Eurozone’s woes leak to the core November 15, 2011 FEARS of debt contagion seeping into the Eurozone’s core were heightened yesterday, as the cost of borrowing for triple-A-rated countries like France and Austria jumped. Adding to the woes, yields on Italian 10-year debt yet again surpassed the seven per cent danger mark, climbing to 7.07 per cent. Beyond that level Greece, Portugal and Ireland [...]
Italy close to new cabinet November 15, 2011 NEW Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti announced last night that he was preparing to reveal his new cabinet to the President this morning. Markets rose on the news, as his government may bring the prospect of a stable Italy closer, and so lessen the severity of the Eurozone crisis. European stocks closed down, but when [...]
Motorists are massively over-taxed November 15, 2011 BRITISH motorists are massively over-taxed. In 2009/10, 66p in each pound spent on petrol and diesel was pocketed by the Exchequer, with just a third going to retailers and oil companies. Taking just fuel and vehicle excise duty (and ignoring other taxes, including value added tax) the government raises about £31.5bn a year from motorists. [...]
Levinson takes Apple job November 15, 2011 Apple yesterday named long-serving director Arthur Levinson as its new chairman, filling a post left vacant by the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Levinson, chairman of biotechnology giant Genentech, has been on the Apple board since 2000, serving on both its audit and finance committees. Apple’s stock rose more than 2.5 per cent in the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HGCAPITAL IN TALKS TO BUY BACK IAS HgCapital, the mid-market private equity group, is in talks to buy back the main part of Iris Software Group four years after it sold the UK’s largest private business software maker to Hellman & Friedman. The buy-out house has approached its larger US rival with a [...]
Paulson sells third of his bullion November 15, 2011 Hedge fund manager and long-time gold bull John Paulson slashed his bullion holdings by a third in the third quarter, data showed, dampening sentiment in the gold market yesterday. Paulson & Co cut its holding in the SPDR Gold Trust to 20.3m shares from 31.5m at the end of the second quarter, US regulatory filings [...]
BlackBerry passes 8m UK users November 15, 2011 RIM, the maker of Blackberry smartphones, said its subscriber base in the UK had passed the 8m milestone as it unveiled a new cloud-based music service. Blackberry, once an dispensable executive accessory, has been winning younger subscribers attracted by its BBM messenger service. However its share of the global market has dwindled in the face [...]
Chancellor says EU could block Vickers November 15, 2011 THE UK is embroiled in a “vociferous” dispute with Brussels over regulations that would prevent the government from implementing its flagship banking and regulatory policies. At a committee of MPs and lords, chancellor George Osborne (pictured) admitted that he is concerned about current EU proposals on capital rules, which would make it impossible for the [...]
Germany brands UK self-centred over its dealings with Eurozone November 15, 2011 A senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc has called on the UK to be less self-centred in its relationship with Europe. Volker Kauder, conservative leader in parliament, said: “The British are not members of the currency union but they are members of Europe and they also have a responsibility for the success [...]
Osborne under pressure due to the price of fuel November 15, 2011 GEORGE Osborne came under pressure yesterday to do more to help motorists struggling with the price of fuel. MPs unanimously approved a motion – without the need for a vote – calling for action on sky-high petrol prices after Cameron effectively gave his party freedom to break from the official line. The Tory-led motion was [...]