Air Berlin chief quits after a quarterly loss and plans for drastic network cuts August 19, 2011 AIR Berlin founder and chief executive Joachim Hunold quit yesterday after the low-cost carrier posted a quarterly loss and cut its network in the quest for its first annual profit since 2007. If the board accepts Hunold’s suggestion, Hartmut Mehdorn, the former head of state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn, would take over as interim chief [...]
HP to pay £6bn for Autonomy August 18, 2011 HEWLETT-PACKARD is buying the UK’s most valuable software company Autonomy for $10.2bn (£6.2bn), in the latest takeover of a major British company by an American firm. The deal was announced last night as HP unveiled its third quarter earnings and is part of a massive shake-up at the US computing giant, which is also exploring [...]
Markets in meltdown as global fears grow August 18, 2011 STOCKS nose-dived in the opening minutes of trading in Japan this morning, mirroring another disastrous day for markets in Europe and the US yesterday. The Nikkei lost over two per cent in initial trades, dropping to 8,756. Earlier in the month the index hit a low of 8,656. The FTSE suffered its biggest fall in [...]
Gloomy American data fuels recovery doubts August 18, 2011 SHOCKINGLY negative economic data rattled markets in New York yesterday, adding to an ultra-bearish day for equities. Claims for US unemployment benefits rose; home sales dropped; inflation picked up; and a Philadelphia factory index collapsed to worse than a two year low. The gauge of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region fell off a cliff, [...]
There is nothing so bad that politicians can’t make it worse August 18, 2011 IT was Thomas Sowell, the American economist, who said “there is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse”. In recent weeks, politicians have tested that maxim to destruction. From horse-trading over the US debt ceiling to cack-handed policymaking in Europe, almost every political intervention has served only to fan existing fears over the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 18, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TRADERS PREPARE FOR CHÁVEZ GOLD TRANSFER Bullion traders are preparing for one of the largest transfers of physical gold in recent history after Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, ordered the country’s gold reserves to be returned to Caracas. The Daily Telegraph EXXONMOBIL SUES US GOVERNMENT OVER SEIZURE OF OIL LEASES Oil major ExxonMobil is [...]
Dart to safe havens sees yields drop to fresh lows August 18, 2011 MORE fears about the global economy drove prices of safe-haven US government bonds up yesterday, as both US and UK yields fell. Ten-year US Treasury yields dipped below two per cent during the day as negative data provoked a frenzy of buying. Benchmark 10-year note yields touched 1.97 per cent, while 30-year bond yields also [...]
Confusion reigns over a short ban August 18, 2011 FRANCE’S financial regulator had to rush out an amendment to its short selling ban yesterday after traders complained it had stopped them shorting European stock index futures. Amid another round of panic selling on European stock markets, traders said the ban left them unable to short futures on the Eurostoxx 50 index, which includes French [...]
European countries demand collateral for loans to Greece August 18, 2011 SEVERAL European countries are demanding collateral on bailout loans they provide to Greece, after it emerged that Finland had secured a commitment earlier this week. Austria, the Netherlands and Slovakia added their voices to the demand for collateral to secure their commitments to Greece via the European Financial Stability Facility, despite senior Greek government sources [...]
US announces probe into S&P August 18, 2011 THE US department of justice is investigating the ratings that Standard & Poor’s gave to dozens of mortgages in the run up to the financial crisis, amid concerns pressure was put on analysts to hike the ratings. Though the investigation is said to have been underway since before the rating agency downgraded US debt from [...]
