Lord Myners to lead review into the IPO process? September 16, 2014 After a quiet couple of months, it looks like Royal Mail is at the top of the parliamentary agenda again. Lord Myners has been drafted in to lead yet another review into the handling of the controversial, £3.3bn privatisation of the company, it was reported this morning. Former City minister Myners will lead a panel [...]
Why shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla dropped 9 per cent yesterday September 16, 2014 For several years now, Tesla and Paypal founder Elon Musk has been able to do no wrong. Having founded the company which is doing for the electronic car what the iPod did for MP3 players, his status has been upgraded from "tech legend" to "tech god" – as shares in his company underwent a similar [...]
Inflation falls again, to 1.5 per cent September 16, 2014 The Consumer Prices Index fell to 1.5 per cent in the year to August, down from 1.6 per cent the month before, as low wages and pressures on recovery in European economies continued to take their toll. The Office for National Statistics said the measure was pushed down by a drop in the price of [...]
“It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity”: Read Minecraft creator Markus Persson’s full resignation letter from Mojang after Microsoft sale September 15, 2014 Having sold his company, Mojang, to Microsoft for a cool $2.5bn (£1.5bn) today, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson announced his departure today. Carl Manneh, the company's chief executive, and Jakob Porser, another founder, both also decided to leave. By the sounds of it, it wasn't much to do with the money. He mentioned the negative [...]
OECD slashes its Eurozone growth forecast by a third September 15, 2014 The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has cut its 2014 GDP growth forecast for the Eurozone by a third, from 1.2 per cent to 0.8 per cent. It also reduced its 2015 outlook for the area, from 1.7 per cent in May to 1.1 per cent now. In its interim economic assessment, [...]
Dixons Carphone could offer 1,500 Phones 4u workers jobs September 15, 2014 Dixons Carphone is planning to offer jobs to hundreds of Phones 4u employees after the mobile phone retailer collapsed into administration. Carphone Warehouse has previously announced it will have 1,500 vacancies at the newly-formed company, a four per cent increase in the total number of jobs available prior to the merger, which was completed in [...]
Rouble falls to record low against the dollar on ceasefire worries September 15, 2014 Scottish independence may be hitting the headlines over here, but morning trading showed markets' main concerns are still over the situation in Ukraine and the associated sanctions hitting Russian businesses. While the pound fell slightly against the dollar – 0.02 per cent – on jitters over what will happen north of the border on Thursday, [...]
The Chinese city of Chongqing has created the world’s first lane for mobile phone-using pedestrians September 15, 2014 Anyone who has spent time in a city is familiar with the frustrations of phone zombies – the strange, hunched figures absent-mindedly wandering into oncoming pedestrians' paths because they're too busy using their phones to look where they're going. Now the Chinese city of Chongqing has solved the problem, by creating the world's first lane [...]
Dollar slides on more disappointment from the US as jobless claims rise September 11, 2014 The dollar slid 0.28 per cent against the pound this afternoon after fresh data from the US showed August's disappointing non-farm payroll figure was more than just a blip. Figures released today showed the number of applicants claiming unemployment benefits rose to 315,000 last week, up from 304,000 the week before and way above economists' [...]
European sanctions against Russia will come into force tomorrow September 11, 2014 Trade sanctions against Russia agreed by EU countries will come into force tomorrow, it was reported today. Although details of the sanctions have yet to be unveiled, they are expected to be the toughest imposed on Russia so far, including strict measures against Russian energy companies that are also likely to hit Western oil firms, [...]
