Asian stocks hit seven-week lows because Donald Trump November 2, 2016 Asian stocks fell overnight, with one Chinese index hitting a seven-week low, after a poll suggested Donald Trump has edged ahead of Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House. The ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll – which was dismissed as "bad polling" – suggested Trump had a 46 per cent lead over Clinton, [...]
Amazon has just launched its Black Friday deals store November 1, 2016 Black Friday: it's either a retail Valhalla or your worst nightmare – either way, it's increasingly becoming A Thing in the UK. And now Amazon has launched a kind of pre-Black Friday Black Friday store. Welcome to retail in 2016. The Countdown to Black Friday store is currently only for US customers, and features almost [...]
This “simple man” just spent £7m on a car number plate November 1, 2016 What do you buy the man who has everything? One Dubai zillionaire just solved that problem, by spending a cool £7.3m on a number plate. Property developer Balwinder Sahni bid 33 million dirhams at a government auction for a number plate bearing the number five, according to CNN Money. It's not the first time Sahni has [...]
Output dips at UK manufacturers but growth is “solid” thanks to sterling fall November 1, 2016 The UK's manufacturing sector continued to grow at a "solid", if slightly slower, pace in October, new figures have shown. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector fell to 54.3, from 55.5 in September – although it was well above its long-term average of 51.5. Any figure above 50 denotes growth. Unsurprisingly, the growth [...]
So Moneysupermarket? Comparison site is on track for a “record year” November 1, 2016 It looks like the men in hotpants are working for Moneysupermarket.com, whose chief executive said today it is on track for a "record year". The figures The company's main site, MoneySupermarket.com, reported revenues of £76m in the three months to the end of September, up 13 per cent on the same time last year. That was pushed up by a 12 per [...]
Lending leaps at Virgin Money but it’s cautious over Brexit November 1, 2016 Challenger bank Virgin Money shrugged off post-Brexit vote volatility, increasing mortgage and credit card lending – although it warned it was exercising caution. The figures Gross mortgage lending rose 19 per cent to £6.5bn in the nine months to the end of September, putting its total mortgage balances at £28.9bn. That pushed Virgin's share of total mortgage lending up to 3.6 [...]
Powa play: Dan Wagner ready for legal battle with former director Ben White over collapse of fintech unicorn November 1, 2016 With its multi-billion-dollar valuation, plush Heron Tower headquarters and outspoken founder, British fintech “unicorn” Powa was billed as Britain’s answer to Google – until, in February this year, it sensationally collapsed into administration. Now City A.M. can reveal the collapse is set to trigger a bloody courtroom battle as two of the story’s protagonists go head [...]
The Houses of Parliament were evacuated because of a fire alarm October 31, 2016 So close to Guy Fawkes night, it's kind of apt… Hundreds of staff were evacuated from the Houses of Parliament due to a fire alert this morning. Westminster insiders tweeted pictures of staffers shivering in the cold morning after a fire alarm was triggered. However, they were allowed back into the building shortly before 11am, [...]
Eurozone GDP rose 0.3 per cent in the third quarter as inflation hit a 28 month high October 31, 2016 Eurozone GDP rose 0.3 per cent between the second and third quarters of the year, figures published today showed – as inflation hit its highest since June 2014. A flash estimate by Eurostat showed GDP in the Eurozone rose 1.6 per cent compared with the third quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, consumer price inflation in the [...]
Yep, Brent crude oil is below $50 again October 31, 2016 Oil stayed below $50 this morning as concerns over non-Opec producers and their inability to agree a production cap continued to shake up investors. Brent crude oil fell to $49.71 in early trading in London, 1.5 per cent down. WTI crude, the US benchmark, was at $48.70, 2.1 per cent lower. Last week it edged above [...]
