Sporty, sexy and full of zoom February 8, 2011 THE FACTS: NISSAN 370Z ROADSTER PRICE: £37,300 0-60MPH: 5.8SECS TOP SPEED: 155MPH CO2 G/KM: 254G/KM MPG COMBINED: 25.9MPG BACK in 1969, Nissan created a hell of stir when it began selling its Z sports car, a two-seat GT coupe that was not only great looking: it was also fast, reliable and very affordable. This is [...]
CAR TALK February 8, 2011 ASTON V8 VANTAGE S Aston Martin has released details of its new V8 Vantage S. The S version has an extra 10bhp over the N420 V8 which means its 4.7 litre V8 now produces 430bhp. The car has quicker steering and a chassis with new springs and dampers and wider rear wheels. An improved seven-speed [...]
Retailers boost recovery hopes February 7, 2011 Spending on the UK’s high streets bounced back in January after December’s sales were hit by heavy snow, it will be revealed today. The news comes after the FTSE jumped 53.65 points yesterday – a rise of 0.89 per cent – breaking through the confidence-boosting 6,000 mark to close at 6,051.03. Retail sales were up [...]
Hands bids for insurer Chaucer February 7, 2011 GUY Hands, founder of private equity firm Terra Firma, is in takeover talks with Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer Holdings, sources close to the situation confirmed to City A.M. yesterday. Hands, who was forced to surrender control of record company EMI to its creditor Citigroup last week due to its debt mountain, has approached Chaucer with a [...]
Bank lending target agreed February 7, 2011 BRITAIN’S banks are to pledge over £1bn in funding for small businesses, as months of negotiations with the government draw to a close. The agreement comes as part of the “Project Merlin” talks between Westminster and the City over industry-wide lending commitments and pay transparency. UK banks are understood to have agreed to offer £1.3bn [...]
Interest rates will be going up soon February 7, 2011 HIGHER interest rates are on the way: that is the lesson from this morning’s strong January retail sales survey, the latest of a batch of statistics suggesting the economy bounced back in January. Even before today, markets were already pricing in a 100 per cent chance of a 0.25 per cent rate hike in May, [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SEC EYES MORTGAGE DISCLOSURES US securities regulators investigating the role of banks in the mortgage crisis are homing in on the question of whether investors were misled about the home loans used to back securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators have been investigating a wide range of banking activities in [...]
US to limit bank bonuses February 7, 2011 US REGULATORS yesterday endorsed a proposal that executives at the largest financial institutions have half of their bonuses deferred for at least three years. The proposal, approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), has yet to be approved by other US financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission. The FDIC [...]
Macquarie warns on profit February 7, 2011 Macquarie Group, Australia’s top investment bank, tipped a five per cent fall in second-half profit yesterday but said market conditions were returning to normal. Macquarie, which has shed its managed listed funds model to focus on a more traditional investment banking model, said its balance sheet was strong with A$3.2bn (£2bn) in excess capital at [...]
JP Morgan hires ex-FSA risk chief February 7, 2011 The former Financial Services Authority (FSA) head of risk, Sally Dewar, has been hired by JP Morgan to bolster the US bank’s regulatory measures. She will join the lender’s London office from June as a managing director, reporting to global head of risk Barry Zubrow. Dewar will help to oversee JP Morgan’s response to incoming [...]
