FTSE hits seven-week closing low as fears over recovery’s strength intensify August 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to a seven-week closing low yesterday on growing unease that the global economy may slip back into another recession following further weak economic data from the United States. New orders for long-lasting US made goods rose far less than expected in July and, excluding transportation equipment, posted their largest decline [...]
TRADERS SEX UP THE DULL WORLD OF FOREX August 23, 2010 THE THINGS that bored traders get up to when they get a minute, eh? The Capitalist chances upon an, err, enterprising website set up by a pair of forex traders, who claim to have cracked the conundrum of how to dispense a barrage of information to their peers while simultaneously holding their interest – by [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 23, 2010 Future Group The media business has appointed former ITN chief executive Mark Wood as chief executive of its UK business. Wood, who stood down from ITN last year, has been a non-executive director at Future since April 2009. He will leave the board on taking up his new post at the end of the month. [...]
Barclays hit by computer glitch August 22, 2010 THOUSANDS of Barclays customers were unable to access their bank accounts or withdraw money from cash machines this weekend after a system crash caused chaos nationwide. The problems, which began at around 1.30pm on Saturday, hit telephone and online banking services and caused frustration at retail outlets as embarrassed shoppers were forced to abandon purchases [...]
The car insurance boss who wants to motor into new foreign markets August 22, 2010 It is a case of ‘Recession? What recession?’ for motor insurance firm Admiral, which is in the middle of taking on 750 staff in the UK alone this year. And that means an awful lot of meetings for the Cardiff-based firm’s 53-year-old chief executive Henry Engelhardt. The Chicago-born boss meets every one of his new [...]
FTSE falls to lowest level in a month on US jobless figures August 19, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to its lowest close in a month yesterday, as weak US labour and other data cast further doubt on the strength of the global recovery and as oil stocks fell on lower crude prices. The FTSE 100 fell 91.58 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 5,211.29 points, the lowest close [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 19, 2010 LOYALTY DOESN’T ALWAYS PAY Shopping around for a cheaper quote for your car insurance really does pay off, according to research from Which?, the independent product-testing and consumer campaigning champion. It surveyed nearly 2,500 consumers and found that more than a third accepted their original car insurers’ renewal quotes because they “couldn’t be bothered to [...]
Retail sales up faster than forecast August 19, 2010 RETAIL sales volumes rose nearly three times faster than economists had forecast in July, with almost all non-food sectors showing strong growth, according to official data. Public borrowing measures, meanwhile, were lower than a year ago but still the revealed the uphill task the government has to face to bring down a 2009/10’s record budget [...]
Barclays pays in trade case August 18, 2010 BARCLAYS last night struck a $298m (£192m) deal with US authorities over charges it violated trade sanctions. The shock announcement came just 24 hours after the judge who endorsed the settlement branded it a “sweetheart deal” which the government should be concerned about. The banking giant was in the dock over allegations it broke the [...]
Poison pill still a headache for BHP’s bid August 18, 2010 BHP BILLITON’s $40bn (£25.6bn) bid for PotashCorp could yet hit a hurdle because of the Canadian fertiliser giant’s “poison pill” defence, it emerged yesterday. BHP is waiting on the details of the shareholder rights plan implemented by PotashCorp on Tuesday, but the global miner could have to go to court to overturn the measure if [...]