Hysteria over student visas is damaging our reputation and Britain’s future growth February 28, 2012 THE UK’s higher education sector is an export success story. Only the United States recruits more international students. Those from outside the European Union contribute £2.5bn each year in fees to our universities and spend a further £2.5bn while they are here. If students in further education and private sector colleges are included, the figure [...]
DOLLAR-YEN PAIR BENEFITS FROM US RECOVERY THEME AS OIL CASTS ITS SHADOW February 27, 2012 DESPITE the generally positive tone of recent global economic data, analysts remain concerned about the prospect of sustained growth in 2012. At the moment, their chief source of worry is the surging price of oil. In the US, West Texas Intermediate has risen to nearly $110 a barrel, while in Europe the price of Brent [...]
World fastest smartphone from Huawei February 26, 2012 CHINESE low-cost smartphone manufacturer Huawei is further encroaching on the territory of waning technology veterans such as HTC as it launches the world’s fastest smartphone, the Ascend D quad. The world’s number two network equipment maker specialises in sub-$200 smartphones and is swiftly stealing customers from its pricier rivals. In its 2010 financial year, Huawei [...]
Turning obstacles into business opportunities February 26, 2012 A STAGNATING economy can offer smaller businesses the room to expand – Rajesh Agrawal, founder of RationalFX, certainly believes that the recession granted his money transfers and online foreign currency payment business an opportunity. But Agrawal has been thriving for some time despite leaving his small home town at 22 to live on only 5,000 [...]
Weak house sales hit Dow February 22, 2012 US STOCKS fell back from earlier highs yesterday as weak housing figures and poor European and Chinese growth prospects dented market confidence. The Dow Jones hit a post-financial crisis record of 13,000 on Tuesday, but fell 0.11 per cent yesterday to 12,951, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 slid 0.19 per cent over the day. [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS February 22, 2012 GERALDINE Murphy heads the oil & gas advisory team at Standard Chartered Bank and is leading the team advising Cove Energy. She joined the bank in 2007 following the acquisition of Harrison Lovegrove & Co and has over 20 years of oil and gas deal experience. Prior to joining Standard Chartered she was an executive [...]
Heathrow slims losses at BAA February 22, 2012 HEATHROW airport passenger numbers rose five per cent to a record 69.4m last year, helping BAA to narrow its losses. The airport operator made a loss of £255.8m in the year to 31 December, compared with £316.6m the year before. The firm’s revenues rose 10 per cent on last year to £2.28bn, the firm said [...]
China new export orders fall February 22, 2012 China’s new export orders shrank in February the most in eight months, a preliminary HSBC business survey shows, defying expectations of a pick up after Lunar New Year holidays and a worrying sign of the impact of the euro area debt crisis. Many analysts had expected some rebound in February after imports and exports fell [...]
THE TIPSTER AUSSIE DOLLAR TRADERS CAUGHT ON THE HOP February 21, 2012 THE Aussie dollar-Japanese yen pair remains a key measure of investor risk appetite and both sides of the currency pair have been in the news recently. Last week, the Bank of Japan surprised markets by announcing additional easing. This followed news of the country’s unexpectedly large fall in GDP. Traders were also caught on the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES US CORPORATES SHY TO OFFER GUIDANCE US companies are more uncertain about the future than at any point since the financial crisis, with just one in five of the country’s biggest corporations making any predictions as they published fourth-quarter results. TRANSOCEAN WILL NOT PROPOSE A DIVIDEND Shares in Transocean, the owner of the [...]