Struggling through Dry January? Load up on coffee instead January 13, 2015 Pact coffee delivery service Broaden your coffee horizons with this delivery service that will supply you with weekly or fortnightly bags of precious beans. You’ll also get tasting notes so you can learn as you drink. There’s no contract and if you use the code “onepound” you’ll get your first delivery for £1. Well worth [...]
Eurozone QE will be the most inefficient yet – CNBC Comment January 12, 2015 THE MARKET is expecting confirmation of a QE plan from European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi very soon. Indeed, CNBC learned yesterday that the ECB will more than likely base its highly-anticipated sovereign bond buying on the size of contributions made by national central banks. But whatever form it takes, it will almost certainly [...]
Shire splashes out AbbVie cash with $5.2bn acquisition of NPS Pharma January 12, 2015 UK drugmaker Shire bounced back from its botched takeover by pharma giant AbbVie last night to seal a $5.2bn acquisition of US firm NPS Pharma – using its multi-billion dollar breakup fee from AbbVie to help fund the spending spree. Shire has agreed to buy the US listed biotech firm for $46 a share – [...]
US non-farm payroll: US jobs data beats expectations but wages lag January 9, 2015 The US economy added 252,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate fell from 5.8 per cent to 5.6 per cent, official figures released today show. This was slightly above economists' expectations of 240,000 jobs in December, and an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent. However, wage growth missed expectations, posting a decrease of 0.2 [...]
Art review: Fig-2 at the ICA Studio January 9, 2015 ICA Studio | ★★★★☆ Back in 2000, when “pop-up” was still something that only applied to children’s books, curators Mark Francis and Jay Jopling secured funding for a visionary idea. Fed up with the slow turn-around of shows at leading art institutions, they proposed Fig-1; 50 shows in 50 weeks, with consecutive artists exhibiting [...]
Wall St up as Fed signals no rate hike hurry – New York Report January 7, 2015 US STOCKS rebounded yesterday from five straight sessions of losses after strong private sector jobs data and as minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting reassured investors the bank was in no hurry to start raising interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 212.88 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 17,584.52, the S&P [...]
Mercury soars to 44C in Murray’s Aussie warm-up January 5, 2015 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray overcame scorching 44C heat and a shoulder injury to boost his Australian Open preparations with two wins at the Hopman Cup in Perth yesterday. Murray beat Benoit Paire in straight sets and then joined Heather Watson to defeat Paire and Alize Cornet in an epic deciding mixed doubles clash to earn Great [...]
US jobs data gives snapshot of economy – The week ahead on Wall St January 4, 2015 INVESTORS will get a fresh snapshot of the state of the US economy at the start of 2015 on Friday, when figures for nonfarm payrolls, the unemployment rate and wholesale inventories are announced. The unemployment rate for December is likely to remain at 5.8 per cent, according to analysts, while weekly jobless claims for January, [...]
New job? What to look out for when signing a contract January 4, 2015 Have you been offered a new job? It’s worth negotiating the key terms. Do you have the back to work blues? For many, the Christmas and New Year break is an opportunity to reassess your position. It may be that you feel you are being undervalued and aren’t getting a fair deal at work. [...]
From Quindell and Gotham City to Uber and the LDTA – five of the biggest business battles to watch out for in 2015 December 22, 2014 Rival camps have banded together, the lines are drawn, battle armour is on and adrenaline is running high. All that's left for spectators to do is grab some popcorn and watch from the ringside. From rival estate agents, to a business targeted by a Batman styled US fund and an influx of tiny new banks [...]