China will avert crisis despite its slowing growth March 11, 2012 PREMIER Wen Jiabao’s speech to the National People’s Congress has caused a wobble in Chinese equities and reduced the optimism that was building on China. His forecast for 7.5 per cent GDP growth in 2012 is below what some international agencies were expecting. The biggest surprise about Wen’s forecast is that it is also a [...]
Resilient London stays at the top by adapting March 11, 2012 MIPIM is an acronym which I suspect not many people, outside of the property industry, have come across. It is a real estate show for professionals held every year in Cannes, France. This year over 19,000 attended over 4 days to talk about property. Although the location may suggest this is just another junket it [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 11, 2012 Wilful ignorance [Re: Britain’s war on the aspirational classes, Tuesday] I agree with you about taxes. But I recall, in the run-up to the 2010 general election, listening to a radio show where callers claimed that the UK was a low-tax economy, thinking this was a bad thing. More recently we have seen support for [...]
ETF portfolios will transform investing March 11, 2012 THE inability of many active managers to beat their index over a year should shock investors. Their failure over a longer period of time should have them running for the hills. Through luck or judgement some outperform, but often not for long, and picking those that do is a lottery. Investors of the future may [...]
Doing game right – a stone’s throw from Cape Town March 11, 2012 After hours of anticipation, I finally caught sight of it – right in front of our jeep. Romantically backlit by the pinkening sky, a tall G&T with glinting ice cubes and a slice of lemon. Sundowners on safari. Best idea ever. We’d arrived in Cape Town five days ago for a little city before our [...]
TRAVEL NOTES March 11, 2012 Boutique boltholes in Bath (and beyond) If you fancy the ultimate romantic getaway, check out the OHH Collection’s newly refurbished handful of boutique hotels and gastro pubs in Bath and England’s “prettiest village”, Castle Coombe. Think ivy-covered period houses, ornate fireplaces and quirky furniture – the properties are decorated by the owner’s mother. The six-bed [...]
Talking horses… March 11, 2012 BE selective has always been my motto when it comes to choosing which of the various Cheltenham preview evenings to attend and I always give a wide berth to those panellists who continually sit on the fence. So, when I got a call telling me that four of the best informed judges in the game [...]
Magnifique: England stun France in Paris March 11, 2012 FRANCE (22) vs ENGLAND (24) Head coach Lancaster salutes his greatest victory and players desperate for him to remain in charge ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster received the unequivocal backing of his players after he masterminded yesterday’s landmark Six Nations victory over France but the man himself refused to be drawn on his prospects of [...]
JOSH LEWSEY’S POST MATCH VIEW March 11, 2012 A BIG FEATHER IN LANCASTER’S CAP IT’S too early to talk of yesterday’s heroics at the Stade de France as being a defining victory for this emerging England side but for their coach Stuart Lancaster this win was a significant feather in his cap. Talk of big-hitters like Nick Mallett and Jake White being in [...]
Fergie surprised as Rooney brace dethrones City March 11, 2012 MAN UNITED (2) vs WEST BROM (0) MANCHESTER UNITED manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists he is nonplussed about returning to the summit of the Premier League for the first time in five months, after Wayne Rooney’s brace dethroned bitter rivals Manchester City. Rooney touched in forward partner Javier Hernandez’s shot to open the scoring and [...]
