UK must take centre stage in EU policy race January 9, 2011 LAST week, the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, made it clear that badly thought through regulation must not be allowed to undermine European competitiveness in financial services. Such a strongly worded public statement provides further evidence of the government’s belief that the financial services industry has a vital role to play in facilitating a [...]
A big week ahead for Portugal and the Euro January 9, 2011 WILL this be the week that Portugal becomes the latest Eurozone country to call in the EU and the IMF to bail it out? The answer to that question will become clear on Wednesday when Lisbon taps the bond market for the first time in 2011. If last weeks T-Bill auction is anything to go [...]
Investors rush to buy Facebook shares January 6, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs stopped taking orders for shares in Facebook yesterday, with analysts saying the firm was inundated with offers from investors wanting a piece of the action. Some said that would-be investors were prepared to subscribe for $3bn (£1.9m) of equity in the social networking site, twice as much as is likely to be required. [...]
Xinmao abandons Draka bid January 6, 2011 CHINA’s Xinmao Group dropped its €1bn (£645m) bid for Dutch cablemaker Draka yesterday, leaving Italy’s Prysmian free to seal a lower-priced deal and form an industry leader. Xinmao’s attempt to enter the fibre optic cable market by buying an overseas company had been seen as a test of the ability of Chinese companies to complete [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 5, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HEDGE FUNDS BET ON REVIVAL OF FORTUNES After one of their most disappointing years, hedge fund managers are hoping for a better 2011 with less macro economic volatility and more corporate events to bet on, such as takeovers. As of the end of November, the average hedge fund had returned just over 7 [...]
Yuan free to rise five per cent against dollar in 2011 January 5, 2011 IN a bid to tackle its problematic inflation, China will let the yuan rise by around five per cent against the dollar this year, it was revealed yesterday. However, any appreciation will do little to narrow China’s trade surplus with the US, a Chinese government official warned. The trade imbalance is a constant source of [...]
Chinese visit Spain to confirm support January 4, 2011 CHINESE vice premier Li Keqiang arrived in Madrid yesterday for a three-day visit. He met finance minister Elena Salgado and industry minister Miguel Sebastian yesterday, and today will meet King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The visit follows the publication of an editorial by Li on Monday in Spain’s El País [...]
Sterling is stuck in the middle of a tug of war January 4, 2011 WITH higher rail fares, energy bills and from yesterday, VAT, 2011 is so far not looking like a very happy New Year for many British consumers. But despite the higher costs, they can at least take solace from the fact that the economy does seem to be recovering fairly remarkably. And the pound seems to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 3, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA TRAVEL GROUP PULLS OUT OF AIM Et-China.com International Holdings, the Chinese travel specialist, will today become the first company to quit Aim this year. Shares in the company, which raised £4.4m at 127p a share when it joined Aim in August 2007, were suspended at 103 1/2p in July because of its [...]
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 [...]