Retailers slammed for “dodgy” discounting practices in super-complaint to CMA April 21, 2015 Retailers could face an investigation into their discounts and promotional activity after consumer campaigning group Which filed a “super-complaint” to the Competition and Markets Authority. Which claims retailers are “confusing consumers with tactics that exaggerate discounts and manipulate shoppers”, arguing they create “the illusion of savings that don't exist”. The complaint comes on the [...]
General Election 2015: Ed Miliband gives me the heebie jeebies, Nigel Farage models himself on Boycie and Nicola Sturgeon has “thin lips” – here are the best reactions to the party manifesto launches April 20, 2015 Voters have had some interesting reactions to the manifesto launches of the last week – and not in the way you might expect. They collectively had only “the haziest recollection” of the details – despite them dominating the news all week. As part of the weekly poll update for Ashcroft National Polls, they had [...]
Neil Woodford’s new fund oversubscribed by 10pc – despite the team already increasing the size by £300m April 20, 2015 Neil Woodford's latest investment trust has been oversubscribed – having alread been nearly doubled from its initial figure. The Woodford Patient Capital Trust invests in early stage and early growth companies, along with a mix of blue chip stocks. Initially the team had decided the size of the closed-ended fund would be set at [...]
From the glitterbomb to Bloomberg down: Here’s what got us talking this week April 17, 2015 There was a debate. There was a glitterbomb. And for most of Friday, around the world, there was very little trading being done. Here's what got us talking this week. 1. Bloomberg down Friday morning was either a disaster or a small gift from a benevolent and powerful entity. Bloomberg Professional went down [...]
General Election 2015: Ukip could secure four million votes – but only four seats April 17, 2015 Nearly four million people could vote for Ukip this General Election – more than the total number of ballots cast in Scotland and Wales combined – one bookie has said. The party led by Nigel Farage stands to receive 12.75 per cent, or 3,970,000 votes, according to Sporting Index. However because of the spread [...]
Bloomberg down: The FCA is “monitoring the impact” of trading outage on City firms April 17, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority is keeping a watchful eye on City firms to see if there is any fall-out from today's Bloomberg Professional outage. The trading terminal, which is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, went down on Friday morning (London time). The problem, which affected traders worldwide, effectively brought [...]
General Election 2015: More people watched last night’s Emmerdale than the BBC debate April 17, 2015 Was it the lack of star quality in the form of Prime Minister David Cameron or the lure of the Dingles? We're not sure but either way last night's leaders' debate got a pummelling in the ratings. BBC1's Election Debate – billed as the challengers' contest with no Cameron and no Nick Clegg – was [...]
Bloomberg down: Treasury pulls £3bn tender, bond deals delayed after terminals outage locks traders out of the City April 17, 2015 The City was in meltdown this morning as the Bloomberg Professional outage continued with no sign of being fixed. Deals were expected to be delayed and even the Treasury has postponed planned bill tenders worth £3bn after the trading terminal went offline, effectively locking traders out of the markets. The problem, which is affecting [...]
Back to work everyone: Bloomberg Professional is back up April 17, 2015 Everyone back to work: Bloomberg Professional is back up – at least for most of its customers. The system went down this morning just as London traders were gearing up for the day's work. The problem, which affected terminals worldwide, effectively brought the sector to halt for at least half of Friday. Bloomberg has not [...]
General Election 2015: The odds of a hung parliament just shortened – and it’s set to be Prime Minister Ed Miliband April 16, 2015 Come May 7, the UK will have a hung parliament with Ed Miliband taking the keys to Number 10 – at least that's what bookies Ladbrokes are saying. The odds of a hung parliament have shortened yet again, this time to 1/7. Ladbrokes' Election Forecast has moved slightly in favour of the Conservatives, suggesting [...]
