BP victory as court caps compensation to oil spill victims October 3, 2013 The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals court has sided with BP, in agreeing that the compensation to be paid to victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill needs will be capped. The court concluded on wednesday night that the agreement reached last year would need to be altered, with stricter conditions on those [...]
House price growth slows in September October 3, 2013 House prices grew by 0.3 per cent in September, down from 0.4 per cent growth in the month before. That's according to new Halifax House Prices data, which analysts had expected to show 0.4 per cent growth this month. Prices are currently down 14.5 per cent from their peak level seen in August 2010, with [...]
Infamous online marketplace Silk Road seized by FBI and arrest of alleged owner Ulbricht October 2, 2013 The darknet site Silk Road has been taken down by law enforcement. The site gained notoreity as a portal through which to purchase illegal goods, using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. FBI estimates suggest that the site has generated revenues totalling over 9.5m Bitcoins, and collected commissions from sales totalling over 600,000 Bitcoins. That equates to around [...]
Letta wins confidence vote by a landslide October 2, 2013 Prime minister Letta has won the vote of confidence in the Italian Senate. Silvio Berlusconi who earlier this week ordered his PDL party to withdraw from the coalition government, resulting in five ministers leaving the government, backed down and supported the prime minister. Mr Berlusconi said "we have decided, not without some internal strife, to [...]
Euro trades above $1.36 as ECB’s Draghi suggests monetary policy will stay loose October 2, 2013 European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has said that the central bank stands "ready to use all available instruments, including an LTRO". That's a heads up that monetary policy will stay loose (in addition to his usual "monetary policy will remain accommodative" spiel). Draghi's assessment of inflation risks saw no change – he said they [...]
Private sector US job data misses estimates – and markets have little else to go on October 2, 2013 While the US government is in shutdown, we're not likely to get labour market estimates from the public sector statisticians – and when they do come they may be rushed, and face revisions afterwards. So for now markets are making do with private sector data releases, and the ADP number just missed estimates. Expected to [...]
Berlusconi backs government in confidence motion October 2, 2013 Silvio Berlusconi has announced to the Senate that his PDL party will back the government in its vote of confidence. The support the PDL guarantees that the government will win today's vote and that there will not be a fresh wave of elections. The move is dramatic U-turn from Berlusconi's party which withdrew five ministers [...]
Italian confidence vote called as debate rages October 2, 2013 The vote of confidence in the Italian government has been officially called. It is still unclear whether Silvio Berlusconi himself will back the government, but what is clear is that a significant part of his party will vote for prime minister Letta. The vote has not yet taken place and Berlusconi is not expected to [...]
Bank’s Fisher says borrowers and lenders must not over-stretch themselves October 2, 2013 The Bank of England's Paul Fisher has said that while the Funding for Lending Scheme has been "remarkably successful", it is important that "both borrowers and lenders need to be careful not to over-stretch themselves." Bank staff projections for net lending to the real economy, consistent with the MPC’s outlook for growth in the August [...]
MP quits role to spend more time with his All-Party Freight Transport Group October 2, 2013 Labour MP Rob Flello has resigned as shadow justice minister "after careful consideration" in order "to return to the backbenches to focus on my other parliamentary interests. Flello is chair of the All-Party Freight Transport Group, which states as its objective that it will "promote freight transport issues and provide a forum to discuss challenges [...]
