Bank’s Miles warns that it may take years for monetary policy to return to normal September 24, 2013 Dovish Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member David Miles has warned that it could take ages for monetary policy to return to normal – as the slack in the economy generated by years of underperformance remains. Miles said that while business surveys of current and future activity point to stronger and consistent growth, and [...]
Fed’s Dudley says taper possible this year September 24, 2013 The Fed's William Dudley has said that tapering is possible this year, depending on the data. It's hard to see how the data could improve significantly enough in just a couple of months to change the Federal Reserve decision not to taper though. Dudley says that a decision to taper would require an improvement in [...]
Labour’s corporation tax plans threaten our business-friendly environment September 24, 2013 A business group has warned that Labour's plans to hike corporation tax threaten the attractiveness of the UK as a business location. Today Labour leader Ed Miliband will pledge to scrap plans to reduce corporation tax, in order to fund a small two year business rate freeze. The proposal will see UK firms paying £785m [...]
Analysts greet Total’s planned investment reduction with scepticism September 24, 2013 Analysts have greeted Total's announcement of a fall in organic capital expenditure with a note of caution. Nomura analyst Theepan Jothilingam said: There will no doubt be some skepticism that capital intensity can be reduced but a headline fall in group capex to $24-25bn [£15-15.6bn] underpins Total as the name that offers in principle the [...]
EBay and Argos launch national trial of Click & Collect for merchants September 24, 2013 Online mega auctioneer EBay and high street retailer Argos have announced the launch of a national trial that will offer Click & Collect for EBay merchants. The UK collection services will be trialled at 150 Argos stores for six months. Large merchants will be able to take advantage of the new system, while smaller merchants [...]
Tesco’s Hudl could end up relegated to the playroom September 23, 2013 Priced at just £119 (and available for less if you participate in a loyalty scheme) Tesco's Hudl is certainly one of the cheaper tablets on the market. Despite offering an impressive spec for that price tag, analysts fear that it could end up as a device for children. Tesco's plans for Hudl revolve around it [...]
Microsoft’s approach to tablets is insane: They’re just doing the same thing over and over again September 23, 2013 Some analysts are decidely less excited by Microsoft's new Surface 2 tablets than the company themselves. Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis thinks the tech giant is showing signs of insanity, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Evans warns that if Microsoft have ordered another chunk of Surface tablets, they'll [...]
Microsoft says new tablet is faster than 95 per cent of laptops today September 23, 2013 Today's second tablet release (after Tesco's Hudl), tech giant Microsoft is now unveiling its Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 devices. Microsoft vice president surface Panos Panay says they've "been working on the second-generation of products for about 18 months". Panay says that the Pro 2 is "literally faster than 95 percent of laptops today" [...]
Fed’s Lockhart says US is losing its economic mojo September 23, 2013 The Fed's Dennis Lockhart has said that he sees indicators of "some slowing" in US payroll growth and that there is now evidence to contend that America is losing its "economic mojo". Lockhart believes that monetary policy can help promote recovery. He said that he backed the Fed's asset purchase program, and that the Fed [...]
Fed’s Dudley suggests taper won’t come for a long time yet September 23, 2013 Fed dove William Dudley has said that unemployment probably won't reach the Fed's 6.5 per cent threshold for a "considerable time". Using the word taper twice in his speech, Dudley said that policy makers must continue to act "forcefully" against economic headwinds while the economy fails to shows signs of "any meaningful pickup" in momentum. [...]
