S&P lowers more ratings August 8, 2011 A SWATHE of US institutions were stripped of their gold-plated credit ratings by Standard & Poor’s as the fall-out from the downgrade of the US rating agency continued yesterday. As Moody’s weighed its decision to hold the US at AAA, S&P cut the two giant US mortgage agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to AA+ [...]
ECB pays a premium for breathing space August 8, 2011 DESPITE all the economic turmoil, the price of one commodity continues to rise inexorably. No, not gold, but breathing space. That is all the ECB has bought by entering the market for Italian and Spanish bonds – and it will pay a heavy price. Analysts at RBS think the ECB and the EFSF, the new [...]
RATING AGENCIES DISAGREE OVER US DEBT OUTLOOK August 8, 2011 Standard & Poor’s S&P says that the agreement made on 2 August in Washington DC “falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilise the government’s medium-term debt dynamics”. Essentially S&P is less confident in DC’s ability to significantly reduce the deficit. “The effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 8, 2011 THE FINANCIAL TIMES IZODIA INVESTORS PURSUE LOST £5.3M Izodia, the multibillion-pound dotcom company at the centre of one of the City of London’s longest-running corporate scandals, has postponed liquidation in the hope that it can recover some of the £5.3m it is still owed. The Daily Telegraph UK FACES CREDIT RATING CUT AND MORE MONEY-PRINTING [...]
Businesses hit by riot threat August 8, 2011 BUSINESS groups in London warned yesterday that ongoing riots in the capital could add to the UK’s economic woes, as more high street stores were vandalised and looted by rioters. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reacted strongly to the outbreaks of vandalism, saying struggling shops would be hit hardest by the damage. “Clearly, with high [...]
High street’s sales take an upturn in July August 8, 2011 BRITAIN’S ailing retail industry showed some signs of life in July, recording a 0.6 per cent rise in like-for-like sales compared to the same time last year. While total sales were up 2.5 per cent for July, the three-monthly trend of like-for-like sales remained 0.6 per cent down, with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warning [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU SHOCKED BY THE RIOTS ON THE STREETS OF LONDON AND ARE THEY A SIGN OF MORE TO COME? August 8, 2011 GARY EADES | ACE INSURANCE “Yes. I’m not sure whether people are using the riot as a reaction to economic problems and an opportunity to loot, or if it is really to do with conflict between residents and police as a result of the shooting. Police need to nip it in the bud – the [...]
Canary Wharf starts on its latest tower August 8, 2011 CANARY Wharf Group (CWG) announced yesterday that it will begin construction work on a new tower, 25 Churchill Place, in late 2011. The tower is the final building from the original Canary Wharf development plan, drawn up in 1987. CWG has agreed to pre-let half of the 500,000 square foot, 20-storey building to the European [...]
Evolution seals BNP Paribas deal August 8, 2011 EVOLUTION, the investment bank and wealth group, yesterday sealed the takeover of £1.8bn in private client assets from BNP Paribas’ wealth management arm. The new business will be absorbed into Evolution’s Williams de Broe wealth manager, taking its funds under management to £7.8bn, approaching its goal of building a £10bn-strong asset manager. The deal is [...]
US probes high-speed firms August 8, 2011 REGULATORS in the US have issued subpoenas to several firms involved in high-speed trading, as part of ongoing investigations into last year’s flash crash, which saw the Dow Jones plummet more than 700 points in a matter of minutes. After a general investigation into the disruption by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity [...]
