City Moves for 15 October 2013 | Who’s switching jobs October 14, 2013 International Valuation Standards Council The professional body for the valuation sector has announced the appointment of April Mackenzie as chief operating officer. She is currently global head of governance and public policy at Grant Thornton. BDO Stuart Deacon has joined the accountancy and business advisory firm as a restructuring mergers and acquisitions (M&A) partner in [...]
Best of the Brokers for 15 October 2013 October 14, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com TRAVIS PERKINS Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its target price from 1460p to 1900p and changed its rating from “underperform” to “buy” in a double upgrade that sent shares up nearly five per cent yesterday. The broker believes the builders’ merchant is [...]
London Report: FTSE led higher by new Johnson Matthey boost October 14, 2013 THE FTSE 100 inched higher yesterday, led by catalytic converter maker Johnson Matthey on the back of an analyst rating upgrade, while the slow progress in US debt talks kept any broad market gains in check. The FTSE 100 closed up by 20.46 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6,507.65 points, having climbed 2.4 per [...]
New York Report: US stocks up as investors bet on debt deal October 14, 2013 US stocks ended a volatile session with modest gains yesterday, as investors bet that there would soon be a deal in Washington to increase the debt limit, though there were no obvious signs of progress. President Barack Obama was scheduled to meet with several congressional leaders, and while the White House said the meeting had [...]
Debt ceiling showdown: America can never again be seen as indestructible October 14, 2013 BY THE early hours of April 15, 1912, it was horribly clear that the unthinkable was about to happen. RMS Titanic – then the largest passenger steamship in the world – was about to go to the bottom of the Atlantic. Of 2,223 passengers, 1,517 were to end in a watery grave, the victims of [...]
The IMF is playing with fire by giving intellectual backing to punitive taxation October 14, 2013 SOMETHING is going wrong at the IMF. Its traditional role as a stabilising force for countries in deep financial difficulty is being undermined by internal ideological disputes. This manifested itself most obviously in the debate over “austerity” measures, especially in the UK. Just as growth began to return, the IMF’s chief economist Olivier Blanchard told [...]
Reform oppressive air passenger tax or watch business drift overseas October 14, 2013 AIR PASSENGER duty (APD) in the UK is the highest air passenger tax of its kind in the world today, and it’s still rising. After a 8 per cent hike in 2012 and a further increase in 2013, it’s due to go up again in 2014. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects APD to raise [...]
Letters to the Editor – 15/10 – Energy prices, Best of Twitter October 14, 2013 Energy prices [Miliband’s policies have already damaged Britain’s economy, yesterday] The barrier to new entrants is scale. We have arrived at a “Big Six” because you need at least 4m customers to recover the investment in registration, trading and billing systems. Today, the only competition that exists is on price, and the only way to reduce [...]
Abe’s absent arrow: Slow reform in Japan October 14, 2013 Despite hopes of a further rally, long-term worries abound Japan’s Nikkei 225 index enjoyed a strong rally last week, climbing from Tuesday’s low of less than 13,754 to almost 14,405 on Friday (markets were closed yesterday). While tied to volatility surrounding the US debt ceiling debate, these gains came amid news that Japanese machinery orders [...]
CNBC Comment: Stability isn’t saving emerging markets October 14, 2013 INVESTORS have remained remarkably sanguine, despite being just a couple of days from the 17 October date when the US Treasury says it will run out of money if the debt ceiling isn’t raised. Yes, volatility has spiked, and very short-dated credit has seen yields higher. But whatever last minute extension is crafted, everyone expects [...]
