CITY EYE June 30, 2009 BALLET dancers put in some legwork at their last rehearsal before last night’s performance of Swan Lake, which was put on in the lavish interior of St Paul’s Cathedral as part of this year’s City of London festival – an extravaganza of free jazz and world music concerts, walks, talks, exhibitions, street-theatre and dance performances, [...]
Shrinking economy shakes market but Wolseley grows June 30, 2009 WEAKER than expected consumer confidence figures in the US drove some shares lower yesterday, with banks, miners and food retailers leading the fallers. The FTSE 100 shed one per cent, or 44.82 points, to close at 4,249.21. But the index is up 8.2 per cent on the quarter, the best such performance since the final [...]
Consumers remain shy on US economy June 30, 2009 US STOCKS fell yesterday as an unexpected drop in consumer confidence cooled recent optimism about an economic recovery, but Wall Street still closed out its best quarter in a decade. The drop in the Conference Board’s measure of consumer confidence in June suggested that the 18-month-long recession had yet to loosen its grip on the [...]
Forex traders are focusing their attention on the pound June 30, 2009 TOP of the agenda for many forex traders at the moment are two things – the future of the pound in the face of expansionary quantitative easing and a ballooning UK budget deficit. Indeed, these issues were among the most keenly discussed at the forex breakfast co-hosted by City A.M. and Alpari UK last Friday, [...]
THERE ARE REASONS TO TREAT THE POUND’S RISE WITH CAUTION June 30, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT THE pound has been on an uninterrupted rise, following the fortunes of the global equity markets and it hit a fresh high of 1.6743 against the dollar. on Tuesday. But now that cable has gained 22 per cent off its lows, can the rally continue? There are several good [...]
Trainee problem threatens pyramid June 30, 2009 THIS year is turning out to be one of the worst to be a trainee lawyer. This September Clifford Chance will axe 21 of its 70 trainees on qualifying, giving the firm a retention rate of 70 per cent. Last year the firm kept on 95 per cent. American firm Jones Day will keep on [...]
LOOKING TO NEW PLACES FOR LAWYERS June 30, 2009 DAVID MORLEY SENIOR PARTNER, ALLEN & OVERY IN April, the initial findings of the government’s Panel on Fair Access to the Professions were announced. It said that the most socially exclusive professions are law, politics and the media. The situation is getting worse, and these professions more exclusive. Partly, this is down to informal networks [...]
The sun has come out to play, but not everyone is celebrating June 30, 2009 YESZOE STRIMPELPOOR weather gods. They just can’t win, not in Britain anyway. The age-old refrain on these isles – when other conversation dries up – is how crap the weather is. The rain, the cold, how England is so insufferably depressing it’s a miracle anybody still lives here when Spain is just an hour’s flight [...]
Baring too much skin at work is a risk June 30, 2009 DEAR VEXED: I work in a bank and the dress code is very professional. All the same, I’ve not been able to help myself from baring some skin lately. But I’m worried I’m being judged negatively. How can I enjoy my summer wardrobe without going too far? Lucy, private wealth I can understand your desire [...]
Automatic for the people? June 30, 2009 THE best high-performance cars come with a manual gearbox, right? Well, not according to Mercedes-Benz. On the evidence of this car, their stance appears to be that machines can change gear more efficiently than humans. But where’s the fun in that? Having driven this car in automatic form, I was yearning to feel how it [...]
