‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
China and Japan at loggerheads September 18, 2012 ■ The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan stepped up to new levels yesterday, disrupting trade and even sporting relations. The two Asian giants have been at loggerheads over the island chain known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, after Japan bought the islands from a Japanese family. Destructive protests – which forced [...]
Weidmann finds Faustian fault September 18, 2012 ■ The head of Germany’s central bank Jens Weidmann yesterday spoke out against the ECB bond-buying plan, comparing printing money to the work of the devil. The Bundesbank head cited a passage from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s classic German play “Faust”. He recounted how the devil Mephisto, “disguised as a fool”, convinces an emperor to [...]
Weak investor support clouds BAE/EADS deal September 18, 2012 DOUBTS are growing over whether the multi-billion pound merger of defence giants BAE Systems and EADS can go ahead, with shareholders split over the benefits that the tie-up would bring. Anthony Nutt, head of UK equities at Jupiter, which holds around 1.2 per cent of BAE Systems stock, told City A.M. yesterday that the merger [...]
Lonmin clinches pay deal with its miners September 18, 2012 MINERS at Lonmin’s Marikana yesterday accepted a 22 per cent pay rise from the platinum firm, and said they would return to work this morning following a strike that has crippled the London-listed company since 10 August. Last week, Lonmin offered the miners around 5,500 rand (£413) a month, up from 4,600 rand a month. [...]
Manchester United takes a dive on profit but remains upbeat September 18, 2012 MANCHESTER United paid the price for its lack of trophies last season with a £14.9m operational loss in the three months to the end of June. And for the year to 30 June, the recently-floated football club reported pre-tax profit that fell by 16.5 per cent to £91.6m while total revenues dropped three per cent [...]
Oil slides on Saudi supply September 18, 2012 OIL futures fell for a second day running yesterday after Opec’s top producer Saudi Arabia hinted that it could boost production to ease soaring prices. Brent crude has lost 4.25 per cent since Monday, settling yesterday at $112.03 a barrel. A Gulf source said Saudi Arabia would like to see oil prices back at around [...]
Change at the top of Goldman Sachs September 18, 2012 Goldman Sachs’ long-time chief financial officer David Viniar will retire at the end of January and be replaced by Harvey Schwartz, the global co-head of securities, the investment bank said last night. Schwartz, 48, is among a small group of executives who are considered candidates for the top position when Lloyd Blankfein eventually leaves, although [...]
HMRC launches crackdown on London lawyers September 18, 2012 THE LEGAL industry reacted with surprise yesterday after Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced a crackdown on tax dodging by London lawyers, with the aim of recovering up to £3m in missed payments. “It is not, at present, clear to us exactly why the legal profession has been targeted by HMRC,” said Michael Todd, [...]
New UK takeover rules lessen uncertainty for target firms September 18, 2012 NEW measures to identify takeover bidders and tighter offer rules have almost halved the amount of time that target firms spend “under siege”, research out today claims. In a wide-ranging survey to mark the first anniversary of UK’s new Takeover Code – brought in partly as a response to the furore over Kraft’s acquisition of [...]
UK falls to 12th in economic freedom table September 18, 2012 THE UK dropped four places in worldwide rankings of economic freedom, falling out of the top ten for the first time since the early 1980s, a Canadian think-tank said yesterday. The UK dropped from eighth to 12th – leapfrogged by Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Finland and Mauritius, according to the Fraser Institute. The United [...]
