DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN AS QE2 ENDS May 23, 2011 A LITTLE over a year ago, Greece was in the headlines as the parlous state of its public finances became apparent. At the same time, the US Federal Reserve was planning an exit strategy from its first round of quantitative easing (QE), and there was a major volcanic eruption in Iceland. As the speculation grew [...]
QE2: one is not amused by the potential for US equity downturn May 23, 2011 THE sheer size of the numbers involved in the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program (QE2) can be difficult to comprehend. By comparison, Queen Elizabeth II receives a paltry £7.9m per annum from the Civil List. This is nothing compared to the $600bn of US Treasuries bought by the Federal Reserve during this cycle of quantitative [...]
THE TIPSTER May 23, 2011 WITH another ash cloud looming, attention will inevitably turn to the airline sector that saw such high levels of disruption back in April 2010, when major airlines saw their profits take a battering on the back of long periods of aircraft down-time and general flight disruption. Admittedly, authorities know what they’re dealing with this time, [...]
Fake tans: the golden rules May 23, 2011 IT’S that time of year again. With the prospect of unveiling bare legs and arms for the summer weather, many of us are heading straight to the self-tanning counter. (Not least the cast of ITV2’s “The Only Way is Essex”, whose collective mahogany glow hit new levels at Sunday’s TV BAFTA awards.) But self-tan doesn’t [...]
Episode 13: Jermyn Street May 23, 2011 “Hello David.” I turn to face Caroline Davison. “Hello…” I begin. “I’m surprised you’re buying your shirts here. Thought you’d be getting them handmade now. I heard you’d been elevated to the peerage.” “Not quite the peerage Caroline.” “No but I’m sorry I didn’t drop a line to congratulate you.” “No. Not at all.” “So, [...]
French fare with added va va voom May 23, 2011 CHABROT BISTROT D’AMIS 9 Knightsbridge Green, SW1X7Q1, 020 7225 2238, www.chabrot.co.uk FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £45 ON a wall inside the entrance to Chabrot Bistrot d’Amis hangs a large black and white photograph of a grizzled paysan emitting a gummy grin as he pours red wine from a magnum bottle into [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS May 23, 2011 HAWKSMOOR TO OPEN IN EC2 Big news for the City, this. Late last year Hawksmoor, the celebrated East End restaurant and bar that serves up some of the finest steak in London, opened a second branch to great acclaim in Covent Garden. Well, Hawksmoor number three, Hawksmoor Guildhall, will be opening in the City, on [...]
Green Bank to start lending from April 2012 May 23, 2011 Green Investment Bank (GIB) will start lending money to fund low-carbon energy projects from April 2012, a year earlier than initially planned, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said. “Possible early priorities for the bank are offshore wind, waste, and non-domestic energy efficiency,” Clegg said in a speech to the Climate Change Capital advisory group in [...]
FTSE hit by China growth fears and eurozone crisis May 23, 2011 Commodity stocks took a hammering in early trading today as miners and energy related groups suffered from uncertainty in the global economy. The eurozone debt crisis continued to cast a shadow after Italy’s credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s from stable to negative. Chinese manufacturing data from HSBC showing a ten-month low also [...]
Banks miss small business lending targets May 23, 2011 Banks fell short of targets agreed with the government for lending to small firms in the first three months of this year, although they remained on track to hit their overall goals. Prime Minister David Cameron said the banks looked willing to fulfil their pledge after he indicated last week that they may face further [...]
