In these days of online shopping and alternative Queen’s speeches, not a lot remains of the traditional Dickensian Christmas – so when you see a spot of hot wine infused with spices, you [...]
Hot chocolates for that seasonal glow November 18, 2009 IF, like me, you’re impervious to the charms of caffeine drinks, or else – also like me – you’re powerless to resist the lure of cocoa, the idea of the perfect hot chocolate takes on holy grail status. When I meet people in cafes, I often watch glumly while they strain exotic tea through a [...]
Boom-town Qatar is becoming the New York City of the Middle East November 18, 2009 WHEN chancellor Alistair Darling announced the introduction of a 50 per cent tax on all income over £150,000 from April 2010, there was immediately talk of a mass exodus from the City. High earners, said the chancellor’s critics, would look to preserve their wealth and firms try to attract the best talent. Some were expected [...]
FED IS STILL FUELLING THE RISK TRADE November 18, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM CAUTIOUS expectations for growth in the world’s major economies haave seen market commentators predict that risk appetite will be pared back over the coming months. But despite all this talk, the risk trade suffered only a brief decline following the shock rise in the US unemployment rate to 10.2 per cent [...]
Now there is a new way for traders to play forex markets November 18, 2009 WITH more than $3 trillion traded in the volatile foreign exchange markets every day, private investors have increasingly been angling for a slice of the action. And last week, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provider ETF Securities launched a new way for individuals to gain exposure to the world’s most liquid market. The ETF-provider has launched Europe’s [...]
INVESTORS DIVERSIFY WITH ETFS November 17, 2009 NIZAM HAMIDHEAD OF SALES STRATEGY, SHARES IIT IS often said that one of the biggest advantages of having Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in your portfolio is that ETFs are inherently diverse, because they are based on an underlying basket of securities and are available on a wide range of asset classes. The financial crisis highlighted [...]
A legal Big Bang is round the corner, but most City firms are unprepared November 17, 2009 Do lawyers have a good profile? “Compared with estate agents and gunrunners, then yes”, replies Ian Dodds, director of BarFutures, a barristers’ chambers. But, alas, compared with more worthy professions such as doctors and teachers “probably not”. Quentin Poole, senior partner at Wragge & Co, reckons if the question was put to him a couple [...]
A COPENHAGEN WISH LIST FOR BUSINESS November 17, 2009 TIM BAINESNORTON ROSE LLP PRESIDENT Obama may have decided that there is little prospect of a binding agreement coming out of next month’s Copenhagen conference. He spoke yesterday about an “accord” that has “immediate operational effect”. Against this, many leading businesses have called for an ambitious and robust global deal. So what should business wish [...]
Art collections at banks are becoming a big business November 17, 2009 YESTERDAY it was announced that Asia’s biggest art fair, the Hong Kong-based Art HK, is to be sponsored for the next five years by Deutsche Bank. The fair’s previous sponsor, Lehman Brothers, had its art collection auctioned off earlier this month to the tune of $1.35m, including works by Pop Art superstars Roy Lichtenstein and [...]
Central bank slows rocky rouble’s rally November 17, 2009 WHILE its Bric counterparts of Brazil, India and China have been relatively unaffected by the global downturn, the Russian economy has suffered more than most. With approximately 60 per cent of its exports dependent on oil, a slump in the crude price during the second half of 2008 proved disastrous. But a recovering oil price [...]
