City & Gild: Catching a cab, or catching up? June 13, 2014 I wrote recently about the sharing economy and the fact that hotels in New York are in court with Airbnb. Surprise surprise, now the black cabs are on strike because of Uber. As the hoteliers of New York claim their grievance is with Airbnb not paying hotel tax, the cabbies are apparently upset because they [...]
BoAML: Wall Street success could be greatest threat to US recovery June 13, 2014 Forget geopolitical tensions or an emerging market slowdown, the success of the US' own financial system could now be the biggest risk to success. According to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) research report out today, the threat of Federal Reserve action to dampen excesses on Wall Street may in turn kill off the [...]
Petra share price to sparkle as 122.52 carat blue diamond set to be world’s most expensive June 13, 2014 Petra Diamonds has recovered an exceptional 122.52 carat blue diamond its Cullinan site in South Africa. That same mine has produced the largest rough gem diamond ever, the 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond. Martin Potts, an analyst at FinnCap, says that this stone may break the record price paid for a rough diamond. The current record [...]
US retail sales grow at half predicted pace June 12, 2014 US retail sales disappointed in May, creeping up by just 0.3 per cent last month. That's half what consensus estimates had suggested we'd see today, with economists predicting that we'd see growth of 0.6 per cent reported. Investors were expecting the pace of sales growth to pick up, with analysts at Rabobank pointing towards indicators [...]
RBS share price “going down, going down, going down” says analyst June 12, 2014 Despite a 16 per cent rise in the share price of state-backed bank RBS over the past six weeks, one analyst is less than confident that the performance will be sustained. Investec's Ian Gordon writes that "the share price (once again) reflects a triumph of hope over reality and should duly correct". Investec has downgraded [...]
Iraq crisis has traders on edge as militants take Mosul. Here’s what you need to know June 12, 2014 The takeover of key Iraqi cities including Mosul and Tikrit by Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) forces has investors watching events closely. Writing in City AM today, Michael Stephens, deputy director of RUSI Qatar, describes the events as bad "even by Iraq's standards" as the US-trained Iraqi Army units in and around [...]
Bank of England deputy governor says Bitcoin is an “interesting” payment tech June 11, 2014 Bitcoin is an "interesting" technology, says newly appointed Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent. Speaking before the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), Broadbent said that "the payment technology is interesting" but that the idea that it is a proper currency is "much less clear". Now responsible for monetary policy, Broadbent said that the first lesson [...]
Bank staffer Ben Broadbent: Housing market is greatest threat to UK outlook June 11, 2014 Fear housing market risks, not bond market bubbles, says Bank of England staffer Ben Broadbent. When quizzed by MPs on the potential for emerging bubbles in the UK economy, his words clashed with those of Andy Haldane, now the Bank's chief economist. He disagreed with Haldane's claim that the central bank has "intentionally blown the [...]
Unemployment rate falls to 2009 low as data dashes hopes of real wage growth June 11, 2014 Unemployment has taken a further dive, continuing its falls in the three months to April to 6.6 per cent. A drop was widely expected, but analysts had forecast a smaller fall, to just 6.7 per cent. That measure of unemployment, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), has now been declining steadily for a [...]
UK’s scariest chart is dead: Think tank says GDP has passed pre-crisis peak June 10, 2014 The long, slow path to a GDP recovery is complete, says think tank Niesr. They estimate that GDP grew by 0.9 per cent in the three months to May, taking output above its previous all-time high. By their reckoning it's taken from 2008 to May 2014 for GDP to recover fully. We'll still have to [...]
