If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you… October 9, 2011 WHAT constitutes a tough call? It’s got nothing to do with the scale of a decision – it can be easy enough to decide to buy or sell a company. Nor has it much to do with immediate circumstances – tough calls can crop up in good times as well as bad. No. In my [...]
A European Tobin tax won’t just hit London October 9, 2011 FOLLOWING the events of the past few months, there has never been a more important time for London’s financial services industry to build close links with Brussels. That is why I will be travelling to the City of London Brussels Office’s annual reception tomorrow and why, once there, I – along with the executive director [...]
RAPID RESPONSES October 9, 2011 Missing numbers I am sure the MPC appreciates the theory of the velocity of money and the effect increasing the money supply will have. If I can, then I am sure Mervyn King does. Which begs the question, why did they launch more QE, even sooner than expected? I work in the property sector and [...]
Stress tests failed to test banks October 9, 2011 THE downgrade of a dozen UK banks and eight Portuguese banks on Friday morning ended another tumultuous week in the European banking sector. The Greek farce has dragged on so long that it has fallen from the headlines, despite its potential to bring Europe crashing down around our ears. Instead, focus has shifted to the [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD October 9, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Burberry will make its second quarter trading statement on Wednesday. China has been driving demand for luxury European goods, but there have been signs that this demand is beginning to abate, which will not bode well for the UK brand. ● Hargreaves Lansdown will release an interim management statement on Thursday. Many [...]
THE TIPSTER October 9, 2011 THOUGH Premier Foods served up a healthy slice of humble pie for investors with the profits warning last week, can this mark a turning point for the company? With mounting debts and falling sales it is certainly in something of a pickle so pressure will build to move ahead with the disposal of peripheral brands [...]
The printing press is whirring again: What does it mean for spread betters October 9, 2011 KATHLEEN BROOKS | FOREX.COM THE major surprise from last week was not only that the Bank of England would pump another £75bn into the UK economy, but also the resilience of the pound. Sterling rallied against all of the major currencies last week and reversed its initial decline immediately after the announcement. So is the [...]
MINERS DIG DEEP TO AID OLIVIA’S RECOVERY October 9, 2011 IT’S NOT often you see people spending £3,700 on “thin air”. But last Thursday night, the Berkeley Square silver merchant Jim Williams raised his hand to bid on nothing at all to take the Olivia’s Vision auction to the “nice round number” of £80,000. The Arian Silver Corporation’s “huge mining character” was bidding at the [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK October 9, 2011 BACK TO this column’s favourite Kensington haunt Amika for this week’s Bill of the Week, after one Russian businessman decided it was champagne all round on a recent Saturday night out. Dom Perignon all the way, as it turned out, with a magnum followed by a jeroboam followed by a £12,000 bottle of the White [...]
Legal industry shake up is a business opportunity October 9, 2011 THE Legal Services Act has just come into force and it threatens to decimate high street legal firms. For years, in legal seminars across England and Wales, high street lawyers have been crying out against it. The new law hopes to create competition, but many have warned it could squeeze out smaller firms who lack [...]
