Teachers to strike after failing to reach new pay deal with Gove September 5, 2013 BRITAIN’S leading teaching unions yesterday announced plans for a national strike in a dispute over the government’s attempt to introduce performance-related pay. The NUT and NASUWT announced plans for a rolling series of regional strikes during October, with a single day national walkout set to follow before Christmas. Teachers in London and the south east are set [...]
Shares rise as City backs new M&S campaign August 19, 2013 SHARES in Marks & Spencer edged higher yesterday as the City backed the retailer’s new high profile autumn campaign, although some analysts warned that a failure to convert it into sales could deal a blow to chief executive Marc Bolland’s hopes of survival. Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said the campaign – featuring a host [...]
CNBC Comment: Why it could now be time to buy gold August 19, 2013 GOLD kicked off 2013 trading just below $1,700 per troy ounce, only to see central banks and investors push its market value down to around $1,180 in late June. Since then, it has steadily risen in value, putting on its best performance in months last week, when it broke through the psychologically important $1,350 level. [...]
Tissues at the ready for latest John Lewis ad August 15, 2013 PLEASE please, please let me get what I want – a reasonable deal on my home insurance. John Lewis, purveyor of homewares and heart-rending Christmas advertisements, is branching out into insurance ads with a fresh tear-jerker from Adam&eveDDB, the agency that brought us last year’s snowman offering. The £5m campaign, to be aired on Saturday, [...]
Walmart revises down earnings forecast as US comparable sales miss August 15, 2013 Asda owner Walmart has reported same-store sales in the US fell by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of the year – missing analyst expectations of a one per cent rise (release). Walmart revised down its full-year earnings per share (EPS) expectation to a range of $5.10 to $5.30 from the previous range of [...]
Li & Fung feels effects of slow Europe demand August 13, 2013 LI & FUNG, the Chinese firm that supplies consumer goods to some of the world’s biggest companies, fell short of forecasts announcing a 69 per cent slump in half-year profits yesterday. The supplier, which counts Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Abercrombie & Fitch among its customers, posted a profit distributable to shareholders of $96m (£62.1m), its [...]
Vodafone splashes out on sport content for new 4G customers August 7, 2013 VODAFONE became the latest of the big name mobile networks to announce the launch of 4G data services yesterday. Chief executive Guy Laurence confirmed that the switch-on for high-speed data content would begin in London on 29 August, with 12 cities to be 4G-ready before Christmas. He also revealed a deal with Spotify and Sky [...]
Record low for Australian rates August 6, 2013 AUSTRALIA’S central bank cut its main cash rate by a quarter point to a record low of 2.5 per cent yesterday as it tries to prepare for life after the mining boom. This was the eighth move in an easing cycle that began back in November 2011 and takes rates below the depths hit during [...]
UK services boom: Sector grows at fastest rate since 2006 August 5, 2013 The UK's service sector is booming, as shown by Markit's purchasing manager's index (PMI). In July the index rose from 56.9 to a whopping 60.2. For context, we've not seen a PMI number that breaks 60 in a long time across the Eurozone or the US. Economists had forecast a rise to 57.2. There are [...]
Number of US corporate job cuts fell in July August 1, 2013 The number of corporate job cuts in the US announced in July fell to 37,701 from 39,372 the same time last year, according to data from Challenger, Grey & Christmas. This follows yesterday’s news that US private sector job creation increased to 200,000 from 198,000 against expectations of a fall to 182,000. The series of [...]