Government copies Thick of It storyline February 10, 2014 Sometimes life imitates art so perfectly, that it's hard to believe it's true. Nick Clegg's ‘alarm clock Britain' may not have been quite as ridiculous as The Thick of It's 'quiet bat people', but it came fairly close. But now, one event has actually bettered a storyline in the political comedy show. Last week, Viscount [...]
One bank just unravelled Venezuela’s toilet paper crisis February 10, 2014 Venezuela has been beset by chronic shortages of toilet paper for years, and now Bank of America Merrill Lynch believes it knows why. CADIVI, Venezuela’s currency exchange institution, allows dollar purchases of toilet paper as a necessary item. The central bank has also issued an increased number of dollars to CADIVI in recent years, so [...]
Bitcoin tumbles over 20pc after the exposure of this critical flaw February 10, 2014 Bitcoin's having a bad morning. After an update from key exchange MtGox detailed problems with a bug – known as "transaction malleability" – the cryptocurrency is dropping like a stone. That will mean that withdrawals from the exchange stay halted. While the Bitcoin community was already aware of the fault, the news has shaken confidence [...]
Barclays releases key profit figures early February 10, 2014 We've got some early Barclays news. The bank has released some key figures ahead of its full year results (due tomorrow at 7.00am). Within the results, Barclays will announce adjusted profit before tax for 2013 of £5.2bn and statutory profit before tax of £2.9bn. Barclays' pre-released figures don’t factor in additional charges for litigation and [...]
The Bitcoin bug threatening the web’s favourite cryptocurrency February 10, 2014 Top Bitcoin exchange MtGox has released an update on the issue that saw Bitcoin prices crash last week. MtGox have discovered a critical flaw with Bitcoin, that every exchange is now having to deal with. That fault threatens the functioning of the digital currency. The problem is known as "transaction malleability". Here's their non-technical explanation: [...]
Admiral shares drop as Goldman Sachs cuts insurer’s rating February 10, 2014 A downgrade from investment bank Goldman Sachs is sending Admiral shares lower this morning. Goldman have downgraded the insurer from "buy" to "neutral" on the back of recent outperformance from the stock, which has seen shares fall by nearly 1.8 per cent. When Goldman reiterated their "buy" rating for Admiral in October, they found that [...]
City & Gild: We clamour for the individual touch at any price – and brands can answer the call February 7, 2014 Rich or poor, there’s one thing that everyone is striving for – individualism. While one woman’s individuality comes via a limited edition un-badged Hermes bag, another person’s comes from a Coke bottle with their name on it. The former unassuming but showy (or “knowy”) and bespoke, the latter showy and, well, also bespoke. Each answers [...]
Amazon has (finally) started delivering goods to the Amazon February 7, 2014 On Friday Amazon started selling its Kindle online across Brazil. This particular product launch has a special resonance for the world's largest online retailer. The Kindle Paperwhite will now be sold in the region of the world where the prestigious online company takes its name – the Amazon. This marks the first time Amazon has [...]
Weak US jobs data: Only 113,000 workers hired in January February 7, 2014 A weak number from the US. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 113,000 workers were hired in January. Analysts expected to see 185,000 jobs added this month. We saw some nasty numbers last month, with only 74,000 jobs added so there was a good possibility of a rebound. That number has been revised up – but [...]
Our favourite way to forecast the US jobs numbers February 7, 2014 This remains our favourite way to predict the US labour data release. After last month's non-farm payroll prediction miss, this month we are using a different cat #NFPguesses pic.twitter.com/CwwyVhsYas — Craig Drake (@csdrake) February 7, 2014 Last time this was tried Bob the cat was well off – but that's because her options were [...]
