Mass strikes cause chaos across Greece December 13, 2010 GREEK public transport and media workers launched a week of anti-austerity strikes yesterday expected to ground flights, disrupt services and pile rubbish on the streets in the run-up to Christmas holidays. Parliament began discussing a bill to cap wages at state-run firms and introduce company-level wage bargaining in the private sector, both key elements in [...]
Supermarket chains halt Xmas orders in Scotland after weather takes its toll December 13, 2010 SUPERMARKETS and online shops – including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – have halted orders or suspended deliveries, after last week’s heavy snow weather brought the transport network to a standstill. Many are struggling to cope with a backlog of deliveries after strong downfalls. Couriers including Parcel Force and Home Delivery Network have also been affected, as [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 13, 2010 GAME GROUP Brewin Dolphin had started covering the retailer with a “buy” rating and a three-month target price of 80p. The broker believes the stock is a strong candidate for active traders due to its volatility, and notes the firm’s market outperformance as mentioned in last week’s trading update. It looks forward to Game’s post-Christmas [...]
Mining firms haul FTSE 100 to highest level in five weeks December 13, 2010 Strong miners pushed Britain’s top share index to a five-week closing high on Monday, buoyed by firmer metals prices on strong economic data from China, while sector consolidation moves gave oil services firms a fillip. The FTSE 100 closed up 47.80 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,860.75, its highest close since 9 November, albeit [...]
THE TIPSTER December 13, 2010 WTI crude oil rallied some 150 points yesterday morning to highs around $89.40 on the back of relief over China not raising rates and positive demand forecasts. The technical picture is showing signs of crude topping out around this level and it may well be worth taking the short side of the market for this [...]
Hackers under suspicion for Amazon crash December 12, 2010 WEB giant Amazon last night became the latest suspected victim of a cyber attack by supporters of WikiLeaks. The firm’s website was out of action for more than half an hour during one of the most lucrative shopping days in the run-up to Christmas. The firm’s operations in the UK, France, Germany and Spain were [...]
Retailers expect a merrier Christmas December 12, 2010 RETAILERS are expecting a more prosperous Christmas than last year – fuelled by shoppers buying goods ahead of the looming VAT hike in January. Almost two thirds of traders said they expected sales to be at least the same or better than last year, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Stores [...]
West End Christmas sales up on last year, exceeding rest of UK December 12, 2010 WEST end shops recorded a 7.6 per cent rise in November sales compared to last year, it was announced today. Promotions such as the traffic free VIP Day (“Very Important Pedestrians”) boosted sales, according to retail trackers Springboard. The surge was considerably above the relatively flat 0.7 per cent increases in the rest of the [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL THE FESTIVE PERIOD KICKSTART SALES AND HELP CONFIDENCE RETURN TO RETAIL? December 12, 2010 HOWARD ARCHER | IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT “Things are improving slightly but there is still a lot of caution. Wage rises have fallen behind inflation and there is still the impact of government cuts to be fully felt next year.” STEPHEN ROBERTSON | BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM “It is reassuring to see a majority of retailers believe [...]
ITV rakes in £25m from X Factor final December 12, 2010 MATT Cardle may have lifted the X Factor crown last night but ITV was the real winner, hitting an advertising jackpot of £25m. An estimated 20m people tuned in to watch the final of Simon Cowell’s talent show, with ITV charging close to £250,000 for a 30 second advertising slot. Firms including Lloyds Banking Group, [...]