Mark Carney: Low oil prices are good for economic growth – in the medium term January 26, 2016 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said low oil prices are good for economic growth – for now. Appearing before MPs at the Treasury Select Committee, Carney said it was "absolutely not true" that the Bank wanted to encourage higher oil prices, adding that lower prices were "good for growth in the medium term" [...]
How to nail a job interview: The first 12 words you say will affect whether you’re offered the job January 26, 2016 Got a job interview today? Choose your first words very carefully. New research has suggested the first 12 words you utter will determine the interviewer's overall impression of you – and it turns out small talk is crucial. The research, by Resurgo Trust, found people "without privileged backgrounds" can struggle with small talk – which [...]
Say what? It turns out the London doesn’t have the world’s most unaffordable homes – Hong Kong does January 26, 2016 First-time buyers across the London may be struggling to get their hands on a property – but it turns out we don't have the world's most unaffordable homes. That dubious accolade belongs to Hong Kong, where the average home is 19 times people's annual incomes – compared to just 8.5 times in London. Pah. The figures were [...]
Get set for more volatility: Asian shares plummet again, with the Shangai Composite falling more than six per cent and the Shenzhen Composite falling seven per cent January 26, 2016 Stocks in China plummeted overnight, as tumbling oil prices pushed them to a 14-month low. The Shanghai Composite index fell 6.4 per cent to end at 2,749 points – its lowest close since December 2014. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Composite fell 7.1 per cent to 1,714 points, its lowest since March last year. The Nikkei fell 2.3 [...]
How Philip Morris International is trying to make smoking less risky for its customers January 25, 2016 Philip Morris International, the tobacco giant behind Marlboro, is smoking out new ways to make money in a rapidly changing marketplace. The firm has poured $2bn (£1.4bn) into research and development since 2008 and its latest wheeze is developing safer cigarettes that still taste like the real thing. This isn’t for purely altruistic reasons. Smokers [...]
Oil begins to slide again as HSBC cuts oil price forecasts January 25, 2016 So much for that oil rally. Brent crude slid back down to $31.36 in early afternoon trading – just as HSBC cut its oil price forecast fot he rest of the year. The fall in Brent crude came after oil cartel Opec, which produces 42 per cent of the world's oil, called for all oil-producing [...]
UK oil and gas jobs to be slashed as North Sea suffers – but the sector is warning about a short-term approach January 25, 2016 Confusing news from the UK's oil and gas sector, after a report suggested the number of jobs in the industry will plummet this year – but the industry is still worried about a skills shortage… The report, by certification body DNV GL, suggested 58 per cent of UK respondents working in the sector expected jobs to be [...]
The total value of all the property in the world is $217 trillion – 2.7 times the world’s GDP January 25, 2016 Add up all the property in the entire world, and you get $217 trillion (£152.2 trillion) of assets, a new report has suggested – that's 2.7 times the world's GDP. "To give this figure context, the total value of all the gold ever mined is approximately $6 trillion, which pales in comparison to the total value of [...]
Watch this robot solve a Rubik’s cube in less than 1.1 seconds January 25, 2016 The world record-holding Rubik's Cube solver, Collin Burns, may be able to puzzle out one of the 80s toys in under six seconds – but he's got nothing on this robot, which can do it in almost a sixth of the time. The robot, designed by software engineers Jay Flatland and Paul Rose, can solve the [...]
FTSE 100 ends the week in a party mood as oil stocks jump January 22, 2016 After a week of turmoil, the FTSE 100 finished Friday on an upbeat note, closing 2.2 per cent higher, at 5,900 points. Other European stocks followed suit, with the French Cac finishing more than three per cent higher, and the German Dax ending almost two per cent higher. The news followed a bounce in oil prices, with [...]
