UK insolvency down as business picks up July 18, 2010 INDICATIONS that the UK’s business community is starting to stabilise have come from new data that shows the number of company insolvencies in June has declined by more than 13 per cent from last year. Information from data services group Experian shows that 1,771 UK businesses failed last month down from the 2,044 that became [...]
Finance sector must highlight its contribution July 18, 2010 AT a time when spending cuts, tax increases and unemployment dominate the headlines, leaders of the UK financial services industry face an unprecedented challenge getting their message across to the public and politicians. Of course, we must recognise the real anger that continues to exist as a result of the mistakes made – not only [...]
Water firms get £3.4bn EU loans July 18, 2010 The EU plans to lend the UK’s 10 biggest water utilities €4bn (£3.4bn) over the next five years, as they try to reduce the number of customers who cannot pay their bills. UK water companies including United Utilities and Severn Trent can take out cheap loans from the European Investment Bank to help reduce “water [...]
Donations drop by nearly 10 pc July 18, 2010 The austerity mindset has dented charitable donations this year, says research by Investec. Hard-up workers are giving 9.6 per cent less than a year ago, with almost a quarter admitting to reducing their donations. Londoners have dropped their donations by 9.2 per cent. People aged 34 to 44 are most reluctant to part with their [...]
SUMMER’S SET TO SIZZLE AS CITY’S GOT TALENT MAKES A COMEBACK July 18, 2010 IT’S SUMMERTIME, and if you’re looking for a ray of sunshine to penetrate the daily grind of City life, look no further. Regular readers of this column will remember last year, when The Capitalist whipped the financial world into a frenzy with a rundown of the top ten hunkiest gentlemen and loveliest ladies the City [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK July 18, 2010 IT’S OFF the beaten track for this week’s bill, racked up by six businessmen celebrating a deal with a short but sweet trip to Malta’s luxury boutique hotel The Xara Palace – frequented by famous faces such as Brad Pitt and Roger Moore. Our lucky travellers headed to the hotel’s award-winning De Mondion restaurant, where [...]
Nervy markets ahead of bank stress test results July 18, 2010 EXPECT a lot of talk and even more nerves ahead of the European bank stress test results this week. For the market open this morning, that means erring to the downside. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open down 28 points from Friday’s close, at a level of 5,130. The German DAX is [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD July 18, 2010 AFTER ugly economic data and an unexpected downturn in sentiment on quarterly earnings, Wall Street will face a tough time battling back from the latest sell-off. Technology and banking results will once again shape investor mind-set in a week dominated by a blitz of quarterly earnings. But it will be a tough job to shift [...]
Trade volatility if you want to take a view on the markets July 18, 2010 WHEN people think of volatility, images of falling stock prices, anxious traders and massive losses come to mind. But spread betters should use periods of volatility as an opportunity. Most spread betting companies allow traders to take a position on volatility – usually by betting on the Vix index, which measures the implied volatility of [...]
Don’t bet on strong bank earnings July 18, 2010 REACTIONS were mixed as the first of the season’s US bank earnings rolled in last week. Some analysts – like GFT’s David Morrison – were blaming poor revenue growth reported by Citigroup and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) on Friday for the subsequent dip in the S&P 500 as it plunged 2.09 per cent in [...]
