Markets hit by MF Global bankruptcy October 31, 2011 MARKETS plunged in London and New York yesterday as MF Global, the $41bn brokerage, became the first big American casualty of the European sovereign debt crisis. MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US following the collapse of a last-minute deal to sell off assets. It became the eighth-largest bankruptcy in [...]
Fears as Greek PM promises referendum on bailout October 31, 2011 GREEK voters will be able to reject the bailout of their country by voting in a referendum, Prime Minister George Papandreou said last night. “The command of the Greek people will bind us,” he announced. “If the Greek people do not want it, it will not be adopted.” Papandreou intends to use the poll as [...]
Third cleric quits over occupation of St Paul’s October 31, 2011 THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury has broken his two-week silence over the St Paul’s occupation after the Dean of the Cathedral became the third cleric to resign yesterday. Dr Rowan Williams said he was “very sad” that the Right Rev Graeme Knowles had resigned and said the protesters had raised “urgent issues”. “The events of the [...]
A farmer’s son who bet the bank and lost October 31, 2011 IT WAS often said that Jon Corzine wanted to turn MF Global into a mini-Goldman Sachs. Now, however, this failed politician will be remembered as the man who was in charge when the broker went bust so spectacularly. It marks an ignominious end to the son of an Illinois farmer, to say nothing of the [...]
MF Global’s collapse isn’t Lehman II October 31, 2011 IT is hard not to feel a sense of deja vu after yesterday’s bankruptcy of MF Global, a major US financial institution, as a result of an unlucky bet on European government bonds. The firm employed just 2,870 people – including 730 in Canary Wharf, whose jobs are now sadly at risk – yet this [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 31, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SHARE PRICE VOLATILITY CARRIES A HEART RISK FOR MARKET WATCHERS Sharp moves in stock markets are closely correlated with a rise in heart attacks, according to a new analysis of studies in the US and China. Two recent academic articles have found a link between equity trends and coronary heart disease, suggesting that [...]
Nato ends Libya intervention October 31, 2011 Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday hailed the end of the alliance’s military intervention in Libya, which helped bring about the death of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi. “It’s great to be in Libya, free Libya,” Rasmussen told a news conference in the capital Tripoli. Shortly after he spoke, members of the ruling National Transitional Council [...]
China PMI falls in October October 31, 2011 China’s purchasing managers’ index fell in October for the first time in three months, figures out this morning show. The PMI fell from 51.2 down to 50.4, just above the 50 threshold between expansion and contraction. While the measure has not fallen out of an overall growth reading since 2009, new export orders fell to [...]
Profits edge up at Barclays October 31, 2011 BARCLAYS surprised investors by booking a rise in profits in all but one of its businesses yesterday. Stripping out the effect of accounting gains and one-off provisions, its quarterly pre-tax profits rose five per cent on last year to £1.27bn despite earnings halving in its biggest division, Barclays Capital. Profits more than doubled in its [...]
Credit Suisse to axe hundreds in its London investment bank October 31, 2011 CREDIT Suisse has just concluded another round of job cuts that will see hundreds of jobs go in its London investment bank, according to a source familiar with the matter. The cuts, which could be announced as early as this morning alongside its third-quarter results, will see an estimated 1,000 jobs slashed globally, with 750 [...]
