MEREDITH WHITNEY FEARS BANK APOCALYPSE September 30, 2010 A DIRE warning yesterday to the investment bankers of the world, as one of Wall Street’s most famous banking analysts, Meredith Whitney, called the apocalypse (Part II). Whitney, a former Oppenheimer & Co analyst who now runs her own advisory firm, is one of the most dedicated bears in the business, having begun by betting [...]
FTSE falls on weaker banks, despite advance made by BP September 30, 2010 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 closed lower yesterday as weaker banks outweighed gains from energy stocks on stronger crude prices and comments suggesting BP could resume paying a dividend in 2011. The FTSE 100 closed 20.65 points, or 0.4 per cent lower at 5,548.62. It gained 6.2 per cent in September and 12.8 per cent in the [...]
Credit Suisse warns on investment bank September 29, 2010 CREDIT Suisse Group chief executive Brady Dougan cautioned yesterday that the performance of the Swiss firm’s investment bank was mixed in the third quarter but added that the bank as a whole is well-positioned to deal with difficult market conditions. Dougan said volumes in some businesses, including fixed income and currency trading, have been “a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 29, 2010 Tullett Prebon The inter-dealer broker has re-hired Tory MP Michael Fallon as a non-executive director, just a few months after he resigned to pursue an unsuccessful campaign for the Treasury Select Committee chairmanship. Fallon, who lost out to Andrew Tyrie, rejoins Tullett a week after he replaced Lord Ashcroft as deputy chair of the Conservative [...]
BID WAR BREAKS OUT AT LEHMAN ART SALE September 29, 2010 BIDDERS clamoured yesterday afternoon to snap up a piece of banking history, as the art collection from the UK offices of failed bank Lehman Brothers went under the hammer at Christie’s. The most frenzied bidding took place at the beginning of the auction, organised by administrators PwC, when the name sign from the bank’s reception [...]
Tap into Asian growth with Far East ETFs September 29, 2010 WHETHER you subscribe to the belief that the 21st century belongs to China or not, there is no doubt that it certainly belongs to emerging markets and particularly to those in the Far East. The story is a familiar one: these countries have transformed themselves from rural backwaters to the new hub of the global [...]
Posen: We need QE to start again September 28, 2010 QUANTITATIVE EASING (QE) must be restarted if Britain is to avoid persistent high unemployment and economic stagnation, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Adam Posen said yesterday. In a speech delivered in Hull yesterday, Posen was the first MPC member to call explicitly for a second round of QE. His comments put him [...]
BP to sell $3.5bn in bonds September 28, 2010 BP signalled a return to “business-as-usual” after the Gulf of Mexico tragedy, with plans to sell up to $3.5bn (£2.2bn) in new bonds just three days before Bob Dudley is set to take over the chief executive post. The oil major’s funding arm, BP Capital Markets, is selling five and ten-year bonds, the first such [...]
Morgan Stan puts hold on recruitment September 28, 2010 US investment bank Morgan Stanley has frozen all recruitment for the remainder of the year, it said yesterday, offering no guarantees over when it would begin hiring again. The bank, which employs around 5,000 people in the UK, sought to quell fears of job losses, saying although it had stopped recruiting it had no plans [...]
High street sales jump September 28, 2010 THE British high street enjoyed a surprisingly healthy September, according to the CBI’s distributive trades survey with the balance of retailers reporting that sales were higher compared to a year earlier rising to the highest level since May 2004. A net 49 per cent said that sales volumes were greater than a year earlier thanks [...]