Apple falls out of favour with UK consumers January 15, 2014 Apple has fallen out of favour with UK consumers, losing its coveted spot as one of the UK’s top 10 brands. Last year Apple’s iPad held the No 6 slot on YouGov’s BrandIndex report, but this year the technology giant is nowhere to be found. UK Top Brands 1. BBC iPlayer (no change)2. John Lewis [...]
These 5 weird items might get special EU protections January 15, 2014 Anglesey sea salt and West Country beef have this week been given the same protected status as champagne, parma ham and Cornish pasties by the European Commission. Halen Mon, the makers of Anglesey sea salt – famous for its crunchy texture and clean taste, they say – will be able to use one of the EU’s [...]
A DIY investment price war could be on the way January 15, 2014 Imagine if Sainsbury’s or Tesco made you pay to enter their supermarkets and buy their milk and bread, but promised that the milk and bread would be much cheaper than before. That slightly dystopian vision is what occurred to UK money management industry last year, after regulators decided the relationship between suppliers and distributors was [...]
The World Bank’s 3 big fears for 2014 January 15, 2014 The World Bank's latest report on Global Economic Prospects is out today, and while advanced economies are expected to boost global growth in 2014, the authors reveal some worrying downside risks from emerging markets. 1. Rocky road as global interest rates rise The Bank is worried that a “more precipitous adjustment” in rates could “inflict [...]
2013 Royal Family gift list revealed January 15, 2014 It might not come as too much of a surprise that, for the Royal Family, a gift is not just for Christmas – they receive them all year round. And today, Buckingham Palace has released a list of what was received in 2013. Below are the items the Queen alone received last year. Highlights for [...]
Why Nat Rothschild and Tony Hayward are not celebrating today January 15, 2014 So Nat Rothschild and Tony Hayward won't be raising a glass just yet over Genel Energy. The billionaire financier, former BP chief and other founders were thought to be heading towards a bumper bonus payout, as shares in the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer hit a record high of £11.13 last week. If the shares close higher [...]
Soaring mortgage numbers renew fears of bubbly housing market January 15, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) The latest housing data is enough to fuel concerns that a "new housing bubble could develop in 2014", says IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer. Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures show mortgage numbers rising by 14.9 per cent in the year to November. There's a more troubling surge among first-time buyers. They [...]
Disappointing German GDP numbers are setting the tone for markets today January 15, 2014 Germany saw GDP growth of just 0.4 per cent in 2013, according to figures released today. That's a sign that even the strong Eurozone economy has taken a hit from the euro crisis. Analysts had been expecting growth of 0.5 per cent. Christian Schulz of Berenberg says that the long recession in the country's key [...]
10 problems with the French embassy’s economic analysis January 14, 2014 After a recent editorial from City A.M. editor Allister Heath (France’s failed socialist experiment is turning into a tragedy) the French embassy wrote a piece in response. Here are 10 points on which we disagree over the French economy. 1. Growth prospects The European Commission’s growth forecast for France stands at 0.2% for 2013 and [...]
What happened to the Great Deleveraging? January 14, 2014 Back in the gloomy days of 2010, the phrase bandied around by many US economic forecasters was the appropriately foreboding ‘great deleveraging’. This was an epoch-defining moment when US consumers would stop splurging on nice things like cars and TVs and hunker down to pay back their debts for decades to come. The only problem [...]
