Totalize can pay for the turkey December 19, 2013 THE Ladbroke (3.35pm) is the big betting race this side of Christmas and the rain has come at the perfect time for Brian Ellison’s TOTALIZE. The son of Authorized loves a deep surface and he has been the main market mover all week – his odds plummeting from 25/1 to the current 8/1 with Coral. [...]
Fed shocks stocks into taper rally December 18, 2013 THE US Federal Reserve shocked markets last night by announcing a tapering of its enormous monthly stimulus programme – yet stocks jumped thanks to the modest size of the cut and a notably dovish accompanying statement. From January, the Fed will purchase $75bn of mortgage and Treasury bonds each month, down from the current rate [...]
Entertainers and sporting stars brought together in agency deal December 18, 2013 TALENT and marketing agency IMG Worldwide has been sold to William Morris Endeavour Entertainment in a deal believed to be worth $2.3bn (£1.39bn). The deal creates a global talent management agency representing top athletes including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova, and Hollywood clients such as Christian Bale and Matt Damon. IMG’s sale was [...]
Unemployment drops to its lowest rate since 2009 December 18, 2013 FOR THE first time ever more than 30m people are employed in the UK, with statistics published yesterday also showing unemployment at its lowest rate for four and a half years. The official rate of unemployment fell to 7.4 per cent in the August to October period, according to the Office for National Statistics – 0.3 [...]
New issues make a strong comeback in the London market December 18, 2013 As the year comes to an end there’s definitely cause for celebration in London’s new issues or Initial Public Offering (IPO) market. According to figures out today from EY, the advisory firm, there were 14 main market share listings this year, raising £5.2bn. That’s not exactly an avalanche of deals but the total represents a [...]
Strong sterling worries dovish Bank officials December 18, 2013 THE BANK of England’s interest rate-setting committee is worried that a strengthening pound could disrupt the UK’s recovery. Sterling has climbed from around $1.585 just over a month ago to $1.638, partly fuelled by an improving economic outlook and expectations that the Bank will come under pressure to lift rates. The minutes of the December meeting [...]
Ben’s last rally December 18, 2013 The Fed’s board members now think that unemployment will drop slightly more in 2014, to as low as 6.3 per cent. Bernanke expects that tapering will continue in “moderate steps” through most of next year”. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) now expects that low rates will remain in place until unemployment falls “well [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 19 December 2013 December 18, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES UK losing ‘courageous instinct’ The UK is losing its “courageous instinct” on the international stage in what threatens to become the “most damaging” threat to armed forces in the future, according to the country’s most senior military officer. The chief of the defence staff, Sir Nicholas Houghton, warned on Wednesday evening in a [...]
HMRC not doing enough to tax big businesses December 18, 2013 THE PUBLIC accounts committee has accused HM Revenue and Customs of failing to pursue big businesses for tax payments, resulting in a £35bn tax gap between what is expected to be collected and what actually comes in to government coffers. Chair of the committee Margaret Hodge MP highlighted further flaws in the way this figure is [...]
House prices to jump eight per cent in 2014 as supply stays low December 18, 2013 THE CHRONIC lack of supply in Britain’s housing system will drive the market again in the year ahead, pushing property prices even further ahead of wage increases. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) today reveals their forecasts for the housing market in 2014, projecting prices to climb by another eight per cent. In comparison, [...]
