Long-suffering RBS’s troubles set to come to an end this year January 5, 2015 BAILED out bank RBS could be Britain’s best performing banking stock this year, as analysts at Bernstein Research believe its troubles are coming to an end. The lender was the worst hit giant bank in the financial crisis, and has since been pummelled by bad debts as well as fines and compensation payouts for bad [...]
New York hedge fund founder shot dead January 5, 2015 THOMAS Gilbert, the founder of US hedge fund Wainscott Capital Partners Fund, was found shot dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday, New York police revealed yesterday. Authorities are seeking his son – who remains unidentified – for questioning. “Right now, we’re looking to speak to his son, who was the last person to see [...]
City Moves for 06 January 2015 | Who’s switching jobs January 5, 2015 Stanhope Capital The investment office has announced the appointment of Charles Mesquita as a senior director in its charity team. He has over 25 years’ investment experience, and has previously held positions at Newton Investment Management and Rensburg Sheppards (now Investec). Simmons & Simmons Matthew Pitman has been promoted to partner at the law firm. Based [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 January 2015 January 5, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS Jefferies has upgraded its rating to “buy” from “hold”, and said that, while fundamentals appear robust for the mid-term, “regulatory bottlenecks appear to be the biggest risk factor to growth”. The broker stated that it expects Hikma “to be a momentum [...]
Fears over Greek election and oil prices hit FTSE – London Report January 5, 2015 AFALL in major energy stocks and worries over the political outlook in Greece knocked down Britain’s top equity index yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed down two per cent at 6,417.16 points. The index also retreated 0.3 per cent on Friday, after falling 2.7 per cent in 2014. Weaker energy stocks, including BP and Royal [...]
US markets suffer worst fall in months – New York Report January 5, 2015 THE S&P 500 had its worst day in almost three months yesterday, with energy shares leading the decline as global economic concerns were compounded by swooning oil prices. The S&P closed off 1.8 per cent in its first four-day losing streak since December 2013 and its biggest drop since 9 October. It fell as much [...]
The City must make the case for EU reform – for the sake of all Europe January 5, 2015 The General Election looms large at the start of this New Year. For practical reasons, business prizes stability and places a premium on calm trading conditions, as major changes in policy have an unsettling effect on potential investors. And few decisions will have such a far reaching impact on the UK economy as what we [...]
General Election 2015: Back to the 30s? How Labour is misleading the electorate January 5, 2015 Friday 19 December 2014 was a happy day for many Londoners, marking their last in the office before Christmas. Yet amid all the festivities, you’d have been forgiven for missing something equally joyous. That Friday also marked the official start of the “long” UK general election campaign. Mercifully, the parties struck something of a [...]
The Walkie Talkie has opened its Sky Garden to the public, but is it the City’s ugliest building? January 5, 2015 Christopher Costelloe is director of the Victorian Society, says Yes Despite tough competition – the new UBS HQ in Broadgate promises to be quite remarkably ugly when completed – the Walkie Talkie is probably the ugliest building in London. We owe its architect, Rafael Vinoly, a great debt for demonstrating precisely why almost all buildings [...]
Will QE really revive the Eurozone? – CNBC Comment January 5, 2015 A new year is upon us, and that means investors will take a fresh look at European stocks. Unfortunately, Europe’s gloomy picture hasn’t changed: not enough growth, inflation is too low, and unemployment is still too high in parts of the Eurozone. Enter stage right: Mario Draghi. Arguably the most powerful European official, investors are [...]
