RPI inflation sees sharpest jump since ‘91 May 18, 2010 NEW chancellor George Osborne yesterday called on the Bank of England to accelerate plans to reintroduce house prices into the benchmark rate of inflation, after the housing-linked index in April recorded its biggest monthly increase in two decades. The consumer price index (CPI) – the official inflation measure which does not currently take housing into [...]
Wal-Mart price cuts pay off May 18, 2010 WAL-MART’S quarterly results yesterday beat Wall Street expectations as a curb on costs helped the world’s largest retailer overcome weaker US same-store sales. The costs cuts on everything from labour to transportation helped the company fund “rollbacks” on prices for thousands of items in recent weeks, as it tries to hold onto customers pressured by [...]
SPITALFIELDS MARKET: SEEKING OZ CLARKE OF THE REAL ALE SCENE May 12, 2010 REMEMBER that cushy job as a caretaker of a desert island that caused such a stir when it was advertised a year or so back? Well, The Capitalist might just have discovered an even more covetable role – at least for the beer-loving socialites of the City. Old Spitalfields Market is looking for someone to [...]
Emerging bonds are a good bet this year May 11, 2010 LOW interest rates have been one of the less attractive aspects of holding developed market debt in recent years. But after recent events in Europe you can now add sovereign risk to that list. Investors who want a safer fixed income alternative should look at bond funds in emerging markets. It’s not that long ago [...]
Easter timing hits retailers May 10, 2010 THE timing of Easter, combined with consumers’ ongoing uncertainty, caused UK retail sales to fall 2.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis last month compared to April 2009, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) will say today in its monthly retail sales monitor. This year, only two days over Easter fell in April compared to all [...]
Sainsbury’s expects to ring up profit rise May 9, 2010 J SAINSBURY is this week expected to say its pre-tax profits grew 15 per cent to £595m, but analysts believe it will avoid giving an update on sales amid tough conditions. Sainsbury’s, the third-largest supermarket chain in the UK by market share, is tipped to hand staff a bonus pool of £70m following a buoyant [...]
Morrisons’ sales growth slows despite record number of customers in stores May 6, 2010 SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons has seen record numbers of customers in its stores but the new financial year has been hit by a slowdown, it said in a trading statement yesterday. The group has continued to grow market share in the first quarter with sales, excluding fuel, up 5.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to [...]
Shop prices rose last month but stability forecast May 4, 2010 SHOP price inflation rose to two per cent in April on a year earlier compared to 1.2 per cent in March, according the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Rising costs as a result of higher commodity prices were the main reason behind the increase. The BRC’s director-general Stephen Robertson said: “With commodity [...]
US data confirms steady recovery April 22, 2010 The number of US workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell last week as the labour market gradually heals and producer price data showed inflation remained muted, despite a surge in food costs last month. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 456,000, the Labor Department said yesterday, resuming [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TRAFIGURA LIFTS VEIL TO REVEAL $1BN PROFIT Trafigura, one of the world’s leading oil and metals traders, has told bond investors it earned almost $1bn last year, revealing the extraordinary profitability of the publicity-shy Swiss-based trading houses which dominate commodities markets. The company raised €400m ($438m) recently on its first Eurobond issue after [...]