No Valentine’s Day love for Euro sovereign debt February 14, 2012 THE move made by Moody’s this week to downgrade a number of Eurozone sovereigns, as well as putting the UK and France on the naughty step, caused more of a political fall-out than any real effect on the markets. Politicians squabbled like teenagers as to whose economic policies were the object of Moody’s affections, but [...]
CABLE RALLIES DESPITE JUMP IN QE NUMBER February 14, 2012 THE Bank of England (BoE) voted on 9 February to maintain its reserve rate at 0.5 per cent and to increase the size of its asset purchase program by £50bn to a total of £325bn. This increase reflects concern that slower 2011 growth and a 0.2 per cent fourth quarter contraction of GDP raises the [...]
One sponsor is helping everybody else onto the Olympic springboard February 14, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 163 DAYS TO GO CBS Outdoor’s UK head explains why it is the official outdoor advertising services provider for 2012 Q. WHAT WAS YOUR BRAND’S PRIMARY REASON FOR BEING INVOLVED WITH THE GAMES? A. CBS Outdoor felt very heavily involved in the pitch for London 2012. We worked [...]
Fortwo: a good scooter but not a car February 14, 2012 Historically, automakers partnering with fashion labels to design “cool” cars have had mixed results. Take this Smart limited edition Fortwo micro car, for example. It’s been given a makeover by British streetwear label Boxfresh. Whether your average Boxfresh fan a) has their eye on a two-seater Smart, b) can afford this limited edition two seater, [...]
CAR TALK February 14, 2012 MEET THE FIAT 500’S BIG BROTHER Fiat is launching a bigger, crossover version of its super-successful 500 city car at the Geneva motor show in March. The five-seater 500L (L stands for Large) will offer MPV-like space with an SUV-like drive and will be sold with a choice of TwinAir or 1.4-litre petrol engines or [...]
Helical Bar to keep spending February 14, 2012 HELICAL BAR, the listed property developer, said it has made acquisitions totalling £90m since 30 September 2011 against a backdrop of “severely constrained” lending. Helica said acquisitions and new lettings had helped boost its rental income, net of irrecoverable property costs, from £20m to £25.8ma year. It also disposed of non-income producing properties, totalling £40m [...]
US growth triples Monitise February 13, 2012 REVENUES tripled at Monitise in the first half of the fiscal year on record demand for the mobile banking group’s services, which now process an annual 480m transactions, up from 120m in 2010. The British company raised its full year revenue guidance by 21 per cent to £34m after a successful six months which saw [...]
Moody’s puts UK on credit watch February 13, 2012 MOODY’S last night threatened the UK’s coveted triple-A credit rating by moving the country to a negative outlook. This means the UK now has a one in three chance of a downgrade in the next 12 to 18 months. The ratings agency blamed its actions on “the increased uncertainty regarding the pace of fiscal consolidation [...]
Boris slams European Tobin tax February 13, 2012 BORIS Johnson has launched an all-out attack on nine EU states after they called for a new financial transactions tax to be introduced urgently. The mayor promised to fight the proposal, which would cause “serious damage” to London’s economy. Addressing the countries Johnson declared: “Non, nein, no! I will not allow jobs, growth and the [...]
Obama taxes to target rich February 13, 2012 TAX HIKES amounting to an extra $1.5 trillion (£950bn) over the next decade were proposed yesterday by President Barack Obama. He called for increased taxes on capital gains and dividends, as well as a “Buffett rule” to increase taxes on households earning over $1m per year. Bush-era tax breaks will be allowed to expire, hitting [...]
