UK economy growth slowing October 12, 2011 The conference board leading economic index (LEI) for the UK decreased 0.5 per cent in August, and now stands at 104.0. That compares with an increase of 0.3 in July. Such a large decline suggests the outlook for the UK is weakening. “The worsening of the external environment – reflected in the recent plunge in [...]
Eurozone factory output rising October 12, 2011 Industrial production in the Eurozone was much stronger than expected in August, data showed yesterday, indicating the economic slowdown in the third quarter might be smaller than feared. Official agency Eurostat said industrial production in the 17 countries using the euro rose 1.2 per cent month-on-month in August and by 5.3 per cent compared with [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 12, 2011 Gazprom Gazprom Marketing and Trading, the subsidiary of the Gazprom Group, the world’s largest gas company by asset base, has appointed Tony West as power strategy manager. West joins from Scottish Power, where he managed the commodity market risks within the energy management division. Prior to joining Scottish Power, he worked at Sapient. He has [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 12, 2011 KESA ELECTRICALS Nomura rates the Comet-owner as “neutral” with a target price of 120p, saying the ongoing disposal of the Comet unit will remove uncertainty from the group and offer valuation upside. The broker sees the key benefits of disposal as the freeing up of around €70-80m of working capital, the removal of over €20m [...]
FTSE rises as miners gain and euro hope pushes bank stock October 12, 2011 STRONG miners and banks boosted Britain’s top shares yesterday, keeping the index on an upward tilt, underpinned by progress in tackling the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and recent upbeat US data. The mood, already elevated by hopes European leaders will unveil new measures to solve the crisis by the month’s end, was further lifted when [...]
Traders chase a rare market rally October 12, 2011 US STOCKS rose yesterday as Europe’s progress toward bolstering its financial rescue fund brought more battle-weary investors back into the market. Momentum buying was partly in play, analysts said, as investors tried to latch on, or catch up with, what they hoped was a lasting rally, which has been a rare trend this year. The [...]
Celebrate Big Food: Our diet is cheaper, richer and more nutritious than ever before October 12, 2011 BIG Food is widely regarded as the polar opposite of good food. Big food companies, we are told by campaigners and celebrity chefs, produce poor quality, waistline-busting, environment-wrecking, small-farmer-bankrupting products. The supermarkets allegedly destroy communities to sell rubbish to zombified shoppers. Industrial agriculture gives us nutrient-lite, flavourless, chemical-soaked food produced in a shockingly wasteful manner. [...]
Don’t end naked credit default swaps in Europe October 12, 2011 AT A TIME when the sovereign debt crisis is gripping Europe and threatening to destabilise the global economy, the European Union is considering doing something which would make global debt markets less efficient, less liquid and less transparent – making it more difficult rather than easier for EU states to raise money to fund their [...]
Bolder policies would help to limit job losses October 12, 2011 EVEN the government’s supporters admitted that yesterday’s unemployment figures were grim. The number of people out of work is now 2.57m, the highest for 17 years, with more than one in five young people now jobless. Labour was quick to make political capital out of it by blaming it on the government’s cuts, citing the [...]
RAPID RESPONSES October 12, 2011 Women welcomed The article by Jennifer Harris in Wednesday’s Forum rather misses the point on women in the boardroom. Voluntary quotas are quite different from compulsory targets. Earlier this year, voluntary EU quotas were proposed to bring women into high-level positions in business and I welcomed them. However, when later in 2011 the previously voluntary [...]
