S&P reaches its highest level for five years January 17, 2013 STRONGER-than-expected data on US housing starts and jobless claims lit a fire under stocks yesterday, pushing the S&P 500 to a five-year high and its third day of gains. Shares of chipmaker Intel rose in extended-hours trading after the company forecast better-than-expected first-quarter gross margins. Intel gained 1.85 per cent after closing up 2.6 per [...]
Why Dodd-Frank is pushing the US towards impending financial crisis January 17, 2013 IT’S been more than two years since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law by Barack Obama. Passed in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and involving some of the most significant changes to regulation since the Great Depression, regulators have been writing rules at an astonishing pace ever [...]
An operatic reminder of how the internet disrupts our world for the better January 17, 2013 IT HAS been a week of crushing victories for the internet. It continues to claim victims among retail firms blindsided by the web’s 24/7 stores, with their limitless inventories and weightless products. With thousands of jobs on the line, and hundreds of shops at risk of closure, it would be easy to see the change [...]
Tesco horse meat mustn’t shake our faith in cheap food January 17, 2013 TAINTED food scandals are as old as the hills. In 1858, more than 200 were poisoned when a Bradford confectioner, known as Humbug Billy, accidentally mixed arsenic into his peppermint lozenges. More recently, mad cow disease led to the slaughter of 4.4m cattle. Poor quality has also never respected rank. Back in 1135, King Henry [...]
Would leaving the European Union be a positive move for businesses in Britain? January 17, 2013 YES Robert Hiscox The EU is a slow-moving caravan, forced to move at the speed of its slowest member. It imposes job-destroying, one-size-fits-all regulations and policies, in a centralised manner. But to prosper, companies (and countries) need policy flexibility, which the EU does not offer. Unfortunately, we have little democratic capacity to overturn bad EU laws. [...]
Letters to the editor January 17, 2013 HMV revisited [Re: The rise and fall of HMV: Why great companies find it so hard to adapt, Wednesday] The demise of HMV is, of course, sad. I was its finance director between 1983 and 1987, and the growth in those days was stellar. Revenue grew fourfold, and profit growth was even higher. During that period, cassette [...]
The London Art Fair returns – and it’s bigger than ever before January 17, 2013 WHETHER YOU’RE a serious art connoisseur or have a more general interest, make sure to head down to the London Art Fair this weekend. In recent years it has struggled to compete with the likes of Frieze but if there was ever a time to visit, it’s now. This year’s event sees 100 leading British [...]
Now is a great time to fall off the wagon January 17, 2013 If you aren’t firmly situated on the wagon, January can be a fantastic time to discover London’s new venues. After 11pm, Hakkasan Hanway Place’s dark and provocative dining room transforms into a late lounge named Ling Ling, which kicks off from Thursday to Saturday. It’s already played host to guest DJ Daisy Lowe, as well [...]
Tarantino slavery epic is uncomfortable but brilliant January 17, 2013 FILM DJANGO UNCHAINED Cert 18 **** TARANTINO HAS already made a film about a motley band of Jewish soldiers taking bloody revenge against the Nazis – now he’s turned his attentions to that great American atrocity: slavery. Maybe next he’ll direct a caper movie set on the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge. Django Unchained [...]
A funny, touching take on disability and sex that deserved an Oscars nod January 17, 2013 FILM THE SESSIONS Cert 15 **** THE SESSIONS, based on the touchingly optimistic autobiography of Mark O’Brien, is about the quest of a paralysed journalist and poet to lose his virginity aged 38 (if you’re expecting the 40 Year Old Virgin 2, think again). It is set in Berkeley in 1988, and O’Brien (played by [...]
