CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 9, 2012 Debrett’s Joanne Milner has been appointed chief executive at Debrett’s, the etiquette authority and provider of luxury products and insurance. She joins from leading LDC, the mid-market private equity house. Milner will use her experience of business in China and Hong Kong to drive forward Debrett’s future plans in the region. Camco The clean energy [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 9, 2012 MONEYSUPERMARKET.COM Numis has downgraded the price comparison website from “reduce” to “sell” on the back of an “intensifying threat” from Google. The broker, which predicted in May that Google’s experiment with financial price comparison would divert traffic away from sites like Moneysupermarket, says the threat has been “stepped up a notch” and Moneysupermarket’s valuation is too [...]
Oil and mining shares weigh down on FTSE as third quarter rally fades July 9, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led Britain’s top share index lower yesterday as equities’ bright start to the third-quarter continued to fade against a backdrop of waning global growth and as investors geared themselves up for the earnings season. London’s blue chip index closed down 35.30 points, or 0.6 per cent at 5,627.33 and is now 1.8 per [...]
Global worries hit as Wall St awaits earnings July 9, 2012 STOCKS in the US slipped in light trading yesterday, weighed down by weak economic data from Asia and signs of economic trouble in Europe, underscored by higher Spanish and Italian bond yields. Yesterday’s decline, the third in a row for the S&P 500 index, comes as quarterly earnings reports get under way. Investors are anxious [...]
The Bank of Dave: How one man is challenging the high street giants July 9, 2012 IT’S only 240 miles from Burnley to the City of London, but sometimes it feels like it’s a completely different world. Unlike the skyscrapers of the City, my “bank” is based on a high street in Burnley. And it used to be a florist’s shop. That’s just one of the things that makes my little [...]
Barclays isn’t the only one engaged in the manipulation of interest rates July 9, 2012 IT HAS recently emerged that a UK bank has been manipulating a key interest rate. The only disappointment I have is that people are wasting so much energy on the wrong bank and the wrong interest rate. The Bank of England has far more influence over the banking system than Barclays – it is, after [...]
Regime defectors are the best hope for peace in Syria July 9, 2012 THE ONGOING conflict in Syria is an acute counterweight to the optimism unleashed by the Arab Spring. Gloomy forecasts of this protracted conflict, not to mention all too frequent pictures of brutally massacred civilians, are creating an ever-growing scrapbook of the chaotic descent of the Syrian nation into endless civil war. Syria’s President Bashar al [...]
Should MPs vote in favour of the proposed reforms to the House of Lords later today? July 9, 2012 YES Peter Facey The House of Lords Reform Bill is a major step forward for democracy, but it’s clear the government needs to be more flexible if it is going to get it through the Commons. Unlock Democracy has proposed several changes. In our view the government needs to review its policy of 15-year non-renewable [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 9, 2012 Banking on choice [Re: Why it must be made much easier to switch bank accounts, yesterday] It should certainly be made easier for customers to change bank accounts. But such a policy will only be worthwhile if it’s combined with measures that encourage banks to differentiate their offering. Transparent pricing structures would be a good [...]
Profit from the race to get America working July 9, 2012 WITH the US continuing to produce lackluster macro data and the presidential elections now less than four months away, eyes are on America’s two most powerful politicians – President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke – for signs of any moves to give the economy a boost. POOR QUALITY LABOUR Obama will today [...]
