CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 3, 2011 Barclays Corporate Ian Gilmartin has been promoted to Barclays Corporate’s retail and wholesale team as corporate director. He was formerly head of marketing services in the tech and media sector. In his new job, he will be working with Richard Lowe, head of the retail division, and will be adding to his 16 years’ experience [...]
Intel woos Hollywood with chip January 3, 2011 Intel’s new microchips, touted as its biggest-ever leap in processing power, include built-in content protection to make it safer for Hollywood studios to offer premium movies to consumers over their personal computers. Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros Digital Distribution and other studios plan to offer high-definition movies to consumers whose computers use the chips, code-named [...]
Government unveils health plan January 3, 2011 The government has unveiled a £250m industry-financed plan to promote good eating under which millions of people will receive vouchers offering discounts on healthy foods. The coalition government is promoting the scheme as part of its Change4Life programme, aimed at combating Britain’s high obesity rate by encouraging people to eat healthier food and exercise more. [...]
Estonia swaps kroon for euro January 3, 2011 The eurozone has gained another member even as economists issue dire warnings of further sovereign debt crises to come. Estonia is now in a transition period, with euro becoming legal tender on 1 January. Its national currency, the kroon, will cease to be accepted on 15 January, with banknotes being exchanged at all banks with [...]
Amazon plans LoveFilm buy for £200m January 3, 2011 AMAZON is planning a buy-out of the online DVD rental company LoveFilm, which would value the firm at £200m. The online retail giant already owns 42 per cent of LoveFilm after a deal in 2008 when it sold its DVD rental arm to the company. The cost of a buyout would therefore be around £116m. [...]
Groupon nets over $500m in financing drive January 3, 2011 ONLINE coupon service Groupon is more than half way to completing its $1bn (£645m) funding drive, according to a recent regulatory filing. The Chicago-based firm has secured more than $500m from unnamed investors since walking away from a takeover offer from Google in December, it said in papers lodged with the US Securities and Exchange Commission [...]
PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE YEAR OF THE GRISLY KILLER POLICY RABBIT January 3, 2011 IT seems you can hardly call yourself an analyst these days without issuing a long list of annual predictions, and Societe Generale’s Michala Marcussen keenly threw his hat in the ring yesterday. But while his SocGen colleague Dylan Grice analyses “Popular Delusions” in his regular note, Marcussen went for the more unusual theme of “Policymakers and [...]
UK stocks will start the new year with a bang January 3, 2011 An improved economic outlook for the US following manufacturing data released yesterday while trading on UK shares was closed is expected to give a strong boost to the market this morning. STRONG MARKET BOOST EXPECTED GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 75 points from Friday’s lunchtime close, at a level of [...]
Wall street January 3, 2011 US stocks greeted the new year with a rally yesterday as encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world prompted investors to inject new money into the market. Data from the United States, Europe and China set the tone, helping the Dow and S&P reach new two-year highs and the Nasdaq 100 closed [...]
Spread betting vs. contracts for difference January 3, 2011 THE new year is underfoot, and with European sovereign debt still looking problematic, Chinese inflation sky high and the Federal Reserve still emptying a bathtub of money onto the world, it is looking to be at least as interesting a year as 2010. For ordinary investors, volatility is not very much fun. Most people are [...]
