THE ART OF PEACEFUL PROTEST (IN SWINDON) September 1, 2010 IN an age where Facebook protests can reach hundreds of thousands of members within a few hours, often for the most spurious reasons – the lynching of women who put cats in bins being a recent example – it’s nice to see a good old fashioned show of dissent. One-man-army Paul Slennett, owner of three [...]
Black Cats purr at arrival of £13m Gyan August 31, 2010 SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce told of his delight last night after smashing the club’s record transfer fee to land Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan in a £13m deal. The powerful frontman spent all day in the north-east thrashing out a deal before finally agreeing to make the switch from French club Rennes 20 minutes before the [...]
Use technicals to chart your course through jumpy markets August 30, 2010 WHEN nervous markets are jumping upon every single piece of economic data as an excuse to swing one way or the other, it can be extremely difficult for contracts for difference (CFDs) traders to concentrate on analysing the market movement. But while traders should certainly not ignore the fundamentals, a blizzard of figures can hinder [...]
Nadir offers more cash to the Tories August 26, 2010 ASIL Nadir, the controversial tycoon who yesterday returned to the UK after 17 years living in exile, embarrassed the Conservatives by saying he would like to give them money. The notorious fugitive, who donated £500,000 to the Tories in the 1990s, said he would like to hand over even more cash to David Cameron’s party. [...]
Catastrophe bond issues set for high August 23, 2010 NEW issues of insurance catastrophe bonds should rapidly rebound to pre-financial crisis highs as securities markets stabilise, insurance broker Aon Benfield said yesterday. Investors are showing sustained interest in so-called cat bonds, which enable insurance companies to transfer big risks such as for hurricane or earthquake damage to financial market investors, while their prices have [...]
Strict Strauss lays down law to troops August 17, 2010 CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss has warned his England troops of their off-the-field responsibilities after coming close to losing Graeme Swann for today’s third Test with Pakistan at The Oval. Spinner Swann missed Monday’s practice session after appearing in a Nottingham court to answer a drink-driving charge. Swann told the court he had returned from birthday celebrations [...]
Reflections on the Philip Green saga August 16, 2010 MY first contact with Sir Philip Green came around two decades ago when he was running a small public company called Amber Day. I had written a two paragraph story for the Independent newspaper which provoked the retailing tycoon to scream down the phone at me the following day. “I cut out your article out [...]
Aviva told to deliver or see itself split up August 16, 2010 INVESTORS piled pressure on Aviva to come up with a credible alternative to being broken up yesterday as the insurer formally knocked back rival RSA’s “unacceptable” £5bn approach for its general insurance business. Shareholders are disgruntled at Aviva’s decision not to consult them before rejecting the offer for the group’s property and casualty operations in [...]
New EU rules set to boost reinsurance and securities issues August 12, 2010 New EU rules to boost insurers’ financial strength will spur more issues of securities tied to natural disasters and peak mortality risks as the sector moves onto even safer footing, Swiss Re said yesterday. The world’s second-biggest reinsurer and other industry experts expect the Solvency II capital regulations – set to take effect in 2013 [...]
Bruce eyes up loan bid for frustrated keeper Hart August 4, 2010 SUNDERLAND are leading the race to sign goalkeeper Joe Hart on loan from Manchester City. Black Cats boss Steve Bruce is on the lookout for a temporary replacement for the injured Craig Gordon and has confirmed he has made an approach for the highly-rated England keeper. “We’ve asked the question of City and we now [...]