London Report: Financials hold FTSE down yet Sky gives a lift January 14, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index steadied near two-month highs yesterday, with a sell-off in financials offset by a crop of solid updates in the healthcare and retail sectors, while BSkyB shares jumped following a note from UBS. The broadcasting giant closed up 3.75 per cent after UBS analysts suggested various potential merger activities and said the [...]
New York Report: Resilient retail sales prompt rise in shares January 14, 2014 US STOCKS rose yesterday, erasing much of the previous session’s steep drop, as a strong December retail sales reading eased concerns that economic growth might be slowing. Google rose 2.4 per cent to $1,149.40, giving a large boost to the outperforming Nasdaq, a day after the company announced plans to acquire Nest Labs. The $3.2bn [...]
US tech giants face trouble if Obama fails to shut down internet snooping January 14, 2014 THIS Friday, Barack Obama will decide what he intends to do about the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) covert surveillance activities on the phone and internet records of the American people. He will do so having received a coruscating report from his own review panel, recommending that he shut it down. A bunch of hard-headed [...]
France has ignored consumers and the digital economy is bearing the brunt January 14, 2014 PRESIDENT Francois Hollande would like us to think that France is about to bounce back. At a press conference yesterday, he detailed plans for a “responsibility pact” with business – a deal to reduce the burden of social levies on companies by €30bn (£24bn) by 2017, in return for businesses pledging to increase hiring and [...]
Miliband’s middle class pitch fails to confront Labour’s statist legacy January 14, 2014 ED MILIBAND is getting serious about shedding his Red Ed image. In an article in the Daily Telegraph, the Labour leader tried to rebrand himself as a champion of the aspirational middle classes. This shouldn’t be ignored. His argument was somewhat unusual insofar as it contained an implicit admission that the cost-of-living crisis and the [...]
Letters to the Editor – 15/01 – Scottish debt, Pension age, Best of Twitter January 14, 2014 Scottish debt [Re: Has the Treasury hurt the Union by backing UK debt until Scotland’s vote? Yesterday] When sovereign countries split, it can create complicated legal and financial problems in allocating liabilities, and the uncertainty over this allocation increases risks in financial markets. Given the obvious importance of the financial sector to the UK, it [...]
The funds that could see big gains this year January 14, 2014 But if you want your investments to do well, avoid 2013’s winners WITH the FTSE 100 nearing an all-time high and the S&P 500 rising by 29.6 per cent, 2013 was a bumper year for equity investors. Those who had backed a fund manager investing in small British companies or Japan – last year’s big [...]
Why 2014 could be the year to invest in Venture Capital Trusts January 14, 2014 ON AVERAGE, investments through Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have returned 88.6 per cent over the last ten years (with dividends reinvested, assuming an annual 3.5 per cent fee), compared to around 65 per cent for the FTSE All–Share index. VCTs are not for everybody – they are designed to encourage indirect investment in a range [...]
Review: Foxlow, Clerkenwell January 14, 2014 RESTAURANT WHERE 67-79 St John Street, EC1M 4AN Tel: 020 7014 8070 FOOD Three Stars VALUE Three Stars ATMOSPHERE Four Stars Cost for two with wine: £100 HERE at City A.M. we are big fans of private equity buyouts – largely because they give us something to write about. They’re also a cracking excuse to [...]
Mix it up: Drop the Jägerbombs for the sophisticate’s explosive drink January 14, 2014 There are two competing theories of the human condition. The first suggests we are rational beings acting on free will, while the second assumes the environment determines our actions. I tended to err on the side of free will – that was, until the invention of the Jägerbomb. You don’t like Jägerbombs, do you? What [...]
