Mel is back in his gritty comfort zone January 28, 2010 Film EDGE OF DARKNESS Cert: 15 FOR those old enough to remember, Edge of Darkness was originally a critically acclaimed BBC thriller broadcast in the mid-80s. Its director, Martin Campbell, went on to Hollywood success – including making the best Bond film of recent times, Casino Royale – and he’s now brought his old TV [...]
HUMAN LIE DETECTOR BOOSTED BY CITY COMPANIES ON THE WARPATH December 20, 2009 WE ALL know businesses are rather jumpier than usual given the difficult ride they’ve had over the course of the recession, but I hear some are taking truly unprecedented steps to counter risky office behaviour. Darren Stanton, who calls himself a “human lie detector”, tells me he has seen a surge in requests from corporates [...]
FORMER MERRILL LYNCH STAFFERS HERALD A TRIUMPHANT BULL RUN December 7, 2009 BANK of America’s integration with fellow banking scion Merrill Lynch might have been fraught with difficulty over the course of the past year, but it seems the powers that be are finally learning the art of tactful compromise. After Merrill’s beloved bovine logo appeared to have been dropped by BoA in favour of a new, [...]
THE NEW YORK REPORT November 30, 2009 US STOCKS rose yesterday, helping the Dow post its fifth straight monthly gain, on hopes that possible fallout from Dubai’s debt woes will be contained. Shortly before the market closed, Dubai’s largest company said its planned restructuring of some units involved Bk in debt, easing some concerns about the size of Dubai’s financial problems. An [...]
US Black Friday sales disappoint November 30, 2009 American retail stocks fell yesterday on the back of weak high street figures for the long-anticipated Black?Friday weekend. Although shopper numbers increased 13 per cent year-on-year to 195m, the average spend declined 7.9 per cent to $343.31 (209), according to the National?Retail Federation. The S&P Retail?Index fell 0.4 per cent to 402.6. “We believe Black?Friday [...]
Italian food like mama used to do November 30, 2009 Babbo39 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JQCost per person without wine: £50 THERE’S something pleasingly old-fashioned about the latest addition to Mayfair’s culinary family. With its sparkling chandeliers, framed black and white photos of rustic Italian scenes, smartly-attired waiters and cosy ambience, Babbo is clearly not a restaurant where rulebooks are being rewritten. In fact, it feels [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 29, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphRATE HIKE THREATENS EXISTENCE OF RURAL PETROL STATIONSHundreds of rural petrol stations face closure if an “outrageous” increase in business rates is pushed through next April, forecourt owners have warned. Owners of the UK’s 6,000 independent petrol stations will this week launch a major MP-backed campaign to urge a government body to [...]
Spending down for Xmas November 29, 2009 SPENDING was down over the Black Friday weekend in the US, data out yesterday showed, although more people turned out to peruse the shops than last year. In the post-Thanksgiving period, which traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping rush, average spending was down 7.9 per cent a person as shoppers reined in their spending and [...]
Dubai reminds traders that stocks are on fragile ground November 29, 2009 DUBAI’S inability to meet its debt payments rattled stock markets across the world last week as the shock announcement sparked new worries about the health of the global economy and governments’ abilities to service their debt. The FTSE 100 index dropped 171 points on Thursday before regaining some of its losses in Friday’s trading. Financial [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 26, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES US RETAILERS TURN TO SOCIAL MEDIA ON “BLACK FRIDAY”US retailers will on Friday unleash a traditional barrage of post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping promotions, with the National Retail Federation expecting 134m Americans to head for the stores. This year however, the retailers have reinforced their traditional efforts with a new array of social-networking weapons including [...]