CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 4, 2011 Hastings Direct Mark Adams is joining Hastings Direct as chief financial officer, ahead of the company’s IPO next year. Adams’ recent career includes the roles of interim chief financial officer at EasyJet, group finance director then chief executive at Helphire Group, and chief financial officer at both Alpha Airports Group and STA Travel Group. Adams [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 4, 2011 WHITBREAD Credit Suisse rates the retail group “outperform” and has cut its target price to £19.92. The broker has cut its earnings per share forecasts for the next two years following cautious outlook comments from the firm, but adds that Whitbread shares have underperformed the UK sector by six per cent since early January and [...]
Commodities drag on FTSE but high street names rally May 4, 2011 COMMODITY stocks pulled Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, ending the FTSE 100’s recent rally as disappointing US manufacturing data spoiled investors’ appetite for risk. The FTSE 100 closed down 98.81 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,984.07, with the FTSE volatility index up 11.4 per cent, hitting a near five-week high. The FTSE 100 [...]
US shares knocked by economic stats May 4, 2011 WEAK economic figures heightened stock investors’ anxiety over the extended rally, knocking US shares lower for a third day yesterday. Recent winners in the energy and industrials sectors were hit most, and a key indicator of investor worry rose for a fourth day in what some say is the outset of extended weakness for stocks. [...]
Still some wag left in the tail for US equity fund investors May 4, 2011 WE ARE in the middle of US earnings season and to date first quarter results have been very strong, with positive outlooks for the rest of the year. In its first quarter report, Marsh & McLennan announced yesterday that its net income had increased $77m to $325m. Earnings per share had increased 13 cents to [...]
Keep cash in preparation for any crises May 4, 2011 In order to be able to pay for unexpected emergencies, it is vital you hold some savings in the most liquid of assets: cash. There are even a few easy access accounts with bonuses that can almost keep up with the current level of 4 per cent CPI inflation. However, it would be a mistake [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS May 4, 2011 MINTS ARE THE NEW BRICS After the success of the Brics, Fidelity is asking whether Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey (Mints) are the investment opportunities of the next decade. Fidelity says “Mints may just have the potential to be as rewarding for investors over the next ten years as BRICs have been in the past [...]
Making the cut: pushing your CV ahead of the rest May 4, 2011 SUBMITTING your CV to a recruitment agency can be a depressing business when you’re looking for your first big job in the City. You’re up against thousands and thousands of people, the majority of whom will never make the cut. Anyone who has ever submitted one will have wondered how the agency screens out candidates. [...]
Look into the faces that could make you millions May 4, 2011 THEY say people will do anything to grab a headline and they might not be wrong. MyJobGroup.co.uk, a regional job advertisement business, went as far as contacting Naomi Tickle, an “internationally-renowned” personologist (that’s someone who studies people’s faces), to find out what kind of facial features make someone successful. Tickle gladly took up the challenge, [...]
High SPF, high silk factor May 4, 2011 WITH this wonderful sunny spell, it’s tempting to strip off and pray to the sun god, sacrificing your pasty skin on the altar of tanning, in every spare minute. Skin damage? Who cares! It’s SUNNY. But it’s not worth playing that game. Make sure you’re well slathered while you’re out worshipping rays so you can [...]
