FTSE hits two-month low as fears over Eurozone drive sharp sell-off November 15, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to a fresh two-month low yesterday, as news that the Eurozone had fallen back into recession provided an impetus to break out of recent ranges. The UK blue-chip index was down 44.26 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,677.75 at the close, finishing below 5,700 for the first time in [...]
Weak Wal-Mart sales weigh on jittery Wall St November 15, 2012 US stocks were little changed yesterday as the prospect of a drawn-out battle over impending tax and spending changes made investors wary of getting into the water, while retailer Wal-Mart tumbled after disappointing sales. The S&P 500 is down nearly two per cent for the week, adding to last week’s selloff and eroding more of [...]
Forget Grexit and Spexit: Brixit is looming over the European Union November 15, 2012 FORGET Grexit, Spexit or any other possible departures from the euro. Despite yesterday’s news that the Eurozone is now back in recession, the markets should focus on another potential exit. The Brixit – a British departure from the European Union. For the first time in a generation it’s realistic. But would it hurt the UK [...]
Michael Gove is courageously recovering our ancient tradition of learning November 15, 2012 IN 75 BC, when the great Roman politician and champion of liberal learning Cicero was quaestor in Sicily, he led an expedition to a neglected, overgrown jumble of funerary monuments just outside the city of Syracuse. Directing men with scythes to cut away the briars, he uncovered the tomb of Archimedes, lost for more than [...]
Babies born today can expect a long expensive future November 15, 2012 BRITAIN faces many challenges, but none more daunting than our ageing society and the financial challenges it will create for future generations. There were 807,766 live births in the UK in the past year, and the Office of National Statistics (ONS) predicts that one in three will live to be 100 years old. Today there [...]
Will the new Chinese leadership implement necessary economic and political reforms? November 15, 2012 YES Gigi Chan After months of policy paralysis, certainty over leadership will be good for markets in the short term. The new leadership can focus on pushing through policies once its power base is consolidated. Xi Jinping will head a Politburo standing committee that is pro-reform, which has to be positive for investments. For the [...]
Rapid responses November 15, 2012 Stale bank lending [Re: The real reason businesses aren’t borrowing from their banks, yesterday] Anthony Browne’s argument about small business lending is stale. In his early days in post, we hoped that the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), would have shifted the debate onto more fertile ground. The enormous rise in lending [...]
Twi not to fall asleep to Breaking Dawn November 15, 2012 Review 1: The Twi-Hard *** By Naomi Mdudu I like Twilight. A lot. Probably too much for someone who left her teenage years a good while ago. So, I had high hopes for the final instalment – hopes that weren’t entirely realised. The story picks up where we left off, shortly after Bella (Kristen Stewart) [...]
How the stars finally said goodbye to their hordes of fans in Leicester Square this week November 15, 2012 The cast of Twilight stepped out in style in Leicester Square at the premiere of the film’s final instalment, Breaking Dawn part 2. Kristen Stewart, who has famously swapped her heels for trainers on the red carpet, completely stole the show. Despite being spotted earlier on in the day wearing her usual jeans-t-shirt-trainers combination, she [...]
Amour is both beautiful and frightening November 15, 2012 FILM AMOUR Cert 12A ***** Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winning latest is beautiful, humane, and terrifyingly truthful. Amour reaffirms Haneke’s status as a master of modern cinema. We are first introduced to George (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) at a well-attended classical performance by one of Anne’s ex pupils. They are a pair of [...]
