Ikea latest in horsemeat scandal February 25, 2013 A Czech veterinary authority has found that the meatballs of Swedish home products company Ikea are contaminated with horse. Ikea is the latest to be implicated in a scandal that has been a public relations blow to other including Tesco, Iceland, Aldi and Lidl. Horse found in IKEA meatballs – not like them to include [...]
Shocking scale of Greek contraction revealed February 25, 2013 Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos has revealed that the country's economy has shrunk by some 20% from 2008 to 2012, and expects to see GDP fall by a further 4.5% in 2013. Average joblessness stood at 24.5% in 2012 and is also expected to rise this year. While Provopoulos claims that he expects recovery to [...]
Markets brush off UK downgrade February 25, 2013 Despite a drop in the pound after downgrade news on Friday, markets appear not to care that much about the UK losing its AAA rating. ESCP Europe Business School's Anthony Evans had this after the news on Friday: the Moody's downgrade is political news masquerading as economic news. — Anthony J. Evans (@anthonyjevans) February 23, 2013 [...]
Italian elections set to grip European bond markets February 25, 2013 Italy's two day elections are due to close today at 14:00, with leaked polls showing the centre-left coalition leading slightly ahead of Berlusconi's centre-right alliance (Financial Times). Our reporter Marion Dakers writes: Meanwhile, markets are awaiting the outcome a fiercely-fought Italian election that could foster more financial instability if the polls bring an unstable government. [...]
Sterling slides to 16-month low February 25, 2013 Following Moody's action on Friday, downgrading the UK's AAA-rating, sterling has fallen to a 16-month low against the dollar this morning. (Source: Yahoo!Finance) From the Editor's column: The real problem, as HSBC’s currency team, led by David Bloom, noted last night, is that markets “expected [Osborne’s] plan to succeed and sterling [...]
