If you don’t do the right MBA, then you might as well be burning money July 15, 2009 LIKE so many other sectors in the wake of the credit crunch and recession, higher education has been having a “stop and think” moment. Once seen as the suppliers of the business talent – and particularly the banking talent – that fuelled the economic boom years, business schools are having to re-affirm the value of [...]
The downturn has destroyed the myth of diversification July 15, 2009 MOORAD CHOUDHRYHEAD OF TREASURY, EUROPE ARAB BANK IN THE 1950s the economists Harry Markowitz, Franco Modigliani, Merton Miller and William Sharpe formulated their ideas on portfolio theory and corporate finance, which became the foundation of modern finance and fund management. These chaps were serious heavyweight thinkers, and rewarded with Nobel prizes. In the 21st century [...]
Wall Street books impressive gains July 15, 2009 US stocks jumped yesterday with the S&P 500 racking up its three best days since March, sparked by results from bellwether Intel that lifted hopes for a rebound in technology spending and improved corporate profitability. The broad S&P 500 has gained 6.1 per cent so far this week as companies, including Intel and Goldman Sachs, [...]
Goldman Sachs and Intel trigger bumper day on FTSE July 15, 2009 STRONG corporate earnings numbers and improving economic data from the US lifted the blue chip share index by 2.6 per cent to its highest close in four weeks yesterday. Led by energy firms and banks, the FTSE 100 index ended up 108.78 points at 4,346.46, its third day of gains. The UK benchmark is up [...]
MARTHA LANE FOX REVEALS SHE COULD HAVE BEEN A PRISON GUARD July 15, 2009 GORDON Brown’s new digital inclusion tsar Martha Lane Fox has had a stellar career to date, but it’s reassuring to learn that she could happily turn her hand to something else should she tire of running Lucky Voice and charitable foundation Antigone. Because Lane Fox has revealed that, in another life, she would have been… [...]
GRIPE VAN MAN July 14, 2009 RUSSSIAN billionaire Oleg Deripaska said last night he is considering cutting ties with Britain after the collapse of his van-making company LDV. He had appealed to the UK government for financial assistance but a bail out was not forthcoming.
Increase in firms on edge easing July 14, 2009 ALMOST 200,000 British companies are in serious financial trouble, according to the Red Flag Alert report issued by Begbies Traynor. The business rescue specialist said that while the number of companies in trouble has slowed in the last two quarters, it has risen 43 per cent from a year ago. The report, which gives figures [...]
Solvency II will hit UK insurers July 14, 2009 Most British insurers expect to spend £500,000 complying with new European Union solvency rules, according to a survey by accountants BDO Stoy Hayward. It found 61 per cent of respondents put the cost of complying with the so-called Solvency II regime at £500,000 while 19 percent predicted costs in excess of £1m. Solvency II, scheduled [...]
Let banks fail, says US investment sage July 14, 2009 OUTSPOKEN US investor Jim Rogers says banks should have been left to go bankrupt. Rogers, who made his fortune alongside well-known speculator George Soros, said that while he did not begrudge banks now making a profit, they should not have received government bailouts to save them. Speaking as Goldman Sachs – who received massive state [...]
Markit to be investigated in CDS probe July 14, 2009 THE US Justice Department (DoJ) has contacted London-based data provider Markit in connection with a probe into the credit default swap (CDS) market. A spokesman for Markit said the company, which is majority-owned by Wall Street banks, had “been informed of an investigation by the Department of Justice into the credit-derivatives and related markets”. “We [...]
