Pfizer share price rises on third quarter earnings – but no hint of new AstraZeneca bid October 28, 2014 Shares in pharmaceutical giant Pfizer rose 1.8 per cent in New York pre-market trading after it posted expectation-beating third-quarter results. Although earnings for its third quarter fell to 57 cents a share, down from 58 cents a share a year earlier, the figure beat analyst expectations of 55 cents a share. Revenues also fell, to [...]
Swedish krona falls to four-year low as world’s oldest central bank cuts interest rates to zero October 28, 2014 The Swedish krona hit a four-year low against the dollar this morning, after its central bank cut its benchmark repurchase, or repo, rate to 0 per cent, from 0.25 per cent – a larger cut than expected. The krona fell as low as 0.1358 against the dollar in mid-morning trading, its lowest since August 2010. [...]
Gender equality in the workplace “won’t be achieved until 2095” says World Economic Forum, as UK slips to 26th place October 28, 2014 When it comes to gender equality, the UK is the 26th-best country in the world, below Rwanda, Nicaragua, Burundi, South Africa, the US and Moldova, a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. The UK's position has fallen from ninth, when the Global Gender Gap Report was launched in 2006, which the report attributed [...]
EU warns Cameron: Not paying €2bn bill will open a Pandora’s box October 27, 2014 As the Prime Minister stood up in parliament to proclaim Britain "will not be paying" the €2bn bill that landed on his doorstep last week, a senior member of the European Commission was warning the British government that not to pay would be to "open a Pandora's box". Jacek Dominik, the EU's budget commissioner, told [...]
US customs wants to stop chasing Pac-Man and Rubik’s Cube knock-offs October 27, 2014 Pac-Man may still be cool from an ironic perspective – but let's face it, when you put it next to modern video games like Call of Duty, it doesn't really compare. But that hasn't stopped US customs officials from their crusade against rip-off artists: the coin-operated arcade version of the video game has been the [...]
Crude oil just fell to its lowest in two years October 27, 2014 The price of crude oil has fallen below $80 a barrel for the first time in more than two years, after Goldman Sachs slashed its forecast for the first quarter of next year. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 1.6 per cent to $79.69 per barrel, its lowest since June 2012, while Brent crude dropped [...]
Elon Musk: “We need to be careful with artificial intelligence” October 27, 2014 Elon Musk may have made millions from technology, but that doesn't mean he doesn't worry about it bringing about a Terminator-style end to humanity. During a talk to students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the SpaceX-Tesla-PayPal tycoon warned that "we should be very careful" about how we use artificial intelligence, adding it could be humanity's [...]
Haversham and Mortgage Advice Bureau announce plans to list on Aim October 27, 2014 Two companies announced plans to list on small cap index Aim this morning, providing a glimmer of hope markets are returning to normal following recent turbulence. Haversham, a specialist investment management company focusing on the automotive sector, and The Mortgage Advice Bureau, a UK-wide network for mortgage intermediaries, both announced plans to be admitted to [...]
eDreams becomes an eNightmare as its shares are suspended following Iberia ticket controversy October 24, 2014 Shares in travel website eDreams Odigeo have been suspended from trading by a Spanish regulator after they plummeted 59.1 per cent in a single day. The company, which is based in Barcelona, listed just six months ago at €10.25, but plummeted to €1.023 today before the regulator called a halt to trading. The fall came after [...]
It’s a hat trick: Standard & Poor’s downgrades Tesco October 24, 2014 Standard & Poor's became the final major credit ratings agency to downgrade Tesco today, when it lowered the supermarket's long-term rating from BBB to BBB-. S&P said the downgrade "reflects our view that Tesco's credit metrics will weaken due to lower profitability". It came after the supermarket, which last month admitted it had "overestimated" profits [...]
