EU leaders sign off on tougher Russian sanctions: Here’s the big change July 16, 2014 In an attempt to increase the pressure on Russian leaders over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the European Council has agreed that stiffer medicine will be needed. Following a declaration from the US, EU leaders have made one singificant change, agreeing to expand sanctions to those entities which provide "material or financial support to Russian [...]
Meet the one US pharma company not looking to reduce its tax bill July 16, 2014 There's a lone voice in the pharmaceuticals industry: a company that doesn't want to take steps to reduce its tax bill. While almost all of its US peers are making strategic plays to reduce their costs, one firm – St. Jude Medical – isn't looking to go down the same path. The heart device maker [...]
General Motors sales drive company to best second quarter performance since 2005 July 16, 2014 The General Motors (GM) engine has started up again, as the auto manufacturer is back to delivering stronger sales performances. In the second quarter of this year GM saw 2,505,889 vehicles drive off forecourts around the world, up seven per cent in the US and eight per cent in the Chinese market. Sales have moved [...]
Federal Reserve sees social media and biotech valuations as “substantially stretched” July 15, 2014 The Federal Reserve has joined the voices calling out biotech and social media stocks as over-priced. In its Monetary Policy Report, the Fed says "valuation metrics in some sectors do appear substantially stretched," singling out smaller firms in both social media and biotechnology. So what valuation metrics might the Fed be using? The most popular [...]
Fed’s Janet Yellen: US recovery is incomplete and uncertainty remains July 15, 2014 The US recovery is far from complete. That's the message from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, who in written testimony has said that "too many Americans remain unemployed" and inflation remains below the central bank's objective. Yellen has also highlighted "considerable uncertainty" surrounding the Fed's projections for economic growth. Central bank watchers will be trying [...]
Companies House data to go free: Change could save UK £8.7m each year July 15, 2014 Accounts published at Companies House, the UK registrar of companies, are to be made public free of charge. Accessing records of businesses held at Companies House has always required the user to pay a nominal fee of up to £1. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) says that last year (2013/2014) customers spent [...]
Top economists aren’t convinced by Republican proposal for Federal Reserve monetary policy rule July 14, 2014 Economists aren't impressed by the latest bright idea out of Washington. A Republican proposal to have the Federal Reserve bound by a formal rule, that would mandate a relationship between the Federal funds rate and macroeconomic measures, is failing to win many fans among academic economists. Those behind the legislation are fans of economists like [...]
Mario Draghi says QE “falls squarely” in European Central Bank mandate July 14, 2014 Mario Draghi is doing more scene-setting work for full-blown quantitative easing. Speaking to EU politicians today, the European Central Bank (ECB) president said that QE "falls squarely" in the central bank's mandate. Draghi's comments come as the International Monetary Fund today did all but outright say that the ECB should begin to engage in asset [...]
Sotheby’s announces EBay deal: Partnership brings auction houses together July 14, 2014 Auction houses, old and new, are being brought together. Sotheby's has today announced that it will be partnering with EBay to sell the art and collectibles for which it is famous. EBay's platform currently boasts 145m active buyers in 190 countries, and collectibles accounted for $8bn of the site's gross merchandise volume in 2013. While [...]
Banco Espirito Santo told to accelerate management changes after bank’s health warning rocks markets July 13, 2014 Portugal's central bank has hit the gas on management changes at troubled financial institution, Banco Espirito Santo (BES). In a statement released today the Bank of Portugal announced that it had ordered BES to put in place new executives, who were due to take over at the end of this month. European and US stocks [...]