A few simple questions for Osborne, Labour and the coalition January 16, 2014 IT is a moral imperative for all politicians to seek to help those on low incomes. Poverty is a horrible, depressing, truly heart-breaking condition. But what is the best way to help the working poor? One approach focuses on policies that promote economic growth, job creation, productivity growth and social mobility, combined with much lower [...]
UK exports will miss their target as firms struggle January 16, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT will miss its target to double the value of UK exports by 2020, the Public Accounts Committee has warned. In a report out today, chair of the committee Margaret Hodge said that the UK is not performing as well as its European rivals and that tough Home Office visa systems are deterring foreign [...]
US spending bill passes vote January 16, 2014 WASHINGTON’S battles over government funding ended with a whimper last night as the US Senate approved a $1.1 trillion (£672bn) spending bill that quells for nearly nine months the threat of another federal agency shutdown. The measure, which funds government programmes from the military to national parks through the 30 September fiscal year-end, passed by [...]
Mayor pokes fun at France January 16, 2014 MAYOR Boris Johnson last night poked fun at the French President, inviting him to visit London to escape media attention over his affair. “Monsieur Hollande never mind if things get too tough. Put on your helmet, get on your scooter and join the exodus to London,” said Johnson.
What the other papers say this morning – 17 January 2014 January 16, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES EE float put on hold by owners The flotation of EE, Britain’s largest mobile operator, has been put on hold by Orange and Deutsche Telekom, after the joint owners concluded they would secure a higher valuation for the business when its 4G telephone services take off. Orange and Deutsche Telekom – which has [...]
Surge in share issues gives Goldman a lift January 16, 2014 GOLDMAN Sachs’ profits dipped in the final quarter of 2013 with trading incomes down in fixed income, currencies and commodities, the giant bank said yesterday. However, its investment banking income surged, stopping the quarter from becoming a washout and driving up overall profits for the full year. Goldman’s profits came in at $2.3bn (£1.4bn) in [...]
Bottom Line: Back to the valuable basics for big banks January 16, 2014 THE RECOVERY is proving unexpectedly bumpy for the big US banks. Trading revenues have been crushed at Goldman Sachs, Citi and others, with bond and equity markets not behaving quite as expected. That is a shame for many reasons – despite the obsessions of politicians and regulators who casually dismiss this work as “casino banking,” [...]
but staff left in the dark as bank holds out on salary updates January 16, 2014 GOLDMAN Sachs has deferred decisions on its European-based employees’ salaries for 2014. The bank, which normally would have told employees their new salaries alongside the announcement of its financial results, will instead communicate this towards the end of the month. The bank has decided to change its pay structures ahead of new EU bonus rules [...]
Citi disappoints market with low profit gain January 16, 2014 PROFITS more than doubled at Citigroup in the fourth quarter, the bank said yesterday, but the improvement was smaller than analysts expected. Shares fell on the announcement that the group made $2.7bn (£1.7bn) in the final three months of 2013, even though the figure was well above the $1.2bn seen in the same period of 2012. Revenues [...]
BlackRock’s results benefit from bull run for equity markets January 16, 2014 THE WORLD’S largest money manager BlackRock yesterday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, benefiting from strong markets and a flow of new money into its exchange-traded funds. The New York-based company said fourth-quarter net income, a measure of profits, rose 24 per cent to $841m (£514.68m) while revenues increased nine per cent to $2.8bn. BlackRock has [...]
