German economic growth stutters August 16, 2011 The German economy;s growth slowed between April and June, and was weaker at the start of the year than previously thought, figures show. The economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the quarter, according to provisional figures from the national statistics office. Growth in the first three months of the year was 1.3 per cent [...]
Bailouts are bad but didn’t cause riots August 16, 2011 THERE are lots of problems in our society, much hypocrisy and many bad practices. White collar crime in the City or the House of Commons should be pursued and punished; it is right to cast the spotlight on the misdeeds of those at the top of society as well as those at the bottom. But [...]
Google snaps up Motorola arm for £8bn August 15, 2011 GOOGLE yesterday made its biggest-ever acquisition by spending $12.5bn (£7.6bn) on Motorola Mobility. The purchase of the phone and tablet-maker, which will be run as a separate business, marks a surprise move into mobile hardware for Google, which has recently seen its Android software become the most popular smartphone platform. However, analysts say the motivation [...]
Recruitment giant warns of turmoil in City jobs market August 15, 2011 The miserable state of the City jobs market was underlined yesterday in a worse-than-expected set of results for recruiter Michael Page that sent its shares tumbling eight per cent. The firm, which has sourced jobs in the City since 1976, admitted that the culling of banking jobs at both large and small institutions is set [...]
European Central Bank sucks up €22bn in debt August 15, 2011 THE European Central Bank (ECB) exceeded expectations by purchasing €22bn (£19.4bn) worth of debt from troubled Eurozone governments last week. The ECB announced the figure yesterday, which surpasses even the €16.5bn in bonds that it purchased in May 2010, when it intervened in a bid to save the Greek government. The ECB reluctantly entered the [...]
Bailouts are bad but didn’t cause riots August 15, 2011 THERE are lots of problems in our society, much hypocrisy and many bad practices. White collar crime in the City or the House of Commons should be pursued and punished; it is right to cast the spotlight on the misdeeds of those at the top of society as well as those at the bottom. But [...]
The new front in the mobile phone wars August 15, 2011 THE future for companies like Nokia and Motorola, once the great pioneers of the mobile phone industry, has been bleak for some time. The likes of Apple and RIM have eaten away at their share of the high-end smartphone market for several years now, while cheaper Asian manufacturers will soon do the same in the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SINO-FOREST DELAYS PUBLICATION OF FRAUD REVIEW Sino-Forest, the Chinese forestry company fighting allegations of fraud, has delayed publication of its internal review into claims made by research outfit Muddy Waters that triggered a collapse in the company’s share price in June. An independent committee has presented an interim report to Sino-Forest’s board but [...]
Petrobras reports rise in profits August 15, 2011 Brazilian state oil company Petrobras saw its second-quarter net profit jump nearly 32 per cent year-on-year, fuelled by higher international oil prices and a strong real. The Rio de Janeiro-based company said net profit rose to 10.942bn reais (£3.2bn) compared with 8.295 bn reais a year earlier.
PwC faces fine over JP Morgan August 15, 2011 Auditing firm PwC faces a fine for failing to report that JP Morgan was not protecting customer funds properly, the UK’s accounting regulator revealed after a 10-month probe. PwC has admitted to years of mistakes regarding JP Morgan’s failure to ensure that billions of pounds of its clients’ assets were properly ring-fenced, the Accountancy and [...]
