Countdown to Christmas, Syria vote and Star Wars economics: Here’s what got us talking this week December 4, 2015 A ray of sunshine after the gloomiest November in 86 years: this was the week in which the Bank of England declared the end of the financial crisis. Even banks aren’t stressed any more… What got us talking this week 1. Festive fun Only 20 more sleeps until the big day, and don’t we know [...]
Weekend traffic nightmare as TfL closes lanes on Marylebone Road and Baker Street for emergency water main repairs from 8pm tonight December 4, 2015 If you're planning on driving through London this weekend, avoid the Euston Road: Transport for London (TfL) says it will close lanes at the junction of Marylebone Road and Baker Street from 8pm tonight. In a statement today TfL said it needs to make emergency repairs to a water main leaking into Baker Street station. Drivers [...]
US nonfarm payrolls: Bumper jobs report clears way for Fed interest rate rise December 4, 2015 A strong showing in the US' nonfarm payrolls report has increased hopes of the Federal Reserve hiking rates later this month. The monthly report showed the US economy added 211,000 jobs last month, with unemployment sticking at five per cent. The dollar's reaction to the news was muted, having spiked above $1.09 against the euro, it [...]
Uber’s $62.5bn valuation means it’s worth more than BT, Prudential and Barclays – and 86 other FTSE 100 constituents December 4, 2015 Uber is reported to have filed paperwork outlining plans to raise as much as $2.1bn (£1.4bn) in its latest funding round. Were the company to complete that funding round (and according to the Bloomberg report, the wheels are very much in motion for that to happen – with Tiger Global Management and T Rowe Price both [...]
Volkswagen UK market share plummets after emissions scandal as new UK car registrations rise December 4, 2015 Volkswagen sales in the UK fell 20 per cent in November, compared with last year, figures by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have shown – while the number of new cars sold in the UK rose. The embattled carmaker, which has been hit after it emerged software installed in some of its diesel engines allowed [...]
Berkeley Group share price rockets as it unveils an even more ambitious dividend target December 4, 2015 Shares in housebuilder Berkeley Group jumped more than six per cent this morning, after the housebuilder announced plans to raise its dividend target to £16.34 per share by 2021. In a statement this morning, the housebuilder's founder, Tony Pidgley – who won the Business Personality of the Year award at last month's City A.M. awards – said the [...]
George Osborne admits the Treasury could hold Lloyds Banking Group shares until June 2016 December 4, 2015 The government has admitted it won't finish its trading plan to sell off Lloyds shares until June 2016 – after it originally said it will finish by the end of this month. In a statement this morning, chancellor George Osborne said the government will extend its trading plan until the end of June. Back in October [...]
“An exquisitely wrapped lump of coal”: Here’s how economists are reacting to Mario Draghi and the European Central Bank’s decision to introduce further monetary easing December 3, 2015 European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi may have given markets a bit of what they wanted, but in the event it was more of a nerf gun than a bazooka. At a press conference today Draghi said the Bank will extend up its asset purchase programme into 2017, as well as cutting its deposit rate to minus [...]
Google makes “biggest-ever” purchase of renewable energy as it buys wind farms and solar projects December 3, 2015 NULL
Google makes “biggest-ever” purchase of renewable energy as it buys wind farms and solar projects December 3, 2015 Running a company as big as Google is an energy-intensive business. But now the search giant says it's come a step closer to powering itself entirely with renewables – with the "largest and most diverse purchase of renewable energy ever made by a non-utility company". The search giant said the purchase, of wind farms and solar energy [...]
