FTSE gains limited by the Budget March 21, 2010 EUROPEAN stock markets are headed for a positive start to the week, with the FTSE set to continue its current winning streak after closing at its highest level since June 2008 on Friday. However ahead of the pre-election Budget on Wednesday, any further gains are likely to be moderate. GFT is forecasting the UK’s FTSE [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD March 21, 2010 IMPROVING sentiment over healthcare might not be enough to overcome anxiety that is now buffeting Wall Street as investors look for new catalysts to push ahead a year-long rally in US stocks. In the coming week, housing will be a dominant theme with the release of February existing home sales tomorrow and a report on [...]
NOW IT’S HEDGE FUNDS THAT ARE DETERMINED TO DO GOD’S WORK March 21, 2010 ALL this chat about bankers “doing God’s work” is clearly catching on with the rest of the financial community. Across the gusty Atlantic blows word of a hedge fund set up by an Atlanta-based investor, Trebor Chase Brown, who has named his new baby after a particularly pious passage of the Bible. C3:23 Capital – [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK March 21, 2010 GARLIC lobster, seabass, crispy squid, Beijing duck and platters of abalone – a sea snail delicacy – were all on the £2,071.90 menu for these lucky diners last week, as they gazed out over Hyde Park from the luxurious confines of Min Jiang, on the 10th floor of Kensington’s Royal Garden Hotel. As well as [...]
EU wants bank fund to pay for future collapses March 19, 2010 THE European Union is considering making banks pay for an emergency wind-up fund in case one of them goes bust, in an attempt to avert another Lehman-style crisis. Michael Barnier, the man in charge of new European financial regulation, told a conference of financial watchdogs in Brussels that the banks should foot the bill for [...]
BA strike to go ahead after talks crash March 19, 2010 A STRIKE by British Airways cabin crew will go ahead after last ditch talks between the airline and the Unite union failed. The first three-day strike by 12,000 cabin crew begins on Saturday, with a four-day walkout planned from 27 March. Unite’s joint general secretary Tony Woodley said: “BA does not want to negotiate and [...]
Rail union votes for strike March 19, 2010 RAILWAY signal workers have voted to go on strike in action which threatens to throw easter travel plans into chaos. The Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said 54 per cent of its members had backed strike action over redundancies. A spokesman for the RMT leader Bob Crow is still willing to negotiate with Network [...]
Rio Tinto clinches West African mining deal March 19, 2010 MINING heavyweight Rio Tinto has signed up for a joint iron ore venture in West Africa with state owned metals group Chinalco. The Anglo-Australian miner is putting its 95 per cent stake in the Simandou project in Guinea into the mix with Chinalco then paying $1.35bn (£891m) for a 47 per cent interest in the [...]
Currys owner says turnaround on track March 19, 2010 CURRYS and PC World owner DSG International has said its turnaround plan is on target. The company pledged to deliver better profits and that its programme of revamping stores was on schedule, in a trading update. It will now accelerate the roll-out of its Megastore and 2-in-1 – combined Currys and PC World – stores. [...]
Bradford & Bingley in £196m loss March 19, 2010 BRADFORD & Bingley has said that its pre-tax £196m losses last year were much lower than the targets agreed with Government. The former building society’s was nationalized in September 2008, after which Santander bought B&B’s £20bn savings business for £612m. That left the taxpayer owning a £42bn mortgage book. Managing director Richard Banks said: “We [...]
