City Moves for 15 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 14, 2015 KINGSTON SMITH Accountancy firm Kingston Smith has announced the appointment of John Cowie and Luke Holt (pictured right) as corporate finance and not-for-profit sector partners respectively. The appointments are effective from 1 December 2015. John has extensive experience working with Aim-listed companies and has carried out a number of transactions in the support services sector [...]
Indices reverse losses but Fed fears remain – New York Report December 14, 2015 A PAUSE in the oil price slide yesterday helped Wall Street to reverse early losses. However, continued concerns about the high-yield debt market and a rate hike this week played on investors’ minds. The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 103.29 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 17,358.50. The S&P 500 index gained 9.57 points, [...]
Banks have a duty to regain public trust – and it may take a generation December 14, 2015 Trust in the financial services sector remains stubbornly low. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, only half of the countries surveyed put their faith in financial services. And the picture is even worse for banks. From 2014 to 2015, trust in banks declined in two thirds of the countries covered, with the highest levels of [...]
Uber, drills and the death of ownership: Why the future is renting… everything December 14, 2015 If markets are so great, why do firms exist at all? To a non-economist, that might seem like a bizarre thing to ask. Yet the growth of the misleadingly named “sharing economy” is making it one of the most important questions for understanding the future economic structure of our world. We have traditionally thought that [...]
Forget a fintech bubble: 2016 will be the year this booming market finally gets serious December 14, 2015 In 2015, global fintech investment will top $20bn, up from $12bn in 2014. There are wide-ranging estimates of the number of fintech players around the world today, but some say it’s surpassed 10,000. In China, there are over 2,000 marketplace platforms alone. The big banks are clambering over one another to invest in (or play [...]
Amid scepticism that benefit limits for EU migrants are achievable, can Cameron’s renegotiation be judged a failure? December 14, 2015 Brian Monteith, a director of Global Britain, says Yes With or without changes to benefits for EU migrants, real reform was never on the cards. The things that really matter – EU law trumping national law, open borders, having no power to make trade deals on our own, and so on – were never up [...]
What Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is likely to say this week – eToro Tips & Picks December 14, 2015 Many are now asking when – not if – the oil price will reach the $30 benchmark. A sustained period of very low prices will place increasing strain on the Saudi economy, potentially worsening the internal security situation and contributing to greater tension with its neighbours. Western economies are enjoying lower energy costs, but the [...]
Pearson, Bellway, SThree: Best of the Brokers for 14 December 2015 December 14, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com It’s been a bad few days for publisher Pearson, after a whole host of analysts sent the share price down by cutting its profit expectations. Deutsche Bank cut its price target on Pearson shares from 950p to 770p, while Jefferies’ David Reynolds slashed [...]
FTSE 100 hopes for Santa rally after week of decline -London Report December 14, 2015 This week the market is looking to put aside last week’s pain, which saw the FTSE dip below the 6,000 mark again, as it prepares itself for a much heralded interest rate rise from the US Federal Reserve. Don’t bet on anything other than volatility, however, with markets already nervous about what surprises a change [...]
The science of branding: Neuro-Insight CEO Heather Andrew on brands and brains December 14, 2015 Emotion is not enough, says Heather Andrew When Cadbury’s drumming gorilla was unleashed in 2007, its soundtrack and surrealism allowed the confectioner to draw a line under its salmonella scare, and boosted sales by 9 per cent. But an entertaining advert is not enough. The role which branding plays within the advert is crucial, [...]
