US state borrowing for nothing November 23, 2009 THE interest rate on US Treasury bills has dropped below zero in a scenario last seen in 1938, leaving investors in the bizarre position of paying the government for the privilege of lending it money. The collapse in short-term borrowing costs comes as stocks continue to shoot up, a deeply unusual combination last seen during [...]
Cameron tells businesses to throw away wish lists November 23, 2009 CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron yesterday warned firms not to expect a “wish list” of tax cuts and spending on infrastructure because of the dire state of the public finances. “I cannot give you the wish list of every piece of infrastructure spending and every tax reduction you would like because, to put it frankly, the [...]
Rail firms will roll out Oyster November 23, 2009 COMMUTERS will be able to touch in and out using their Oyster card across Greater London on the City’s overland rail by early next year, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday. The £40m investment is set to revolutionise London travel, and allow passengers to use the Oyster card across the tube, bus, river boat Thames [...]
Six random thoughts to start your day November 23, 2009 THERE is something appealing about random musings. Here are mine for the day – the first in what will become an occasional series. 1. Governments don’t have unlimited borrowing capacity. At some point, the markets will stop extending loans to them. Countries such as Greece are starting to be penalised by investors and the credit [...]
Tories to axe house packs November 23, 2009 THE TORIES have pledged to scrap home information packs (HIPS) within weeks, if they are elected. Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said yesterday it would be his first move, as the packs are stalling housing market recovery. Estate agents say sellers are put off by the £300 to £400 cost. And with the current shortage [...]
Borders in emergency talks November 23, 2009 High street books and CD chain Borders is holding emergency rescue talks as it fights to stay in business. The group, which also includes the Books Etc brand, is understood to be in discussions with firms including Waterstones’ parent HMV as fears mount it could be forced to call in administrators this week. WH Smith [...]
Microsoft and News Corp in Google attack November 23, 2009 MICROSOFT has held talks with News Corp about removing the latter’s online news content from Google’s search results and listing them exclusively on its Bing search engine instead. Talks are still at an early stage, with a question mark over the terms and payment for the deal. The giant media companies are said to be [...]
Six face prosecution over MP’s expenses November 23, 2009 SIX MPs and peers could be prosecuted for alleged fraud over their expenses claims. Scotland Yard detectives have passed four files to prosecutors so they can decide whether the four will face criminal charges. A further two files are expected to follow within weeks. The files concern Labour MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim [...]
Loss of key Gulf Air contract could cost Rolls Royce $1.5bn November 23, 2009 ROLLS-ROYCE may lose a $1.5bn (£903m) engine contract awarded only five months ago by Gulf Air as the carrier looks to cut costs. The Bahrain-based airline said yesterday it would renegotiate contracts with Airbus, Boeing and Rolls-Royce because it plans to shift its order book from wide-body to narrow-body planes to focus on cheaper-to-run shorter [...]
Investors in scramble for Lloyds bonds November 23, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group yesterday said investors had heavily oversubscribed to its ground-breaking contingent convertible bond exchange plan, sending the stock 3.8 per cent higher and paving the way for a strong take-up for its upcoming rights issue. Lloyds, which said the result marked “an important milestone” in its capital-raising exercise, raised £8.5bn in its non-US [...]
