London firms call on new Mayor to invest in the city February 29, 2012 LONDON First, a business group whose members represent over a quarter of the capital’s GDP, have set out their demands for the mayoral election. The organisation, which includes such firms as KPMG, HSBC and Deloitte, have told the mayoral candidates of their “common sense” demands to improve infrastructure and keep the city open for business. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 29, 2012 IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES Peel Hunt has upgraded the microprocessor technology firm from “hold” to “buy” following some positive announcements from the company at Mobile World Congress on next generation chips. The broker has also upped its target price to 723p from 550p, as a result of increased confidence in forecasts, particularly ahead of an expected product [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 29, 2012 Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy The US law firm has hired corporate partner Mark Stamp to join its partnership from rival Linklaters, though no start date for his appointment has been announced. Stamp has been a partner at Linklaters since 1994, having joined the firm in 1983 as a trainee. He works in domestic and [...]
Bernanke helps to push FTSE to two week low February 29, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares ended lower yestesrday, in spite of getting intial support from the European Central Bank making cheap loans available to lenders, after bearish comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke hurt sentiment. The UK benchmark suffered a late sell-off, closing down 56.40 points, or one per cent, at 5,871.51, its lowest close [...]
Shares retreat on profit taking and Fed speech February 29, 2012 US stocks slipped yesterday, snapping a four-day winning streak after comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke disappointed investors hoping for a strong signal of more stimulus. The Fed chairman’s comments drove the dollar up 0.7 per cent against a basket of major currencies and sent materials lower. Gold fell five per cent in [...]
A leading economist’s view on how to manage financial regulation for the long term February 29, 2012 ALL financial regulation is inherently procyclical. After a crisis has occurred, the immediate, inherent response is “that must never be allowed to happen again”. Thus after the South Sea Bubble, limited liability, joint stock incorporation was effectively forbidden. The problem is that regulations prevent agents doing what they want to do, and hence limit innovation [...]
Why we need to convert sport to suit today’s lives February 29, 2012 MAINTAINING and realising the sporting legacy of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games is a huge challenge. But it also presents the chance for those governing sport to do things differently, and find a new generation of participants as a result. Existing policy has failed to engage people in sport in the volumes hoped for. [...]
Romney wins at home but the cost was high February 29, 2012 WITHOUT an equally favourable outcome in Arizona, Mitt Romney’s victory in the Michigan primary would have been portrayed by the media as a hollow one at best – a crisis averted. Losing Michigan, however, would have wounded Romney, perhaps mortally. But with a landslide in Arizona and a marginal victory in his home state, Romney [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 29, 2012 Minimum sage? I’ve often thought that the minimum wage was counterproductive but couldn’t express it as succinctly and clearly as Jamie Whyte managed to in his article yesterday [There’s no logic behind the workfare proposal]. But scrapping the minimum wage would also need to go hand in hand with a reduction or a cap on [...]
Financial service jobs rise in February 2012 February 29, 2012 MORGAN MCKINLEY FINANCIAL SERVICES AS THE top graph clearly shows, there have been many ups and downs in the City hiring market over the last five years. The fluctuations in financial services hiring are traditionally seasonal, with Christmas, bonus season and mid-summer being the less active periods of the year. However, over the last five [...]
