BORIS FUND BREAKFAST CLUB MEETS AT SAVOY December 7, 2010 LONDON mayor Boris Johnson played host to a star-studded launch for the corporate sponsors of the charitable Mayor’s Fund for London yesterday morning, with grandees of the City treated to an 8am poached egg and salmon breakfast in return for their paid-up membership of the London Business Club – an organisation for fund donors. The [...]
Verizon may pay divi in 2012 December 7, 2010 Vodafone joint venture Verizon Wireless could pay a dividend in 2012, it emerged yesterday. But Verizon Communications is unlikely to consider a Verizon Wireless payout until late 2011, boss Ivan Seidenberg said. The lack of a dividend has been a bone of contention for shareholders of Vodafone, which owns 45 per cent of Verizon Wireless. [...]
Travelex in talks to sell December 7, 2010 Foreign exchange provider Travelex is understood to be in advanced talks to sell part of its business to US credit card giant Mastercard in a deal worth about £300m. Privately-owned Travelex is thought to be poised to secure the sale of its card programme management arm within days to fund growth plans and pay debt.
Google takes on Windows December 7, 2010 Web giant Google last night unveiled the first laptops running its Chrome operating system, designed to go head-to-head with Microsoft Windows, a market-leader for over thirty years. The software is designed for low-end “netbooks”.
Official: CDS didn’t cause Greek tragedy December 7, 2010 AN EU investigation revealed yesterday that trading in sovereign credit default swaps did not cause a spike in borrowing costs for states such as Greece this year. The report, commissioned by EU finance ministers in March, found “no conclusive evidence” that developments in the CDS market affected the cost of state borrowing. It praised the [...]
IMF boss slams Eurozone’s response to the debt crisis December 7, 2010 DOMINIC Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has launched a thinly-veiled attack on the Eurozone’s handling of the sovereign debt crisis. “The piecemeal approach, one country after another, is not a good one,” he said, as he called for a “more comprehensive solution to the problem”. Strauss-Kahn’s comments, which came after a [...]
Bondholders lobby Ireland over haircuts December 7, 2010 A GROUP of subordinate bondholders in Allied Irish, Anglo Irish and Bank of Ireland will lobby the Irish government to try to cap their losses. They have hired powerful US law firm Bingham McCutchen to represent their views to the government, although a source close to the group played down the threat of litigation last [...]
Retailers and commodities push FTSE to three-week high December 7, 2010 Britain’s top shares closed at their highest level in over three weeks yesterday, lifted by commodity makers and retailers as equities remained the preferred asset class among investors despite macro concerns. The FTSE 100 ended up 38.17 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,808.45, having closed 0.4 per cent higher on Monday and 7.3 per [...]
Shop prices kept in check December 7, 2010 INTENSE competition between retailers in the run up to Christmas is driving down shop price inflation, new figures reveal today. Shop prices are rising at a much slower rate than overall inflation, the Shop Price Index (SPI) showed. For the first time in five months year on year shop price inflation actually fell, down to [...]
More insider trade talk hits markets December 7, 2010 US stocks eked out a small gain yesterday as investors’ enthusiasm over a tax cut extension deal was short-circuited by rising bond yields and reports regulators were stepping up an insider-trading probe. The S&P 500 hit a two-year intraday high after US President Barack Obama cut a deal with Republicans to renew Bush-era tax cuts. [...]