New York Report: Yellen’s pledge to keep rates low lifts Wall St April 16, 2014 US stocks rose one per cent yesterday, advancing for a third straight session as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reaffirmed the central bank’s commitment to keeping interest rates low and Yahoo rallied. Data showing Chinese economic growth exceeded expectations and US industrial production rose for a second straight month also improved sentiment, though Bank of [...]
The British productivity disease: How to cure it April 16, 2014 THIS week has brought more bright economic news – with falling inflation and unemployment paving the way for rising real wages. Yet while the UK is now the fastest growing developed economy, the productivity of its workforce languishes a fifth below the G7 average. What can be done to cure this British disease? US economist [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 16, 2014 US stock futures suggest a higher open for US markets, following European counterparts and after Yahoo’s reporting of earnings that beat estimates. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent yesterday, with earnings from Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson outweighing fears around the Ukraine crisis. On the data front, housing starts rose 2.8 per cent last [...]
What you need to know before the open April 16, 2014 European bourses are expected to open higher today. After a very choppy day yesterday, US markets closed up, despite Russian claims that Ukraine’s “close to civil war”. Weak GDP data from China – growth slowed to 7.4 per cent in the first quarter – could add jitters to markets, though, but there's also UK unemployment [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 15, 2014 US stock futures have edged slightly lower on the back of inflation and manufacturing data. US inflation inched up in March by 0.2 per cent, meaning an annual rate of 1.5 per cent. But the New York Empire State Manufacturing index showed business conditions in the city to be disappointing in April. The index came [...]
What you need to know before the open April 15, 2014 European markets are expected flat to mixed this morning, following yesterday’s turnaround on the back of a strong retail sales reading from the US, which quelled fears over the situation in Ukraine. The concern is, though, that investors have over-valued the retail sector. And meanwhile, there are worries that the EU’s somewhat muddled response to [...]
This week’s 4 must-see charts April 11, 2014 The Fed’s pointless rate projections, encouraging signs in the Eurozone, emerging market stocks, and subdued UK mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We bring you some of our favourite analysts’ picks of the most important graphs this week, as well as a few choices of our own. Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First Pay no attention [...]
City & Gild: Cities are brands too April 11, 2014 What is the brand of London, how is it being managed, who runs it and are we really capitalising on our greatest national asset? On landing into Heathrow recently, I was greeted with the same multi-storey billboards for the Tower of London that have been in place for years. But a few smiling Beefeaters stirred [...]
London Report: Fed’s hint on rates steadies FTSE but Marks loses Spark April 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index traded just above flat yesterday, buoyed by the banking sector after the Federal Reserve indicated it would keep interest rates lower for longer than previously anticipated. The FTSE 100 was up just 6.36 points or 0.1 per cent at 6,641.97 at the close, with financial firms contributing about half the gains. [...]
Four ways to cut down on social loafing April 10, 2014 Delegating clearly and obeying the “two pizza rule” will help your team work more effectively FRENCH engineer Max Ringelmann was measuring the force exerted by workers pulling on a rope about a century ago. He noticed something interesting. When more men were added to the experiment, the pull on the rope didn’t increase proportionally. And [...]