Spain can hold their nerve to lift the title July 8, 2010 HOLLAND vs SPAIN SUNDAY – 7.30PM BBC 1 AND ITV 1 MOST football purists would have been purring at the start of the tournament if I’d said it was going to be a Netherlands v Spain final in Johannesburg on Sunday 11th July. However, the Dutch have taken a far more pragmatic approach to this [...]
Flying filly Fleeting Spirit to take July Cup for second year running July 8, 2010 THERE is an international flavour to today’s July Cup at Newmarket with speedsters from Australia, the US, France and Ireland taking on the home contingent. However, I think the prize will stay in Newmarket and Jeremy Noseda’s FLEETING SPIRIT can become the first horse since Right Boy in 1959 to win the race back-to-back. This [...]
The INSIDER July 8, 2010 Ihaven’t had too many two-yearold bets so far this season but I’ll be changing that tomorrow with a hefty wager on MAJOR CONQUEST (8%) in the nursery at Ascot (2.20pm). John Hills’ runners often improve and this son of Librettist has been going the right way. The form in the book is very strong with [...]
Bonus rules risk European exodus July 7, 2010 BANKERS warned of a talent exodus from Europe yesterday after lawmakers in Strasbourg voted to enforce the world’s toughest regime on bonuses in the wake of the financial crisis. A ruckus is brewing between institutions, who view the crackdown as a short-term populist manoeuvre, and European politicians, who argue lenders were guilty of “obscene” risk [...]
Amazon set to sell groceries July 7, 2010 Ocado’s £1.1bn float was dealt another blow yesterday when internet giant Amazon launched a competing grocery delivery business. Amazon has long toyed with the idea of branching into food delivery, and already does so in the US and Germany, but the timing of the decision heaps pressure on Ocado. Analysts have already questioned the value [...]
IMF cuts UK GDP forecast July 7, 2010 THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed growth expectations for the UK in its first economic outlook since May’s general election. UK GDP will expand by 1.2 per cent this year, the IMF said, 0.1 of a percentage point slower than its forecast in April. Growth for next year was marked down 0.4 of a [...]
London is losing out from EU diktats July 7, 2010 SO there you are. The European Parliament has just voted to locate the planned new EU agencies to regulate banks, markets and insurers in Frankfurt, in a massive blow to London. This provision may yet be eliminated from the final directive but is an ominous sign. What won’t change are the new rules on bonuses: [...]
EC looks at Google probe July 7, 2010 THE European Commission (EC) hinted it could launch a formal anti-trust probe into Google’s internet search dominance yesterday, following three complaints from rivals in February. Joaquin Almunia, Brussels’ leading competition official, told a conference in London he was looking into “some allegations of anti-competitive conduct in relation to search”. “The work is at an early [...]
Tesco raises £950m from sales July 7, 2010 Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, has raised £950m after agreeing a sale-and-leaseback arrangement for 41 of its stores. The company said the move was part of its long-term plan to “release value” from its UK real estate portfolio. The deal is structured as a 50/50 joint venture with the trustees of Tesco’s pension fund, and [...]
US eyes HSBC offshore accounts July 7, 2010 The US government has launched a criminal investigation into whether HSBC’s clients are dodging tax by putting their funds in undeclared deposit accounts in Singapore and India, following the successful prosecution of UBS in Switzerland last year. On 21 June, Kevin Downing, a senior litigator at the US Justice Department, wrote to HSBC clients informing [...]
