ENDGAME November 9, 2011 THE CLOCK is ticking for the European Central Bank (ECB) and international community to step in to save Italy, economists warned as the country’s borrowing costs shot through the roof yesterday. Stocks across the world fell as the crisis escalated, with the Dow plummeting 3.2 per cent, the DAX falling 2.21 per cent. and VIX, [...]
Bring back Olympus CEO: funds November 9, 2011 BAILLIE Gifford, the Edinburgh-based fund manager, yesterday called for the reinstatement of Michael Woodford as president and CEO of Olympus nearly a month after he was fired from the group after questioning controversial payments. Baillie Gifford’s investment manager Iain Campbell says the group’s current management is now discredited. Baillie Gifford holds about four per cent [...]
Greece left headless as politicians fight November 9, 2011 GREECE was left without a government for a fourth day running last night after squabbling politicians failed to announce a successor to fill the vacuum left by Prime Minister George Papandreou, who resigned yesterday. The failure of the country’s political elite to strike an agreement leaves two of the Eurozone’s crisis-hit countries without governments, as [...]
The penny drops at last in Europe November 9, 2011 IN a rational market, risk as well as return is at the forefront of investors’ minds. They demand a high rate of interest to lend to risky companies, individuals or countries – and a low one to invest in safe havens. The problem during bubbles is that investors drunk on excessive liquidity – and who [...]
Life after the Eurozone planned for peripheral states facing possible exit November 9, 2011 GERMAN and French officials have discussed the formation of a more tightly integrated core Eurozone, while separate reports from Germany reveal that Angela Merkel’s party is investigating ways of some countries leaving the single currency while staying in the European Union. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union will publish a paper today on how Eurozone members might [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 9, 2011 THE TIMES SMALL BUSINESSES NEED HELP TO EXPORT, SAY MINISTERS Banks and corporate advisers must do more to encourage small companies to break into export markets, the government will say today. Ministers will tell a conference of advisers in London that they have a key role in boosting the relatively low number of smaller British [...]
Alarm hits US as county seeks $5bn bankruptcy November 9, 2011 LEGISLATORS in Alabama’s Jefferson County yesterday voted 4 to 1 to file for bankruptcy court protection in what would be the biggest municipal bankruptcy in US history. Despite a tentative deal with creditors reached in September to settle $3.14bn (£1.97bn) of debt, county commissioners this week resurrected the threat of a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing [...]
WHAT IS ITALY’S PROBLEM? November 9, 2011 Q.WHY DO HIGH YIELDS ON ITALY’S DEBT MATTER? A.A large proportion of Italian GDP is spent on debt interest. Earlier this year the European Commission forecast Italy’s budget would be in what economists call a primary surplus to the tune of 0.75 per cent of GDP. However, once interest payments are added, this falls to [...]
French bank taps ECB funds November 9, 2011 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank’s (ECB) second covered bond purchase programme is underway, with Banque de France making an order in the taps of Credit Mutuel Arkea’s outstanding French Obligations à L’Habitat, according to a syndicate banker. CM Arkea opened books yesterday morning, tapping a €1.25bn 2.5 per cent June 2015 issue at mid-swaps plus 100 basis [...]
World faces risk of a lost decade November 9, 2011 THE EUROZONE debt crisis risks plunging the global economy into a Japan-style “lost decade”, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned yesterday. “If we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of [...]
