THE SHOW MUST GO ON SAYS FOREX FINANCIER November 1, 2011 DIGITAL downloads decimating album sales, Russian born tycoon Len Blavatnik poised to swoop on the UK’s last major domestic music label – it’s fair to say the music industry has seen better days. Here to help the sector’s financially challenged artistes make the most of their remaining revenue sources – touring, merchandise and ticket sales [...]
Bank CEOs hit back at ethics accusations November 1, 2011 BANK chiefs clashed with a committee of MPs and peers yesterday to defend the industry from what they called unfounded “generalisations”. Responding to an accusation from the Conservative peer Lord Maples that the crisis had involved “a failure of ethics… particularly within investment banking”, Barclays chief Bob Diamond said that the query was rife with [...]
House prices rise but market remains weak November 1, 2011 House prices rose in October but have fallen slightly over the past three months as difficult economic conditions kept the market under pressure, Nationwide has said. The building society’s house price index showed prices gained 0.4 per cent in the past month – the strongest monthly gain since February, and higher than September’s 0.1 per [...]
Greek referendum bombshell hits markets November 1, 2011 Markets were plunged into renewed gloom today as Greece sent shockwaves through the Eurozone by announcing that it would hold a referendum on the bloc’s action plan to tackle the debt crisis. The renewed uncertainty hit banks while commodities were also dented by disappointing manufacturing data out of China. Meanwhile the Office for National Statistics [...]
AVB still defiant after his nightmare week October 31, 2011 Chelsea boss stands by his methods as QPR star Ferdinand reveals “strong feelings” over his clash with Terry, by James Goldman CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-Boas admits he and his side have endured “a disastrous week” but insists he is still on course to produce a side capable of winning the Premier League. The past eight [...]
Profits edge up at Barclays October 31, 2011 BARCLAYS surprised investors by booking a rise in profits in all but one of its businesses yesterday. Stripping out the effect of accounting gains and one-off provisions, its quarterly pre-tax profits rose five per cent on last year to £1.27bn despite earnings halving in its biggest division, Barclays Capital. Profits more than doubled in its [...]
Stripping out banks’ accounting tricks October 31, 2011 IF investment bank analysts remember 2011 for anything other than an earnings wipe-out, it will be the year of the debt value adjustment (DVA) – or “own credit” tweak. In the first nine months of this year, a drop in the value of Barclays’ debt amounted to a whopping £2.97bn gain on the bottom line. [...]
Weaker mining and energy prices drag the FTSE down October 31, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fellback yesterday, led by weaker miners and energy issues, as commodity prices retreated under the influence of a firmer dollar and worries over demand from China, with banks also under pressure after recent gains. Miners and integrated oil stocks took over 30 points off the UK blue chip index, as they [...]
THE TIPSTER October 31, 2011 SHARES in Man Group are languishing at lows not seen since March of 2009, down over 50 per cent year to date. Weekend reports suggested Man could be considering using some of its cash pile of around $1bn to fund a share buyback at current levels, so CFD traders were buying with tight stop losses [...]
Miners peg back markets October 31, 2011 European shares fell early in the session with miners hurt by falling metals prices while the afterglow of last week’s Eurozone debt deal began to fade. Miners were dented by Japan wading into the currency markets to rein in the value of the soaring yen, which sent the dollar up. A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced [...]