RSA share price leaps 5.3 per cent as Zurich Insurance Group tables revised £5.6bn offer ahead of takeover deadline August 25, 2015 RSA's share price jumped 5.3 per cent at the open after Zurich Insurance Group revealed a revised offer for the British rival, sneaking in ahead of today's takeover panel deadline. The group is now offering 550p per share in cash for the entire issued ordinary share capital of the insurance firm. That values the [...]
TfL Tube strike 26 and 28 August 2015: Tube strikes cost London nearly £60m in lost man hours August 24, 2015 Talks are going to the wire, but unless something miraculous happens, London is staring down the barrel of a double-whammy of strike action this week. As it stands Tube staff members of RMT, TSSA and Unite are planning to walk out from 6:30pm on Tuesday and for the whole of the following day (25 [...]
Supermarket wars: Aldi has changed the face of UK retailing in its first 25 years – but it must adapt as much as everyone else to continue August 24, 2015 As Aldi celebrates 25 years of trading in the UK the joy may be felt by the German-owned discount chain and the great British price-conscious shopping public for its impact on the cost of food. But the reaction from rival retailers, big and small, and pretty much everyone else in the supply chain who [...]
Black Monday: Shares in National Bank of Greece, Eurobank and Piraeus are collapsing August 24, 2015 Share prices at Greek banks have fallen by more than a quarter as the combination of the global crash and uncertainty around a Grexit weight heavy on the financial sector. Athens Stock Exchange had fallen by seven per cent in mid-afternoon trading – but it was the banks that were hit hardest. The [...]
Black Monday: Gordon Brown’s former spad Damian McBride thinks you should stockpile food and water to ride out the crash August 24, 2015 Worried about Black Monday? You're not the only one. Although you might not be reaching the same conclusion Damian McBride has. Gordon Brown's former spad has tweeted some urgent advice on the back of this morning's stock market tumbles – and it sounds like he is taking the crash pretty seriously. If any [...]
The “fear index” Vix soars to highest level in years as Asian, European stock markets slump August 24, 2015 The so-called fear index has jumped to its highest level in years this morning as markets in Asia and Europe slumped. The Vix index leaped to 28.03 points in mid-morning trading, up 46.45 per cent, having opened up 22.55. Its European counterpart the VSTOXX has also shot up, peaking at a high of 35 in [...]
China’s economic slowdown: There’s been blood on the trading floor this Black Monday – but should we be afraid of what’s to come? August 24, 2015 The Chinese government and regulators are currently learning some of the more harsh lessons that their Western counterparts have found out over the last century or so. You can fight free markets as much as you want but sooner or later you will lose. Monday’s 8.5 per cent fall in the Shanghai Composite, when [...]
Greek debt crisis: Pro-Grexit group Popular Unity to take mandate to create Greek coalition as New Democracy misses deadline August 24, 2015 Pro-Grexit group Popular Unity will formally receive a mandate to form a new Greek government today, prompting greater uncertainty around Europe's stability. The mandate is being handed to the far-left group – the third largest in Greece's parliament – after opposition leader Vangelis Meimarakis admitted he had failed to find a coalition partner. [...]
Lloyds Banking Group sell-off continues as government reduces stake to 13 per cent August 24, 2015 The government has sold a further one per cent of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking its total holding to less than 13 per cent. It has now realised £14.5bn from the share sale, which began in December last year and will end no later than 31 December. All sales are used to [...]
From TfL Tube strike and Greek debt crisis to awful colleagues and FTSE woes: Here’s what got us talking this week August 21, 2015 There was a flypast. There was a bus in someone’s front garden. And somewhere – or perhaps everywhere – the sound of prosecco corks being popped overtook those of champagne. Here’s what got us talking this week 1. Our colleagues To be fair, it’s something we probably discuss most weeks, and we’re not alone. Perhaps that’s [...]
