Which asset is the true safe haven? GOLD OR SHARES February 26, 2012 TOM WINNIFRITH WE ARE entering an inflationary environment. This is the 1970s all over again. Across the globe governments are relaxing monetary policy. In China and India this is an attempt to keep their economies growing rapidly. In the West it is a desperate attempt to breathe life into economies which face structural issues no-one [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD February 26, 2012 Today A diverse group of FTSE 100 reporters will kick off a busy week in the corporate calendar this morning, with banking giant HSBC likely to be top of many investors’ watch list. Analysts are expecting the bank’s geographical diversity to offset any potential weakness in it investment banking division, with profits expected to hit [...]
FTSE buoyed by energy stocks February 24, 2012 Upbeat economic data across the Atlantic and strong energy stocks helped to keep the FTSE 100 on track today despite relative weakness in Europe. US blue chips added 0.4 per cent overnight after weekly jobless data showed the US labour market remained on the mend, with the Dow approaching levels not seen since before the [...]
RBS chief: cutting pay is a big risk February 23, 2012 RBS chief executive Stephen Hester has said that his bank is taking a risk by paying below market rates for its top investment bankers due to political pressure. In an interview with City A.M., he said: “Clearly we are taking risks with that. We are paying less than some rivals like Barclays for similar productivity [...]
DAVID CAMERON PERFORMS BONUS U-TURN AT TOP BUSINESS SUMMIT February 23, 2012 TO MANSION House for a royal visit from HRH the Prince of Wales and Prime Minister David Cameron, who were all there for the Business in the Community summit. Cameron used his speech to claim that big business was a “powerful force for social progress” and to launch a scathing attack on “anti-business snobbery”. But [...]
RBS spearheads banks’ rally on FTSE February 23, 2012 The FTSE staged a rally this morning spearheaded by banks as investors gave a positive reaction to RBS results. Markets yesterday had been dented by surging oil prices which triggered fears that world global growth could be hampered while data in the Eurozone suggested that the bloc could lurch into recession. Banking stocks jumped in [...]
Credit Agricole posts record loss February 23, 2012 French bank Credit Agricole reported a record quarterly net loss of 3.07bn euros (£2.58bn), performing worse than expected as it was hit by the cost of shrinking its balance sheet and the Greek debt crisis. The semi-cooperative bank, which is under new management and trying to return to its low-risk retail lending roots, was hit [...]
Oil price at record £78 per barrel February 22, 2012 THE PRICE of oil hit an all-time high in sterling yesterday, paving the way for record petrol costs at the pumps in the coming weeks. The relatively weak pound means Brent crude spiked at around £78.50 a barrel, beating the previous record of £77.70 set last spring. In dollar terms crude, squeezed up by supply [...]
Barclays sees complaints edge down February 22, 2012 BARCLAYS saw the number of retail customer complaints it receives edge down by six per cent last year in a development that it expects to deliver millions of pounds in cost-savings. The drop in complaints came despite a 12 per cent rise in the second half of the year entirely due to the payment protection [...]
Profit at St James’s Place up on turmoil February 22, 2012 THE chief executive of St James’s Place has said many FTSE-listed firms are undervalued, as the upmarket wealth manager reported a rise in profits and its dividend. “There has been a disconnect between the fundamental value of companies and their share price … 2011 was not a good year for markets,” David Bellamy told City [...]