Mortgage rates start to climb off record lows August 4, 2015 MORTGAGE rates are creeping up, ending years of decline and raising affordability fears for young homeowners. Rates on a two-year fixed-rate mortgage currently go as low as 1.05 per cent, according to MoneySuperMarket. But the comparison website is urging people to remortgage as there are signs lenders are starting to raise rates. First Direct offered [...]
Just Eat fends off rivals with surge in profits August 4, 2015 JUST Eat is gobbling up market share, with profits soaring by almost two thirds in the first half as more hungry customers flocked to its website. The online takeaway giant has been taking the UK and other countries by storm since it was founded 14 years ago, taking advantage of a market that was slow [...]
Fresnillo slashes capex as metal price volatility dampens profits August 4, 2015 GOLD miner Fresnillo blamed volatile metals pricing for a 44.3 per cent reduction in profit in the six months to 30 June, despite growing production of the precious metal by 37 per cent. First half gold output rose to 364,020oz, up from 265,670oz in the same period of last year. However, profit dropped to $76.4m [...]
Rate fears and Apple hit index – New York Report August 4, 2015 Wall STREET ended lower yesterday as investors worried about a rise in interest rates while Apple’s shares hit their lowest in over six months. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 47.31 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 17,550.89, the S&P 500 lost 4.68 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 2,093.36 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped [...]
City Moves for 05 August 2015 | Who’s switching jobs August 4, 2015 Mayfair Capital Investment Management The UK real estate investment manager has announced the appointment of Phil Sturdy (pictured) as investment director. He joins from Rockspring Property Investment Managers, where he was European director. Sturdy has also previously held positions at CBRE. In addition, Mayfair Capital has appointed Laura Sweet as an asset manager. She previously [...]
Britain must embrace its risk-takers – not leave economic growth to chance August 4, 2015 The words risk and business are often brought together to conjure up colourful stereotypes like Gordon Gekko, Bernie Madoff or the “Wolf of Wall Street” – an individual who is ruthless, excessive and above all a “risk-taker”. Disapproving critics say the City itself is a place that shamefully encourages and rewards risk-taking. And we hear [...]
Response to Cecil the Lion’s death is a sad lesson in the irrationality of public opinion August 4, 2015 Alas poor Cecil! Close personal friend of mine, sadly dead now. The catchphrases of the Scottish comedian Bob Doolally capture the outpourings of grief among the Twitterati at the death of the now famous lion. The mourning is mixed with incoherent rage, as long-standing opponents of torture and capital punishment demand that the American dentist [...]
There’s nothing fishy about the government selling its stake in RBS August 4, 2015 Red herrings, known for their pungent odour, are said to have been used by escaping prisoners as a way of throwing the pursuing bloodhounds off their scent. Who knows if it ever worked. But if your nose tells you that there’s something fishy about the government’s decision to start selling off its shares in the [...]
As the use of ageing Tornado bombers in Iraq is extended, have defence cuts hit our security? August 4, 2015 Tom Wilson is resident associate fellow at the Centre for the New Middle East at The Henry Jackson Society, says Yes In Britain, we devote a great deal of time debating the morality and efficacy of intervention in many desperate parts of the world. But increasingly, that debate is turning into an exercise in theoretics, [...]
Track chiefs in tests defence August 4, 2015 WORLD athletics chiefs the IAAF have strongly denied turning a blind eye to thousands of suspicious blood test results, labelling the claims “sensationalist and confusing”. It follows the publication of leaked data by the Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD/WDR, who reported that analysis suggested that as many as a third of Olympic and World [...]
