FTSE rallies after ECB’s bond buying plan boosts investors’ confidence September 6, 2012 MINERS and banks led the rebound on Britain’s FTSE 100 yesterday, after investors gave an initial thumbs up to ECB president Mario Draghi’s bond buying plans, while strong US data also helped lift sentiment. The FTSE 100 100 closed up 119.48 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 5777.34 as the index recovered losses sustained over [...]
US stocks soar to multi-year closing highs September 6, 2012 US stocks closed at multi-year highs yesterday, with the S&P 500 ending at its highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers as investors hailed a new European bond-buying program aimed at stemming the region’s debt crisis. Sentiment was also boosted by stronger-than-expected data on the US services sector and labour market, which was [...]
Don’t blame developers: Britain’s planning system pushes up prices September 6, 2012 DURING recent planning rows, opponents of reform have argued that our lack of new homes was nothing to do with our 1940s planning system, but a case of greedy developers sitting on land with planning permission. Yesterday, the Local Government Association argued that the problem is big developers sitting on “land banks”. But big developers [...]
Paralympic tech innovation is at the leading edge of human inventiveness September 6, 2012 OSCAR Pistorius’s comments after losing the final of the 200m were a reminder that the elite athletes competing in the Paralympics don’t just have keep themselves in peak physical condition, but also watch that their rivals don’t run away with any technological edge. It is the skill and speed of athletes like Pistorius, and now [...]
ECB’s bond buying bailout bluff is not tricking Germany September 6, 2012 THE risk of total euro breakup just got much worse. The Bundesbank dissented from Mario Draghi’s scheme for “unlimited” purchases of Spanish and Italian government bonds, provided those governments apply for assistance and surrender sovereign control of budgets to the EU and IMF. The Bundesbank regards the president of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) scheme [...]
Is the Office of Fair Trading’s investigation into fuel prices a positive move for drivers? September 6, 2012 YES David Bizley Anything that brings transparency to fuel pricing is very welcome. Most motorists are very aware that fuel prices go up far faster than they ever come down, so it is a very positive move that the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) is seeking to clarify the situation once and for all. Fuel [...]
Rapid Responses September 6, 2012 No to Boris Island [Re: Which is the best option for expanding airport capacity?, yesterday] Boris Johnson calls a third runway at Heathrow “simply mad”, but the phrase more obviously describes his own proposals for a Thames Estuary airport. Adding a third runway to an airport such as Heathrow, with its existing infrastructure, is incomparably easier, [...]
Knightley fails to lift an unconvincing Karenina September 6, 2012 FILM DREDD Cert 18 | By Alex Dymoke **** We are just two minutes into this bleak, ultra-violent comic book adaptation when our helmeted anti-hero has blasted a flare into his criminal adversary’s mouth, burning and exploding his head from the inside. The 18-rated Dredd declines the family friendly middle-market targeted by most comic-book franchises. [...]
Where to drink September 6, 2012 AS THE temperature in London cools, the nightlife appears to be heating up, with almost twenty high-profile openings planned across the capital for September. Restless restaurant group D&D (Coq d’Argent, Floridita, Le Pont de la Tour) are making their first foray into hotels with South Place Hotel, launching this week near Moorgate. It looks poised [...]
Without You struggles with London life September 6, 2012 THEATRE WITHOUT YOU Menier Chocolate Factory | By Cathy Adams *** SOME PLAYS belong in London, some don’t. The Globe, for example, plonked in any other city would probably be dismissed as some backdoor village-hall-production-cum-barn-dance. American megaplay Rent, basically La Bohème with an extra injection of HIV, couldn’t exist in any other city apart from New [...]
