Whip bans for Fox and Hughes October 10, 2011 HORSE RACING: Kieren Fox and Richard Hughes were the first jockeys to fall foul of new whip guidelines yesterday. Fox was handed a 15-day ban at Salisbury after hitting Orthodox Lad 11 times, while Hughes was given five days after finishing third on Swift Blade, who was adjudged to have been hit six times inside the [...]
Barnier leak may hang the Big Four out to dry October 10, 2011 RECENTLY a leaked document from the European Commission’s (EC) Michel Barnier made front pages, including that of City A.M.. The details of what could come to be concrete proposals threaten the Big Four accountancy firms – PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young. The stakes are high: one of London’s, and the UK’s, most successful [...]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NEED AN EYE ON RISK October 10, 2011 HEAD OF CORPORATE, ZURICH INSURANCE THE UK is a world leader in professional services and the sector has grown rapidly on the back of corporate and property deals as well as private and public sector businesses outsourcing work. According to the Professional and Business Services Group, professional service firms such as accountants, actuaries, engineers, surveyors, [...]
This economist believes we shouldn’t bail out the banks: Let their lenders pay instead October 10, 2011 OVER the weekend, the nationalisation of Dexia Belgium was announced, with other parts of Dexia being broken up. On Monday, the nationalisations of a Greek bank (Proton) and a Danish bank (Max) followed. Full-blown Greek default is now imminent, the US and Eurozone economies appear to be in a soft patch, if not yet a [...]
Hong Kong has a budget surplus – the UK could too October 10, 2011 WHEN Vince Cable arrived too late to hear Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang speak at a special dinner in London three weeks ago, some suggested he was saving face. Indeed, where would Cable have looked while Tsang was expounding on Hong Kong’s HK$71.3bn (£5.84bn) budget surplus? How does it feel to be the representative [...]
Watch what you wish for from the QE genie October 10, 2011 I CRITICISED quantitative easing (QE) early last year on the grounds that “the conditions under which QE would be rehabilitated aren’t clear”. With the start of another round of QE in the UK this week, my fears are being realised. I can understand the objectives behind QE – that central banks have a responsibility to [...]
RAPID RESPONSES October 10, 2011 How to cut the EU The EU has an opportunity to wrong foot its detractors with its next seven-year budget, which is starting to be negotiated. The signs, however, are not good. The European Commission and Parliament have proposed increases for 2012, of 4.9 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. The debate needs to [...]
UK labouring over any growth in employment October 10, 2011 BRITAIN’S Office of National Statistics (ONS) will tomorrow release its UK employment statistics for September. There are some who forecast an improvement, but a surprise isn’t altogether out of the question. After all, trading wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t get the occasional shock result. While the UK labour statistics do not carry with [...]
DESPITE THE RHETORIC, EU DEBT WEIGHS October 10, 2011 AT the beginning of last week, equities were heading lower. On Tuesday, major US stock indices such as the Dow 30, Russell 2000, and S&P 500 traded below levels last seen at the beginning of August, although all three subsequently snapped higher on the same day. The S&P is now up over 8 per cent [...]
A week full of stock results: what to watch October 10, 2011 TO say we live in interesting economic times would be an understatement. Confidence is low and money is tight. And retail stocks often show investor nerves more prominently than other markets. But it isn’t all bad news: volatility in the market can serve to make the life of the spread better more exciting. So with [...]
