PC sales crash as buyers shift focus to tablets January 14, 2013 PERSONAL computer sales plunged into decline for the first time in more than a decade last year as consumers switched to buying tablets, in a serious blow to PC manufacturers and software companies. Figures released yesterday by research firm Gartner showed that worldwide sales of PCs fell by 12.7m – or 3.5 per cent – [...]
Goldman says the global GDP recovery is taking off January 14, 2013 THE GLOBAL economy’s zig-zag phase of repeated periods of growth and contraction is at last coming to an end, with the UK one of the economies pushing its way out of stagnation, top economists at Goldman Sachs said yesterday. At the start of 2011 and 2012, Goldman’s own leading index saw an upturn in the [...]
Apple shares dip below $500 on demand concerns for iPhone January 14, 2013 SHARES in Apple fell to below $500 for the first time in almost a year yesterday, on reports that the company had cut orders for iPhone parts following weak demand. The world’s highest-valued company fell almost four per cent in New York, wiping over $18bn (£11.1bn) off its value, with investors fearing Apple’s most profitable [...]
Bankers want tougher rules January 14, 2013 RETAIL bankers should be more closely regulated, the authorities should give tighter guidelines on training and more resources should be devoted to enforcing laws on fraud, the British Bankers’ Association said yesterday. Its chief Anthony Browne also told the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards that a new standards council would help improve bankers’ behaviour. And [...]
Ex-Credit Suisse trader faces extradition January 14, 2013 Former Credit Suisse trader Kareem Serageldin, 39, can be extradited to the United States, a court ruled yesterday. The Swiss bank’s former global head of structured credit is accused of artificially inflating the prices of subprime mortgage-backed bonds to the tune of $540m in 2007-2008.
UPS and TNT fail to deliver £4.3bn tie-up January 14, 2013 SHARES in delivery firm TNT Express slumped more than 40 per cent yesterday after its long-awaited €5.2bn (£4.3bn) takeover by United Parcel Service (UPS) collapsed under regulatory pressure. Despite efforts to appease the European Commission with offers to amend the deal, the firms were told on Friday that the EC intended to prohibit the purchase. [...]
Orcel heralds Novelli as he returns to UBS January 14, 2013 ANDREA Orcel, the newly appointed head of investment banking at UBS, has made his first significant hire, bringing deal-maker Piero Novelli back to the bank. Novelli, whose past clients include Gas Natural Fenosa, Repsol, Enel, Renault, ABB, Siemens, GM, Ford, Cisco and HP, left the Japanese bank Nomura at the end of last year by [...]
Bernanke and Obama call for debt limit hike January 14, 2013 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday joined forces to mount an assault on Republican plans to use the debt ceiling as a bargaining tool. Obama said there would be no spending cuts in exchange for a hiked debt limit, while Ben Bernanke likened refusing to raise the debt limit to [...]
Hedge funds lift debt levels in bid to cash in on equity rally January 14, 2013 HEDGE funds are loading up on record levels of debt to try and make money off the New Year rally in stock markets, according to industry figures leaked yesterday. Data from Morgan Stanley, seen by Bloomberg, shows gross leverage at US hedge funds – which measures money borrowed by funds versus money given to them [...]
Icap sells stake in post-trade firm to seven-bank consortium January 14, 2013 ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer broker, yesterday said it had sold a 12 per cent stake in post-trade processing firm Traiana to a consortium of seven banks, valuing the business at $300m (£186.5m). Under the terms of the deal, the investors – Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Nomura and [...]
