Plotting the growth of the market October 2, 2011 WHEN spread betting started in 1974, it was set up to get around the strict price controls that were in place in the UK – at the time it was illegal for retail investors to speculate on gold. Unemployed stockbroker Stuart Wheeler hit upon the idea of creating an index giving investors a way of [...]
SIR PAUL JUDGE OPENS PENTHOUSE HOME FOR COFFEE AND CHAMPAGNE October 2, 2011 IT WAS hard to know who won the cake-making competition at Sir Paul Judge’s coffee morning on Friday – “they were all anonymous” – but with free champagne from Bollinger and chocolate from Green & Blacks on tap, no-one was counting. The Chartered Institute of Marketing president threw open his riverside penthouse for the Macmillan [...]
Eurozone deal fails to breathe new life into markets September 30, 2011 The FTSE 100 opened down today as action to increase the Eurozone’s bailout fund failed to breathe new life into global markets. World stocks fell with European shares set to post their biggest quarterly decline since the collapse of Lehman Brothers three years ago, as investors grappled with a slowdown in global growth and the [...]
Spencer hits out at Tobin tax plans… September 29, 2011 ICAP chief executive Michael Spencer slammed Eurozone politicians as “deluded” for their “red herring” plans to tax financial transactions yesterday, as he said trading had stayed strong over the past six months. The interdealer broker said its electronic platforms trading foreign exchange and interest rate swaps continued to grow fast while its Singapore team had [...]
Santander chief expects three year chill on profits September 29, 2011 SPANISH bank Santander expects it will take three years for profits to return to normal as higher regulatory and funding costs bite while the credit cycle gradually improves. The Eurozone’s biggest bank expects its return on equity (RoE) to improve by between three and six percentage points over the next three years and sees profits [...]
Commodities on track for dire quarter September 29, 2011 COMMODITIES, which are on course to close on their worst quarter since 2008 amid concerns over a global slowdown, gained some breathing space yesterday after the German parliament backed plans to expand the Eurozone’s bailout fund. Copper – often seen as a bell-weather for economic growth – as well as other industrial metals have been [...]
Alexon rescued after pre-pack deal with Sun Capital gets the go-ahead September 29, 2011 FASHION retailer Alexon has become the latest casualty of the economic downturn, going into administration before being sold to private equity firm, Sun Capital Partners. The so called pre-pack administration with KPMG, which secures continuing employment for Alexon’s staff of about 2,700, was agreed yesterday after the firm failed to secure additional funding, leaving it [...]
Thomson Reuters to issue notes September 29, 2011 MEDIA conglomerate Thomson Reuters has announced it will offer $350m (£223m) of 10 year notes to refinance borrowings used to repay a recently expired bond issue. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank Securities, JP Morgan Securities and RBS Securities are the joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering is expected to close on 5 October, the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 29, 2011 BlackRock Simon Beresford and Neil Purvis have been appointed to help develop the investment fund’s UK defined contribution business. Beresford (pictured) joins as chief operating officer of the firm’s Peterborough DC administration centre, moving from the Nationwide Building Society, where he was head of mortgage administration. Purvis, previously head of HR at the firm, takes [...]
FTSE falls on worries of China and copper losing momentum September 29, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading share index fell back yesterday, bucking firmer trends from both US and European equity markets and under pressure from big falls by heavyweight miners on lower copper prices amid concerns over future demand. Traders highlighted some anxiety over growth from major metals consumer China ahead of official September PMI numbers, due out on [...]