CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 4, 2011 PwC Andrew Sentance has been appointed as a senior economic adviser at PwC, following his retirement as a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, effective from 7 November. Prior to serving on the MPC from October 2006 to May 2011, Sentance’s roles included director of economic affairs at the CBI, director of [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 4, 2011 ULTRA ELECTRONICS Goldmans Sachs says the US defence contractor is a compelling growth story in cyber security and airport IT systems, and gives it a “buy” rating with a target price of 2,200p. The broker expects better trading to boost earnings per share over the next three years by one per cent, six per cent [...]
Another low for the FTSE as banks and miners take a hit October 4, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a 15-month closing low yesterday, with banks and commodity stocks leading a broad-based sell-off, as growing doubts over Greece’s ability to stave off a debt default triggered fears of financial turmoil. The UK benchmark ended down 131.06 points, or 2.6 per cent, at 4,944.44, its lowest close since 5 July [...]
Wall St bounces despite volatility October 4, 2011 THE Standard & Poor’s 500 brushed up against a bear market yesterday, but investors rushed in to buy technology and other beaten-down sectors and the index posted its largest gain in more than a week. The broad US market index has fallen nearly 18 per cent in the past four months, hurt by sluggish economic [...]
Why Albert Einstein might have been wrong after all and why this really matters October 4, 2011 IT’S the reason the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars has to make the jump into hyperspace and the reason passengers on the Golgafrincham B Ark are in suspended animation in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Every author dealing with space travel has to work with or around Einstein’s speed limit. Nothing goes faster than [...]
Credit easing a sign that crisis worries Tories October 4, 2011 THE Eurozone crisis deepens by the day. Britain looks on, waiting for the nuclear fall-out that is sure to follow the explosion. Increasingly, I suspect the “credit easing” plan announced by the chancellor on Monday is a clear signal that the UK government expects things to get much, much worse. Ostensibly designed to help small [...]
The deadweight of the money-go-round October 4, 2011 WHAT will the government do to promote economic growth? I wish everyone would stop asking this question. It encourages politicians to “do something”; it encourages them to “deliver”. Yet the best way the chancellor George Osborne could promote growth is to stop delivering. Nothing that can be supplied privately should be supplied by the government [...]
RAPID RESPONSES October 4, 2011 Negative feedback We are all used to flare-ups of the sovereign debt crisis, but this time it is threatening to engulf the banking sector. Dexia brought back fears of 2008. The problem is that the banks in the need of most state-help tend to be based in countries with troubled finances. It is easy to [...]
Bernanke fails to rule out QE3 October 4, 2011 IN A testimony to the US Congress yesterday, Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke largely rehashed language used in recent speeches, such as his address at the Jackson Hole symposium in August and his speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota on 8 September. However, forex market reactions leaned more on what the Fed chairman didn’t [...]
AUSSIE COULD FALL BEYOND EXPECTATIONS October 4, 2011 VISTING Australia on business I am astounded at the cost everything. For an American, Sydney is now as prohibitively expensive as Zurich. A simple cup of coffee and a mineral water cost more than $12 at any sidewalk café. The high cost of living is a testament to the Aussie’s strong appreciation over the past [...]
