Hands to lose control of EMI by Christmas December 12, 2010 TERRA Firma boss Guy Hands is expected to lose control of troubled record label EMI before Christmas following his bitter dispute with his bank Citigroup. Hands has begun telling his private equity firm’s backers to expect the worst as a result of negotiations over control of the record label, which has £2.5bn worth of debt [...]
Equities to leap as Santa Claus rally comes to town December 12, 2010 European stocks are forecast to power on ahead on the open this morning, building on recent gains as positive economic data are for now seen out-weighing fears that the region’s debt crisis could spread. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 32 points from Friday’s close, at a level of 5,844. The [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD December 12, 2010 The December rally may be reaching its climax, with just two weeks to go before Santa Claus makes his midnight run. Dwindling volume, excess optimism, and history all point to a stock market that could be running out of steam. Investors appear to have grown complacent as the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX has fallen [...]
THE TIPSTER December 12, 2010 THE rail and bus company Go Ahead might be a reasonable long call. The company seems to be trying to focus more on core aspects of the business but the share price is continuing to struggle to make an impression. There’s clearly longer term exposure to the rail franchise renewal mechanisms and also government intervention [...]
Violent riots as fees are passed December 9, 2010 A CAR carrying the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles was attacked by protesters last night, after anger over the vote on tuition fees boiled over into ugly scenes of violence. Police struggled to control the civil disobedience that gripped Whitehall and other parts of London, as demonstrators smashed the windows of the Treasury before [...]
How to splurge intelligently this Christmas December 9, 2010 1 WATCH OUT FOR THE VAT RISE VAT is going up to 20 per cent on 4 January, so this year don’t wait for the sales to get your big purchases in. According to Santander, 28 per cent of Brits are planning on a pre tax hike spending spree, with people in the South East [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS December 9, 2010 NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER AT SPARK Albion Ventures has been appointed the investment manager of SPARK VCT and SPARK VCT 2, both technology venture capital investment funds. SPARK is planning to move its fund management focus away from retail funds and towards regional and institutional funds, and is bringing in a new manager to try to achieve that. They also [...]
HMV shares plunge as its losses mount December 9, 2010 HMV shares dropped nearly 17 per cent yesterday as poor trading figures laid bare the company’s failing turnaround plan. The music, DVD, games and books retailer posted a worse-than-expected widening in first-half losses. Its share price dropped 16.57 per cent yesterday, to 36.50p HMV made an underlying pre-tax loss of £41.3m for the six months [...]
Banks propel FTSE upwards after interest rates decision December 9, 2010 BANKS helped Britain’s top shares rise yesterday after the Bank of England kept interest rates and quantitative easing measures unchanged, while US jobs figures raised hopes that a recovery was under way. The FTSE 100 was up 13.43 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,807.96, eradicating Wednesday’s losses, though gains were muted, with some traders [...]
Christmas comes early for Pardew December 9, 2010 ALAN PARDEW completed a sensational return to top flight management yesterday, and the latest incumbent of the Newcastle hotseat revealed his first task is to keep hold of star attraction Andy Carroll. This time last year, Pardew, 49, was preparing League One Southampton for the visit of Tranmere. Twelve months and a sacking later, and [...]