When skiing becomes more like snow-flying January 22, 2012 The American satirist PJ O’Rourke had little time for snow sports. As he put it: “Skiing consists of wearing $3,000 worth of clothes and equipment and driving 200 miles in the snow in order to stand around at a bar and drink.” That might not have been so bad for O’Rourke – he is famous [...]
NY Fed sells AIG assets January 19, 2012 CREDIT SUISSE has won an auction to buy a $7bn mortgage securities portfolio once owned by AIG. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which did not reveal the sale price, was selling the assets it acquired through the bailout of American International Group in 2008. Goldman, Barclays Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch [...]
RAPID RESPONSES January 19, 2012 Fed up of fairness Allister Heath writes that the coalition needs to tackle unemployment while Sara Parker reports that London is now an unemployment hotspot [It’s official: London is now a hotspot of unemployment – business must help tackle it, yesterday]. I own a number of small businesses and in the past year have been [...]
HAWAIIAN SHIRTS SET THE AGENDA FOR FEDERAL RESERVE COMEDIANS January 15, 2012 THE SUB-PRIME mortgage meltdown was rumbling ever-louder in the background, but the 2006 meetings of the Federal Reserve were still a laugh a minute. The transcripts of that year’s meetings of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee were released at the end of last week after a standard five-year delay. But for readers who didn’t [...]
UP THE SWANNY January 15, 2012 SWANSEA (3) vs ARSENAL (2) Arsenal boss Wenger accuses Dyer of diving for penalty after defeat to Swansea in five-goal thriller deals his side’s hopes of catching Spurs and Chelsea a major blow FURIOUS Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger last night accused Swansea winger Nathan Dyer of diving to win a key penalty, after his side [...]
US regulator in favour of Volcker rule January 11, 2012 US REGULATORS came a step closer to implementing the Dodd-Frank rules on banking yesterday, after laying out a fresh draft of the Volcker rule and giving more protection to collateral in swaps deals. The Volcker rule, under the Dodd-Frank Act, prevents banks that hold customer deposits from proprietary trading, on the basis that it could [...]
Fed reports improved growth January 11, 2012 The Fed’s Beige Book last night confirmed improving economic conditions in the US. Most districts reported “more favourable conditions than identified in reports from the late spring through early fall”.
San Fran Fed wants fiscal boost January 10, 2012 Tax and spending policies must be changed to boost the US economy, John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, said yesterday. Moves to control the budget deficit “are essential in the long run” but are “damping the economy, not boosting it” currently, he said. Williams praised the steps the Fed has taken to loosen [...]
Murray fourth seed in Aussie Open January 9, 2012 TENNIS: Britain’s Andy Murray has been seeded fourth for the 2012 Australian Open which begins on Monday. Meanwhile, Great Britain have been drawn in the same group as the Netherlands, Israel and Portugal for Judy Murray’s first tie as Fed Cup captain.
Swissie scandal engulfs governor January 4, 2012 SWISS National Bank governor Philipp Hildebrand will today break his silence on controversial currency trades made by his wife. Hildebrand has come under increasing pressure to clarify events, after details of foreign exchange transactions made from his personal accounts at Swiss private bank Sarasin were leaked by one of its employees to lawyers for the [...]