In 3 charts: Past performance is not an indication of future results February 13, 2014 That famous phrase, “past performance is not an indication of future results,” is widely used in finance and for good reason. Most investors who pile money into stocks of a particular country cite the long term economic growth prospects of these countries, pointing to the growth rates of previous years as an indication that now [...]
Male directors more likely to break rules February 13, 2014 More directors are being disqualified after their companies collapse, but the insolvency specialist Zolfo Cooper has warned that not enough execs are being banned for misconduct. The restructuring specialist said 235 directors were disqualified in the last three months of 2013, up from 181 in the previous quarter. 85 per cent of those banned were [...]
Osborne’s claims that Scotland couldn’t use the pound don’t stack up February 13, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne is on the warpath this morning. He's knocking the idea of Scotland using the pound, without asking England's permission. Something that Adam Smith Institute research director Sam Bowman says the English government couldn't stop it doing. Pointing to other countries that do something similar – Panama with the dollar, and Montenegro with [...]
Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2bn February 13, 2014 The deal's been confirmed. Comcast has agreed to pick up all of Time Warner Cable's stock at $158.82 (£96) a share – valuing Time Warner Cable at around $45.2bn. Time Warner have already rejected a $133 a share deal from Charter Communications and Liberty Media, just eight months ago. That offer was then dismissed as [...]
Royal Mail rival DX to float February 13, 2014 Deja vu. We've got another delivery company initial public offering on its way, by the looks of things. Delivery company DX announced its intention to float on the Aim this morning. The London float would see the nearly 40 year old company valued at considerably less than its once nationalised peer, but willing to put [...]
City prepares for Merlin Entertainments results magic show February 12, 2014 Merlin Entertainments is set to announce its maiden set of results on 27 February since its successful return to the market in November, sparking a flurry of analyst notes this week predicting good things from the Alton Towers owner. In a note from Deutsche Bank, analysts have restated a “buy” recommendation and target price [...]
2 of the worst methods people use to trade February 12, 2014 Has gold’s rally got much further to go? Will the volatility in equity markets continue in the coming months? Most traders attempt to answer these questions through a careful study of the economic fundamentals (with mixed success). But in the underbelly of the retail trading industry lurk a few novel solutions to the problem of [...]
Man Utd chief: If success-starved Liverpool can still sell shirts we don’t need to worry February 12, 2014 Mirth might be in short supply among Manchester United fans this season but that did not stop executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward making an apparent joke at Liverpool’s expense while announcing financials today. Woodward delivered the pointed quip during an investor conference call while rebutting fears that United’s dreadful recent on-field performance would affect their famous [...]
Energy networks to face MP grilling February 12, 2014 Energy suppliers could breathe a (brief) sigh of relief today as the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s latest inquiry isn’t about them. As the public furore into rising energy bills rumbles on, the committee of MPs is now looking into energy network costs, which regulator Ofgem estimates make up around 23 per cent of a [...]
The boffins have proved it: Commuting makes you miserable February 12, 2014 Who’d be a commuter? Escalating train fares, Tube strikes, people sneezing without covering their noses. My soul’s getting heavy just thinking about it. And now even the boffins at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are weighing in, performing a complex “regression analysis” – a way of comparing lots of different variables, in this case [...]
