BP deal with Russia sparks controversy January 16, 2011 CONCERNS grew yesterday about the political implications of BP’s $16bn (£10bn) share swap with Russia’s state-owned oil firm Rosneft. Shadow justice minister Chris Bryant said in an interview that BP needs “a strong anti-corruption” strategy to work with the company. Labour leader Ed Miliband said he was “pretty worried” about the environmental aspect of the [...]
How a tax hike increased the deficit January 12, 2011 SLOWLY but surely, the real cost of the return to the politics of envy is becoming clear. Figures out last night confirmed yet again that crippling tax hikes are driving people and economic activity away from Britain. Rather than raising extra tax receipts to plug Britain’s budget deficit, there is growing evidence that the raids [...]
Make sure you aren’t paying too much: get your tax return right January 12, 2011 IT’S THAT time of year again. We all try to pretend it’s not happening, but the reminder adverts have been slapped across the tube billboards for weeks now. So, at some point over the next three weeks, we are going to have to sit down and fill out our tax return. Many say the misery [...]
Banks support FTSE amid broad-based gains January 11, 2011 LONDON’S FTSE made strong gains today as bank shares surged and sovereign debt fears receded. Athough stocks gave back some of the day’s earlier gains by the market close, the leading index closed closed up 57.73 points or one per cent at 6,014.03. It ended a three-day losing streak and stayed ahead of the 6,000 [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 10, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BUY-OUT GROUP GAINS CONTROL OF MADEJSKI’S LARGEST PROJECT Sir John Madejski, the property and publishing tycoon, has sold control over one of Britain’s largest commercial developments to a private equity consortium in the latest debt-driven property transaction. Benson Elliot, the private equity real estate firm, has teamed up with UK developer Stanhope to [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES GOLDMAN TEAM RAISES MONEY FOR NEW FUND The last big proprietary trading team at Goldman Sachs has begun raising money to start a new hedge fund independent of the bank, for launch in the second quarter of this year. The team – led by two senior members of Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategies desk, [...]
Key dates to watch in 2011 January 6, 2011 JANUARY is traditionally a month of self-imposed austerity and resolutions to do better. Despite a recovering economy, in an environment of high unemployment, rapidly rising prices and a less generous state, keeping one’s finances under better control ought to be topping many 2011 resolution lists. While the VAT rise will be foremost in all of [...]
Kraft in Indian tax evasion probe over its takeover of Cadbury January 3, 2011 FOOD giant Kraft could face tax evasion charges over its takeover of Cadbury India. The Indian Finance Ministry has ordered an eight-week probe into the takeover, which was part of Kraft’s $19.6bn acquisition of Cadbury in February last year. The US firm will be desperate to avoid a protracted legal battle like the one that [...]
Spread betting vs. contracts for difference January 3, 2011 THE new year is underfoot, and with European sovereign debt still looking problematic, Chinese inflation sky high and the Federal Reserve still emptying a bathtub of money onto the world, it is looking to be at least as interesting a year as 2010. For ordinary investors, volatility is not very much fun. Most people are [...]
Whatever you want to invest in, there’s an ETF available December 22, 2010 IN THE United States, there is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for everything you ever wanted to trade and plenty more that you had never even considered. While the likes of ophthalmology and nanotech ETFs have not yet made it across the pond, European investors should certainly be satisfied with the range of ETF products on [...]