Stanley Gibbons launches online trading site March 25, 2011 Stanley Gibbons said that it is planning to trade online while wealthy Chinese stamp collectors have helped to boost its profit. The stamp specialist will launch an online trading platform early Autumn 2011. There will be a charge to use it for buying and selling, so creating revenue for the historic firm. Overall sales in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 24, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BARCLAYS AT CENTRE OF LIBOR INQUIRY Barclays is emerging as a key focus of the US and UK regulatory probe into alleged rigging of benchmark interbank lending rates that are the reference point for $350,000bn in financial products, people familiar with the investigation said. Investigators are probing whether communications between the bank’s traders [...]
Look east for high ISA returns with a fund invested in Asia March 23, 2011 Despite interest rates that are no match for inflation, savers still fail to make full use of their ISA allowance. However, if they are saving for the long-term, and are prepared to deal with volatility in the short-term, they might be better off using their ISA allowance to invest in an Asian exposed fund instead. [...]
Tea total: a new brew sensation March 23, 2011 WHAT do the credit crunch, European leveraged capital markets and looseleaf tea have in common? The answer is Ajit Madan, who left his job at Societe Generale when the credit crunch rendered his slice of the pie a mere shadow of its former self, to follow his entrepreneurial dreams. “It was a part of the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HSBC PROPOSES PAY SHAKE-UP HSBC is sounding out its shareholders on a proposed shake-up of its executive pay plans, which could see its top bankers unable to sell their stock until retirement. Driven by John Thornton, chairman of the bank’s remuneration committee and a former Goldman Sachs executive, the plans would see top [...]
RESILIENCE OF THE EURO MAY NOT CONTINUE March 22, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT IF THERE was ever a contest for the most resilient currency in the FX market, the euro would be the unquestionable winner at this time. Over the past several weeks, global markets have experienced a series of extreme geopolitical shocks – each one strong enough to make even the most [...]
Fukushima blow will not prevent nuclear future March 21, 2011 IN THE immediate aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crisis, apocalyptic fears proliferated across the globe. Despite the panic that always accompanies nuclear incidents, the world’s growing energy needs will not disappear: nuclear is a solution that will not go away. The nuclear industry has been seriously set-back by this disaster. Uranium dropped [...]
Black cab maker Manganese Bronze narrows losses March 18, 2011 Manganese Bronze, maker of London’s traditional black cabs, reported a narrower loss for 2010, and said it was well placed to post a profit this year. The company, which is 20 per cent owned by China’s largest private automaker Geely Automobile said it made a pretax loss of £6.3m, compared to £7.3m in 2009. The [...]
Ad recovery is boost for Aegis March 17, 2011 Marketing group Aegis beat forecasts yesterday despite suffering a £25m exceptional charge on the threat of bad debts from a Spanish former client. The debt provision pushed its pre-tax profits down 25 per cent from £91.2m to £68m but chief executive Jerry Buhlmann told City A.M. his firm had taken a “very prudent” view on [...]
Changing times: moving on from Mayfair March 17, 2011 PRICES of the Monopoly board favourite Mayfair, as well as other prime favourites, have rocketed to near 2007 levels (see graph below), leading to the emergence of alternative investment hotspots. Marylebone is being hailed as the new Mayfair, with residential favourites Pimlico, Hampstead and Fulham hot on its heels. Mayfair prices have been drastically pushed [...]