FTSE inches upwards as US figures propel commodities February 23, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday as investors welcomed robust corporate earnings newsflow, with Royal Bank of Scotland spearheading an advance in banking stocks after the lender unveiled in-line full-year results. The UK benchmark closed up 21.34 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,937.89. RBS, up 5.1 per cent, was the second-top blue-chip riser, recovering after [...]
Wall Street nears pre-Lehman highs February 23, 2012 WALL Street stocks rose yesterday after data showed the US labour market remained on the mend, but the market stalled as it approached highs not seen since before the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. In an upbeat note for the economy, new US claims for unemployment benefits held steady last week and were at the [...]
With the state out of money we have much to learn from the American way of giving February 23, 2012 TAKE a walk on Park Avenue or Wall Street and you’ll see countless posters and banners profiling the wide variety of cultural activities on offer in New York. And at the bottom of each you’ll see sponsorship from a large private company – usually a bank, and usually a big one at that. Goldman, Morgan, [...]
Britain’s growth will be powered by smaller firms February 23, 2012 WHEN Xavier Rolet, chief executive of London Stock Exchange Group, said in City A.M. on 9 January that small and medium enterprises provide the best hope for reviving the UK economy, I cheered. “Without the growth of fledgling companies, there will be little meaningful job creation,” he said. How true. When regulators and politicians talk [...]
Greece’s history holds its hope for the future February 23, 2012 PEOPLE say that Greece used to be great. That’s not quite right of course. They mean Athens. Ancient Greece was a jumble of city-states, some even worse than the political and economic disaster of Greece today. Sparta was a totalitarian state, a role model for the Nazis. Ancient Athens, however, has a strong claim to [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 23, 2012 Not for sale [Re: A market solution will save money and end the dispute over Falklands sovereignty, Wednesday] Steve Hanke’s article is a classic example of the American economics academic’s mind at work. Monetise everything. After all, the world is only about money. Politically and historically, however, it doesn’t stack up. Hanke signally ignores the [...]
The buzz is coming back to Monaco February 23, 2012 IN its 1950s heyday, Monaco was a place of high European glamour and refinement, reigned over by Grace Kelly. Very much the rich – and royal – man’s St Tropez, it is now known more for its oligarch traffic jams, Formula One racing, casinos and cruise ship embarkation point. But a range of tax breaks [...]
FOCUS ON: STRATFORD, LONDON February 23, 2012 RICHFORD ROAD Price: £340,000 A four bedroom period conversion spread over four floors with front bay windows and access to private gardens. Go to www.foxtons.co.uk ANGEL LANE Price: £350,000 A twelfth floor, two bedroom flat in a modern high rise. Located a stone’s throw from the Underground and other transport links. Go to www.foxtons.co.uk CASPIAN [...]
SELL February 23, 2012 Managing Director of Kay & Co, central London estate agency Q. I want to sell my flat and it has 76 years left on the lease. Should I extend it first? A. Provided you have owned your flat for two years under Chapter II of Part 1 of The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development [...]
PROPERTY NEWS February 23, 2012 LONDON OFFICE TAKE-UP POSITIVE Central London office take-up has seen a positive start to 2012 despite figures being below December levels. With some 840,000 sq ft transacted in January, take-up was 38 per cent higher than the same time last year, according to research by global property adviser CBRE. Docklands saw the largest increase, with [...]
