Victory won’t scare Aussies May 19, 2009 IN terms of Test cricket, there is little more England can do now before the Ashes series starts in Cardiff on 8 July. My advice to Andrew Strauss’ men following their comprehensive series success over the West Indies this last fortnight is to savour the moment and take confidence from your victory. It’s true the [...]
No sign of vertigo as banks take the FTSE 100 higher May 19, 2009 THE FTSE 100 continued its upward momentum yesterday, propelled up by financials and miners, although gains were limited by figures that showed new US housing starts fell to record lows. The index closed 0.8 per cent, or 35.80 points, higher at 4,482.25, with investors showing no sign of vertigo from the recent hefty rises. “Despite [...]
US shares rocked in housing data shock May 19, 2009 THE Dow and S&P 500 slipped yesterday as financial shares sank and on disappointing housing data, but the Nasdaq rose as investors snapped up technology shares ahead of results from Hewlett Packard. After a choppy session, financial shares fell as the US Senate passed a bill to curb sudden credit card interest rate increases and [...]
AT LONG LAST May 19, 2009 MICHAEL Martin yesterday bowed to growing pressure over his role in the expenses scandal and announced he would resign as Commons Speaker. In a remarkably brief 34 second statement to the house, Martin said the Commons was “best when it is united”. “In order that unity can be maintained, I have decided I will relinquish [...]
SHELL SHAREHOLDER REVOLT HERALDS TIDE OF ACTIVISM May 19, 2009 OIL giant Shell yesterday became one of the biggest victims of a shareholder revolt on executive pay as just under 60 per cent of investors voted against its pay policy. To a collective gasp at the company’s simultaneous annual meeting in London and the Hague, shareholders expressed their anger that in spite of Shell missing [...]
Brown: I will solve scandal May 19, 2009 PRIME minister Gordon Brown last night pledged to end the “gentleman’s club” of parliamentary regulation, as he said all Labour MPs who broke the rules on expenses would not stand at the next general election. Brown said the House of Commons must be subject to independent regulation for the first time in history, after Speaker Michael [...]
Marks & Spencer is no longer special May 19, 2009 FOR a supposed retail guru, Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose is not doing well. His firm is underperforming Tesco, J Sainsbury, Morrisons and Alliance Boots, among others. Yesterday’s grim full year results show that the firm has a lot of hard thinking to do. Its product and pricing mix still isn’t quite right; [...]
Lufthansa in BMI threat May 19, 2009 SIR MICHAEL Bishop, chairman and controlling shareholder of BMI, has been told to inject more capital into the group or risk scuppering its buyout by German airline Lufthansa. Lufthansa has insisted the conditions of its buyout of BMI from Bishop have not been met and is demanding Bishop stabilise its finances first, or it may [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESUS HOUSING OPTIMISM PREMATUREGrowing optimism over the US housing market may be premature, a leading retailer warned yesterday. Frank Blake, chief executive of Home Depot, said housing market signals were still mixed. “We are concerned about the accelerating rates of foreclosures, particularly in the western part of the country,” he said, noting that one [...]
Homeserve exits call-out work May 19, 2009 Home insurance group Homeserve met expectations with a 13 per cent rise in full year profit yesterday, and said it would exit its emergency services division to focus on its core membership business. The group posted a pre-tax profit of £96.1m on revenues 7 per cent lower at £517.4m.
