How global progress could be halted July 5, 2011 WHENEVER I get too depressed about the state of the world, I turn to a website called rationaloptimist.com. Its author, Matt Ridley, is the scourge of the neo-Malthusian, doom and gloom pessimists – from the left and the right – who see catastrophes, famines and collapse around every corner. Ridley’s worldview, which draws on his [...]
Shop prices driven up by food inflation July 5, 2011 WORLD ECONOMY FOOD inflation in British shops rocketed to 5.7 per cent in June from 4.9 per cent in May, a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) unveiled today. Food costs pushed overall shop price inflation to a 32-month high of 2.9 per cent in June – a dangerous signal ahead of the official [...]
FTSE extends gains as talk of takeovers boosts the market July 5, 2011 THE FTSE 100 rose for an eighth straight trading day yesterday, as earnings hopes lifted Tullow Oil and bid talk boosted Reckitt Benckiser. Tullow, up 3.8 per cent, said it expected to post record first-half revenues as it ramped up output in Ghana and also said it was a few weeks away from completing a [...]
Eurozone retail sales fall July 5, 2011 Retail sales in the euro zone slipped in May from April with a sharp fall in economic powerhouse Germany, data showed on Tuesday, as the single currency area prepared for a likely interest rate rise. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said month-on-month volumes of retail sales fell by 1.1 per cent in the 17 [...]
Eurozone producer prices slip July 4, 2011 Producer prices in the Eurozone slipped more than expected in May, declining by 0.2 per cent, after a 0.9 per cent jump the previous month. However, underlying data suggest that price pressures remain intense, according to Barclays Capital: “The annual inflation rate for the core (excluding food and energy) consumer goods PPI reached 1.3 per [...]
Fields of gold: How to harvest profits from market intervention June 27, 2011 GOLD has been in the headlines since the start of the year. With the Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing (QE2) in place, gold has acted as the de-facto haven currency. Though attention has been on the seemingly inexorable rise of the yellow metal, commodities have been influenced or even manipulated by the authorities, [...]
PRICE PRESSURES PERSIST IN SINGAPORE June 23, 2011 INFLATION in Singapore is proving more stubborn than expected, holding up at 4.5 per cent in May, official data showed yesterday. Higher food, housing and transport costs drove up the island state’s consumer price index. The consumer price index looks set to overshoot forecasts of 3-4 per cent targeted by Singapore’s authorities for 2011.
G20 hits deadlock over financial regulation during food price talks June 22, 2011 THE G20 economic powers agreed on proposals to address volatility in food commodities last night, with the exception of financial regulation issues, a source close to the negotiations revealed. While the subject of financial regulation remains a sticking point, negotiators approved other measures such as the creation of a global data-sharing scheme, the source said. [...]
Ofgem demands UK energy market shake-up June 22, 2011 Ofgem has told the country’s biggest utilities it believes sweeping reforms are needed to the retail gas and electricity market to encourage competition at a time of rising energy prices. “We will pursue breaking up the stranglehold of the Big Six on the electricity market to encourage more firms, like new arrival the Co-op, to [...]
High street gloom twice as bad as expected… June 16, 2011 THE plight of the UK consumer returned to the fore yesterday as new official data showed retail sales slumped more than twice as much as anticipated in May. Retail spending dropped off sharply with the end of April’s sunny weather and public holidays, leaving sales down 1.4 per cent in May, or 1.6 per cent [...]