Microsoft announces 22 per cent quarterly dividend hike with pledge to return cash to shareholders September 17, 2013 Technology giant Microsoft has upped its quarterly dividend with the announcement of a $40bn share repurchase. That repurchase is an old commitment, but the dividend increase is new. Microsoft Corp. announced on Tuesday that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting a 5 cent or 22 percent increase over [...]
US treasury secretary Lew says Obama won’t negotiate on debt ceiling September 17, 2013 US treasury secretary Jack Lew has said that President Barack Obama will not negotiate over the debt ceiling, and that delaying an increase to the last minute is a "very dangerous" option. Lew said that social security, medicare and contract payments are at risk, with a danger of a depleting cash balance at the Treasury.
Think tank recommends independent Scotland buys its freedom with debt for oil swap September 17, 2013 A research team at think tank NIESR has recommended some out of the box thinking for an independent Scotland to deal with what would be mountainous fiscal imbalances. An oil for debt swap – where the oil revenues would pass over to the UK in exchange for a large write down of the debt that [...]
Higginson still in the running for RBS branches despite reports of bid rejection September 17, 2013 Reports that Andy Higginson's bid for RBS branches had been rejected have been denied by his consortium W&G Investments. A spokesperson said: We remain in constructive discussions with RBS about our bid. Our proposal remains the only true offer for Williams and Glyns, and offers full and certain value to RBS and its shareholders, whilst [...]
Pressure on Carney eases with softer inflation data September 17, 2013 Headline inflation has fallen from 2.8 per cent to 2.7 per cent in August, as economists had been predicting. That will take pressure off Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who has pledged to hold interest rates down despite above target inflation. More details and analysis on the live blog.
Women more dangerous than men: The top 10 celebrity searches that infected PCs this year September 17, 2013 Lily Collins is now the most dangerous celebrity to search for online in 2013. Knocking Emma Watson off the top spot, internet security company McAfee has found that a search for the actress yields a one in seven chance of ending up on a malicious site. McAfee research found that searching for the latest Lily [...]
German economic sentiment picks up before election weekend September 17, 2013 German economic sentiment has jumped up just in time for the German election, according to the latest ZEW survey numbers. Expected to pick up from 42 to 46, we've seen a jump to 49.6 in economic sentiment in September. Assessment of the current situation also markedly improved, analysts forecasting an uptick from 18.3 to 20.8. [...]
No, GTA V isn’t going to make us less productive September 17, 2013 It's one of the entertainment releases of the year – and already the alarmists are pressing their panic buttons. This time it's not about the infamous violence of the series, but the amount of customers expected to take off work to play the game. A poll by gaming website IGN showed that 5,059 of 10,995 [...]
Lloyds shares weakening after government sale September 17, 2013 The price for a six per cent stake in Lloyds has been announced – 75p per share. A small discount on the bank's current market value, and set to raise £3.21bn as the government reduces its stake from 38.7 per cent to 32.7 per cent. The government sale was covered 2.8 times by demand from [...]
Green light given for Lloyds sale to begin September 16, 2013 UKFI, the government agency that manages the state's 38.7 per cent stake in Lloyds, has given the go ahead to begin reprivatising those shares. The Chancellor has now authorised the process, which will begin with a sale of six per cent of Lloyds shares. More details and analysis on the live blog.
