PERFORMANCE JITTERS February 3, 2010 PERFORMING arts school group Stagecoach Theatre Arts said yesterday it endured a tough past six months as the downturn continues to put pressure on families’ discretionary spending. The group’s pre-tax profit fell 20 per cent to £267,000 over the first half, though this mainly reflected a write-back of provision in the prior period.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 3, 2010 GLG Partners The asset management group has appointed Raffaele Costa as its new co-head of marketing. Costa, 40, has worked at GLG since it was founded in 1995, when he joined as a portfolio manager specialising in US and European equities. Prior to that, he was at Goldman Sachs. Costa will now work alongside co-chief executive [...]
Kraft seeks $4bn to pay for Cadbury February 3, 2010 KRAFT, the US food group, will raise at least $4bn (£2.5bn) in the debt markets to fund its £11.7bn acquisition of UK rival Cadbury, according to people close to the matter. The fundraising will consist of four tranches, each at least $1bn in size. The tranches will have maturities of 3¼, 6, 10 and 30 [...]
Copper will remain strong in 2010 despite Chinese policy tightening February 3, 2010 CASTING an eye back over 2009, copper was clearly one of the standout performers. Its price has risen 126 per cent over the past year, fueled by rising expectations about the global economy, China regaining its voracious appetite for industrial metals and a weakening US dollar increasing copper’s attractiveness (it is priced in dollars). After [...]
USE COVERED WARRANTS TO TRADE GOLD February 3, 2010 A RALLY in the price of gold towards the end of 2009 began speculation that the commodity downturn was over and fuelled the belief that the financial markets were starting to recover. Now, after growing a mere 0.1 per cent in the last three months of December 2009, the UK economy has officially crawled its [...]
FTSE falls ahead of BoE decision February 3, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index lost 0.6 per cent, snapping a three-session winning streak with investors turning cautious ahead of today’s Bank of England monetary policy decision and Friday’s US jobs report. At yesterday’s close, the FTSE 100 index was 30.16 points lower at 5,253.15 after a see-saw session, having reversed from an intraday peak of [...]
Dow hit by healthcare concerns February 3, 2010 US stocks mostly fell yesterday as Pfizer’s disappointing outlook weighed on the health sector, and President Barack Obama’s pledge to complete banking and healthcare reform revived fears of increased regulation. Obama reiterated his commitment to overhaul the healthcare system and impose stricter regulatory reforms on Wall Street, underscoring the political risk that has driven US [...]
Exchange traded bonds arrive in retail market February 3, 2010 FOR investors wanting to diversify their investments, bonds have always been an attractive option. However, until now retail investors who manage their own portfolio would have found it difficult to try and buy UK bonds. Earlier this week, though, the London Stock Exchange launched an electronic retail bond-trading platform, and for the first time investors [...]
INVESTORS FLOCKING TO SAFE HAVENS February 3, 2010 SENTIMENT in the foreign exchange market has changed dramatically over the past week as investors increasingly question whether the strong performance of risk assets in 2009 can be sustained in 2010. Monetary policy tightening in both China and India have made investors much more wary. As Greece’s debt problems have come to the fore in [...]
CAREERS CLINIC February 3, 2010 I’ve been with my company four years, and have recently been passed over for a significant promotion I thought I’d get. I’m disappointed and surprised, and don’t feel the company have seen the best of me. What can I do? THE very first thing you need to do is find out why you haven’t been [...]
