THE LONDON REPORT June 23, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1 per cent yesterday, falling just 4.03 points to 4,230.02 in a choppy session, with thin volumes exacerbating movements, after losing 2.6 per cent on Monday. The index has gained more than 22 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down 4.6 per cent on [...]
Reuters to leave the LSE June 22, 2009 FINANCIAL data provider Thomson Reuters said yesterday that it plans to withdraw its shares from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to simplify its capital structure. The company, formed when Canadian data publishing company Thomson bought British news and financial information provider Reuters, said it would also remove its shares from the Nasdaq. It will retain [...]
AIG is at war with ex-chief June 15, 2009 AIG began a legal fight with former boss Maurice Greenberg in a New York federal court yesterday, in a bitter fight over disputed assets worth $4.3bn (£2.6bn). Greenberg, chairman of privately-held Starr International, is accused by AIG of snatching the assets unlawfully in 2005. He is due to take the stand to testify this week. [...]
US equities fall on interest-rate fears June 10, 2009 US stocks fell last night on worries that rising interest rates could put a damper on consumer and business spending, but stocks pared losses late in the session on a bond-market rebound. The market had extended losses after a 10-year Treasury note auction sparked a sell-off in bonds, pushing yields briefly above 4 per cent [...]
Texas lifts Nasdaq but Dow stays flat June 9, 2009 THE Nasdaq rose yesterday after an improved outlook from Texas Instruments lifted technology stocks, but gains on other indexes were limited as plans by big banks to repay government bailout funds raised concerns whether the move would help the economy recover. Shares of Texas Instruments jumped 6.4 per cent to $21.03 after it raised its [...]
Paulson loses on Barclays short position June 4, 2009 PROMINENT hedge fund manager John Paulson has abandoned his fund’s short position on Barclays, losing an estimated £100m in the process. The loss will be particularly keenly felt because New York-based fund Paulson closed its position just a day before Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation opted to offload 1.3bn shares in Barclays, pushing the [...]
New dawn at Chrysler and GM in the US June 1, 2009 CAR giant General Motors (GM) finally filed for Chapter 11 yesterday, as President Barack Obama said his government’s plan for the carmaker was viable and would see the business rise out of bankruptcy quickly. When GM emerges from the largest-ever bankruptcy filing in US manufacturing history, the debt-heavy company will be majority owned by the [...]
Rising yields on US debt dents stocks May 27, 2009 US stocks dropped yesterday as rising yields on US government debt fuelled concern that businesses and consumers could face higher borrowing costs, which could hamper an economic recovery. The decline was broad-based, with manufacturer 3M and International Business Machines among stocks leading a 2 per cent fall on the blue-chip Dow. The S&P and Nasdaq [...]
BLANK’S CHELSEA APPEARANCE SETS CITY TONGUES WAGGING ON HIS HEIR May 18, 2009 ANY idea that the downturn would affect corporate hospitality at the Chelsea Flower Show, traditionally one of the biggest, most important corporate schmooze-fests of the year, was smashed to smithereens at last night’s gala preview opening. Chelsea veterans including Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, ICAP billionaire Michael [...]
Why Randgold Resources’ boss can afford to go on a 48-day bike safari May 17, 2009 BIG, burly, loud and infectious: Mark Bristow, the founder and chief executive of Randgold Resources, looks every inch a mining man. The 6’3” South African is in good form as he bounds into the gold miner’s functional London office in the shadow of the Savoy Hotel (it is undergoing a 16-month £100m refit – the [...]