Irish retail sales fall further June 28, 2012 Irish retail sales volumes fell 0.1 per cent in May and 2.1 per cent on the year, Central Statistics Office figures showed yesterday. Final figures for April showed a monthly fall of 0.8 per cent and an annual drop of 1.8 per cent – an improvement on earlier data that showed falls of 1.5 per [...]
Egypt tops emerging equities June 28, 2012 Egyptian stocks topped returns on emerging equity markets in the first six months of 2012 with a rise of 30 per cent, well above the broader MSCI emerging stock index, where spectacular first quarter gains crumbled under the impact of the euro crisis. MSCI’s dollar-based emerging equity index has fallen one per cent in the [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 28, 2012 BAE Systems Tom Arseneault has been appointed executive vice president, product sectors, and chief technology officer of the defence giant. He most recently served as president of BAE’s electronic systems sector, and joined the company in 2010. Additionally, Larry Prior, current executive vice president, service sectors, will become chief operating officer. Mercer Aled Jones has [...]
BEST of the BROKERS June 28, 2012 EVRAZ Goldman Sachs rates the steel maker “buy” but has slashed its target price from 700p to 410p. The broker has cut its forecasts for commodity prices, resulting in a four per cent fall in assumptions across the industry this year. However, Goldman remains positive about steel, and thinks Evraz is well-positioned to improve as [...]
Libor scandal drags FTSE 100 into the red as banking stocks plunge June 28, 2012 BANKING shares dragged Britain’s FTSE 100 into negative territory yesterday, battered by concerns over the financial impact of an investigation into the fixing of interbank lending rates that has already engulfed Barclays. Barclays slumped 15.5 per cent in its worst daily fall since 2009, with four times the usual number of shares traded in London. [...]
Stocks volatile over EU, banks and Obamacare June 28, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday but pared back sharp losses late in the session on talk of progress by European leaders in easing the region’s debt crisis, while the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a landmark healthcare law hit large health insurers. Markets are especially skittish about any shift in expectations for the Eurozone as European Union [...]
Barclays’ reputation is severely damaged but it will not be alone June 28, 2012 THERE can be little that is more precious to a bank than a reputation for integrity. The revelation that Barclays has paid a £290m fine for “misconduct” with regard to the setting of benchmark interest rates affecting trillions of pounds of financial contracts is a big blow for the bank’s reputation. Cue politicians calling for [...]
Steve Jobs made the right call: Apple’s ingenious iPhone turns five today June 28, 2012 FIVE years ago, the makers of BlackBerry didn’t believe the iPhone was possible. According to a former employee, they held internal meetings on 10 January 2007, the day after the unveiling but six months before it went on sale on 29 June, arguing that Apple was fudging the truth: it was simply impossible for a [...]
Coalition policy is damaging longer term productivity June 28, 2012 BRITAIN’S businesses and working families are paying a heavy price for the government’s mistakes. Abandoning the last Labour government’s balanced plan for deficit reduction, and raising taxes and cutting spending too far and too fast, has choked off recovery and pushed the UK into recession. As the only G20 country other than Italy already in [...]
Is News Corporation’s decision to split itself into two separate companies a good move? June 28, 2012 YES Alex DeGroote News Corp’s plan to split its entertainment and publishing assets should help resolve the conglomerate discount which undermines its equity value. Over time, it will allow capital to be allocated more rationally across the businesses. We imagine growth-oriented investors will favour the much larger, higher margin entertainment business. The publishing entity is [...]
