Oil’s May loss is worst in 3 years May 31, 2012 CRUDE oil futures plunged more than one per cent yesterday to end May with their biggest monthly decline in more than three years. In London, ICE Brent crude futures for July delivery settled at $101.87, down $1.60, the lowest finish for front-month Brent since 4 October. Front-month Brent fell 14.7 per cent for the month, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Osborne sues to deter EU overreach George Osborne is taking legal action in a bid to stop the EU from overreaching its powers by giving a pan-European supervisor the right to ban short selling of financial products. The chancellor’s decision to sue reflects his determination to prevent EU institutions overstepping their mandate, rather [...]
CGI swoops in with £1.7bn bid for UK’s Logica May 31, 2012 LOGICA shares soared by 69 per cent yesterday after CGI Group Holdings offered to pay £1.7bn in cash to buy the computer services company. CGI, a Canadian IT company, said the 105p per share offer represented a 59.8 per cent premium to Logica’s closing share price on Wednesday. The deal has garnered unanimous support from Logica’s directors and [...]
ADVISERS ROTHSCHILD May 31, 2012 WARNER MANDEL GLOBAL HEAD OF MEDIA Logica was advised by a bumper team comprising Rothschild, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Heading the Rothschild group was Warner Mandel, global head of media and technology, who advised BT on the sale of Yell and Trinity Mirror on the sale of Racing Post. Mandel was joined [...]
US joins global slowdown with another rise in jobless claims May 31, 2012 THE US outlook took a blow yesterday as unexpectedly high unemployment figures, weak business data, and a downward revision to GDP growth all cast doubt on the strength of the global leader’s recovery. Official data recorded 383,000 new claimants for unemployment benefits last week, up 10,000 on the week before and the fourth consecutive rise [...]
FORMULA ONE PUTS BRAKES ON ITS FLOAT May 31, 2012 FORMULA One’s chief Bernie Ecclestone last night signalled that its IPO could be pushed back by several months due to the current market turmoil. F1 is planning to float in Singapore, with premarketing for the $3bn (£1.95bn) IPO already under way. Ecclestone had said he had hoped to complete the IPO by the end of June but [...]
The Jubilee stands as a landmark to the power of the national idea May 31, 2012 THE Queen famously asked a group of economists, at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, “Why did nobody see it coming?” Of course, most mainstream economists didn’t predict it. However great their expertise, orthodoxies prevailed. And the same is true of pundits in other areas. Take the monarchy itself: fifteen years ago it appeared [...]
Driverless cars show the journey of discovery is a long and winding road May 31, 2012 SOMETHING important happened in Spain this week, and not just the continuing revelations of the depths of its economic crisis. Volvo announced that on a motorway just outside Barcelona a convoy of four driverless cars drove 123 miles on a public road, among other road users, perfectly safely. The vehicles travelled at 53 miles an [...]
Spain can’t save all of its banks without sinking May 31, 2012 ANYONE struggling to understand what former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez meant when he said his country was facing “total emergency” should take a drive through the suburbs of any medium-sized Spanish town. Lines of empty and half-built houses show exactly why the country’s banks are on their knees and why, sooner or later, Madrid [...]
Are NHS GPs right to plan strike action over proposed reform to their pension schemes? May 31, 2012 YES Hamish Meldrum It is with great reluctance that doctors have decided to take industrial action for the first time in 40 years. The strong “yes” vote occurred because the government decided to tear up a fair and affordable deal agreed just four years ago. It has been replaced with a scheme that will see [...]
