S&P 500 index hits a four year intraday high August 21, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday after the S&P 500 hit its highest level in four years as the benchmark index faced technical resistance and traders cashed in recent gains. The S&P 500 index hit 1,426.68, its highest intraday rise since May 2008. Volume has been light, as expected in August, and only three of the past [...]
Forget Nadir – the SFO does not have the resources to fight fraud August 21, 2012 ALTHOUGH the jury is still out on nine of the charges in the Asil Nadir case, the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) successful conviction of Nadir on three charges is a nice win following a two-decade long pursuit of the tycoon. Sadly, this success is not indicative of the SFO’s recent experience. The Nadir case needs [...]
How to unpick the apparent paradox of falling GDP and rising employment August 21, 2012 THE City always eagerly awaits the latest GDP estimates. These figures dominate the media headlines and huge significance is attached to trivial differences between market expectations and the announced figure, and to subsequent revisions to the data. But GDP is not something that can be put in a set of scales and measured accurately. The [...]
Olympian defends football stars – at least off the pitch August 21, 2012 FOLLOWING the recent success of Team GB at the London Olympics, many people are inevitably comparing footballers with athletes. As such, many expect fans and athletes of other sports to dislike footballers. But this comparison isn’t entirely fair. The combination of enormous wages, lavish lifestyles and bad headlines has made footballers fair game for relentless [...]
Is the government right to seek to raise revenue by selling NHS services abroad? August 21, 2012 YES David Stout This idea to “sell” the NHS abroad is not necessarily new. But these proposals present an opportunity to do what is already being done in a much more systematic way. We know the NHS is well-regarded internationally, and these proposals mean we can help generate additional income off the back of our [...]
Rapid Responses August 21, 2012 Plain packaging [Re: As Australia confirms a law banning branded tobacco packaging, should the UK follow suit?, Thursday] Whether plain packaging of cigarettes prevents children from smoking is irrelevant. Cigarettes are illegal for under 18s to buy, and draconian and nannying measures like this will likely creep into the alcohol and unhealthy food markets. Liberty [...]
The car in front is a… What? A Kia? August 21, 2012 The car market used to be so much easier to understand. You used to be able to make a brand table that looked like a ladder, with value brands at the bottom and premium brands at the top. As a manufacturer you either made a lot of cars and sold them for less profit per [...]
Car talk August 21, 2012 Want one of these? Don’t hold your breath This unusual-looking beast is a one-off supercar built by McLaren Special Operations (MSO), the bespoke division within McLaren Automotive. Called the McLaren X-1 it is based on the company’s carbon MonoCell structure and has a unique, bespoke “timeless” and “classically elegant” body. It took two and a [...]
FTSE 100 buoyed by mining and financial shares August 21, 2012 The blue chip index opened up this morning, with strong gains in heavyweight mining shares and UK financials leading the risers. Heritage Oil was up by almost 13 per cent in early trading, as investors were buoyed by news that it is to sell part of its holding in a gas block in Iraq for [...]
Corporation tax shortfall dents UK public finances August 21, 2012 Britain’s government finances showed an unexpected deficit in July – traditionally a month for strong tax receipts – after a shortfall in corporation tax, especially from the energy sector, data showed today. The Office for National Statistics said the public sector finances excluding financial sector interventions – the government’s preferred measure – showed a deficit [...]
