CBI says retail sales bounced back in October October 30, 2012 UK RETAILERS reported a rapidly improving sales climate in October, according to data out yesterday, driving hopes for continued expansion. Thirty percentage points more retailers saw improving than worsening sales in October, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), up from a net balance of six per cent in September and well above firm [...]
Think-tank says taxpayers are handing over £113m to unions October 30, 2012 TAXPAYERS are forking out to subsidise trade unions as the state pays public sector workers to perform union duties, a think-tank claimed this morning. The total hours public employees spent on union duties amounted to the equivalent of 3,041 full time workers – two and a half times more workers than HM Treasury – the [...]
German labour market rising but pace slows October 30, 2012 EMPLOYMENT continued to increase in Germany during September, figures out yesterday showed, but the federal statistics office Destatis warned that momentum was slipping out of labour market improvements. Employment climbed 324,000 in the year to last month, hitting 41.8m, Destatis said, while unemployment fell 48,000 to 2.2m. However the statistics office said that yearly employment [...]
Bank of Japan fights deflation battle with novel easing policy October 30, 2012 THE BANK of Japan yesterday hit markets with another bout of quantitative easing (QE), easing policy for two consecutive months for the first time in eight years. The Bank added 11 trillion yen (£86bn) to its main asset purchase programme, which also includes lending provisions, but they did not stop at traditional QE, and also [...]
Case-Shiller index says house prices growing across the US October 30, 2012 US HOME prices continued to rebound in August, data suggested yesterday, adding to the zig-zag recovery from the depths of the credit crunch. Average prices edged up 0.9 per cent in the month, according to both the 10- and 20-city composite Case-Shiller home price indices. This monthly increase capped off a 1.3 per cent rise [...]
Spread betters host celebrity charity traders October 30, 2012 SPREAD betting firm City Index has engaged the services of former footballers Bob Wilson and Gareth Southgate this month. Messrs Wilson and Southgate are battling it out to win the firm’s Celebrity Trader Challenge, a new monthly initiative to raise money for charity. Each month City Index will be giving a celeb trader £2,500 in [...]
Boris goes Bond for Poppy Day as he speeds down The Thames October 30, 2012 THE Capitalist, and presumably most of London, simply cannot escape Mayor Boris Johnson these days. Fresh from his appearance at the NFL game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening, Boris was cruising down the River Thames on a Royal Navy RIB yesterday morning. Pointing his trigger finger at onlookers, Bozza arrived at Canary Wharf in [...]
Why the polls don’t tell the whole story of the US election October 30, 2012 IF EUROPEAN citizens could vote for Barack Obama, the incumbent President’s people would already be stocking up on ticker tape, celebratory balloons and patriotic banners. A YouGov survey of seven European countries released yesterday showed that if the election was held here, Obama would receive over 90 per cent of the vote in each country, [...]
Strong UK train showing buoys Stagecoach October 30, 2012 TRANSPORT group Stagecoach said it had traded well in its first half due to a strong performance from its British rail and US bus businesses. The Perth-based company yesterday said like-for-like revenues at its British rail unit rose 7.9 per cent in the 24 weeks to 14 October, while sales at its North America coach [...]
UK dealers cheer rising sales of luxury vehicles and used cars October 30, 2012 A SLEW of UK car dealers heralded a strong spell of trading yesterday, with sales of both luxury motors and used vehicles on the rise. Shares in high-end car dealership HR Owen closed 11.2 per cent higher after the firm said it was trading ahead of expectations and that full-year profits are on track to [...]
