CAR TALK January 3, 2012 GIRLS ARE DEFINITELY ALLOWED IN CUSTOM RENAULT TWINGO As part of a marketing initiative to promote Renault’s new Twingo, Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud has created this Twingo with her own bespoke interior. A recording studio, coffee machine, clothes, hair dryer and a make-up counter have all been incorporated into the one-off city car. Thought-provoking [...]
UK finance chiefs fear double dip recession January 2, 2012 THE UK is likely to suffer from a double dip recession, according to a gloomy survey of chief financial officers released today. The chances of another economic contraction have soared to 54 per cent, according to the latest Deloitte survey of CFOs. Back in October the chance of a double dip was estimated at just [...]
Cable calls for more transparency on HBOS January 2, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable has called for more information to be published about the disastrous merger of Lloyds and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), which saw the combined bank require a £37bn bailout. Speaking to City A.M., Cable suggested that those who were in charge when the merger went ahead should play a major role [...]
Factory stats help equities January 2, 2012 STOCKS in the Eurozone started 2012 with a boost, after data showed a slower than expected fall in manufacturing activity last month. Markit’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 46.9 in the final month of last year, up from a 28-month low of 46.4 in November. Large Eurozone economies such as Germany, France and [...]
Why 2012 will be Groundhog Year January 2, 2012 WELL good riddance to all that. Few would disagree that 2011 was truly an annus horribilis, a year defined by feckless politicians and unruly mobs. I, for one, felt a sense of relief when the chiming bells heralded the start of a new year; at certain times over the last twelve months, it felt as [...]
Spain deficit may exceed 8pc – official January 2, 2012 SPAIN’S economy minister admitted yesterday that the government’s deficit for last year could be higher than the eight per cent of GDP previously forecast. “We’ll need to see, but it’s possible that we have gone over the eight per cent mark,” Luis de Guindos said. “Though [we] expect that it hasn’t done so by much,” [...]
Manufacturing decline slows in Eurozone January 2, 2012 Netherlands 46.2 2-month high ▲ France 48.9 4-month high ▲ Italy 44.3 3-month high ▲ Germany 48.4 2-month high ▲ Austria 49 4-month high ▲ Spain 43.7 3-month low ▼ Greece 42.0 3-month high ▲
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 2, 2012 The Daily Telegraph PWC GETS A RECORD NUMBER OF APPLICANTS FOR GRADUATE SCHEME PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is on track to receive a record 30,000 applications for its graduate entry scheme in the latest indicator of the strains in the British labour market. The firm’s graduate scheme – which has 1,200 places – has been inundated with [...]
ECB criticised for bank loans January 2, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank has crossed the line into propping up insolvent banks, according to a former member of its governing council, Nout Wellink (pictured). The one-time governor of Holland’s Central Bank told a Dutch magazine that the decision to extend three-year loans to banks is a shift from boosting liquidity, which is in the [...]
Denmark now seen as debt safe haven January 2, 2012 DENMARK has revealed that it saw a surge in demand for its debt from international investors last year, making it the latest non-Eurozone state to cash in on the hunt for a “safe haven”. The Danish central bank said that over a third of the country’s outstanding debt is now owned by foreign buyers, up [...]
