Washout August bank holiday weather leads to record online spending September 6, 2015 Online spending growth hit a four-year high in August as the wet summer weather drove more people to shop from the comfort of their homes. Figures released today based on credit and debit card transactions from Visa Europe show online retailers enjoyed a 10.7 per cent jump in the spending year-on-year in August, the [...]
City Moves for 07 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 6, 2015 Gravis capital partners The investment adviser and manager to GCP Infrastructure Investments and GCP Student Living has announced the appointment of Nicholas Barker as co-lead fund manager to GCP Student Living. Barker was previously head of alternative real estate at Schroder Real Estate for eight years, and has many years of fund management experience across [...]
Best of the Brokers for 07 September 2015 September 6, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com Panmure Gordon reiterated its “buy” rating for the retirement services firm. Given the recently announced proposed merger with Partnership Assurance, Panmure analysts believe the focus will be on that rather than 2015 profitability. Nonetheless, they expect operating profit of £66.5m when results are [...]
Bank to announce rates decision as China woes weigh – London Report September 6, 2015 THE BANK of England will be centre of attention on Thursday when it provides a simultaneous release of its monetary policy decision and minutes from its monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting. The MPC is almost certain to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5 per cent, with worries about China and oil price declines meaning other [...]
Wall Street expects falls – New York Report September 6, 2015 THE WEEK starts on a quiet note as US markets are closed today for Labor Day, and the rest of the week is relatively light in economic data terms. China’s markets will reopen after a three-day break to mark the anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Slowing growth in emerging markets and [...]
China’s real crisis: It may never become a rich country September 6, 2015 I thought I smelled a rat. As I have often told my European colleagues – fond as they are of conspiracy theories about American foreign policy – they have the wrong Shakespeare play in mind: America is more Hamlet than Macbeth. By that I mean that, whereas outsiders to the policy world often assume great [...]
It’s time to break the assumption that university is the best path for everyone September 6, 2015 As thousands of students start to pack their bags, load up their cars and leave the comforts of home behind, the same question arises each year: is three years at university essential to a successful and fulfilling career? I would argue that it is not. And I’m the living proof! I attended university for [...]
Unleash the entrepreneurs to tackle London’s school shortage September 6, 2015 London’s booming population is creating a massive demand for new schools. The capital requires 113,000 new school places over the next five years alone – equal to 10 per cent of existing school places. Part of this demand can be met by expanding existing schools. But hundreds of brand new schools will also be [...]
As a Federal Reserve interest rate hike creeps closer, should we remain relaxed about the consequences? September 6, 2015 Andrea Cicione, head of strategy at Lombard Street Research, says Yes. We can’t imagine investors feeling relaxed, with a series of Fed hikes looming, but past tightening cycles have generally been benign for US stocks. During the last nine episodes, price to earnings multiples have fallen by an average 4.2x, but in seven, earnings per [...]
Absolute power: Africa, opera and Oktoberfest with Entrade founder Julien Uhlig September 6, 2015 When I meet Julien Uhlig, he’s in the middle of liaising with the Globe Theatre. They used to have a poster of him from when he sung at the opening of the theatre in 1997, he explains. While in London, he’s keen to get hold of it, if they’ve “still got it lying around”. [...]
