King: we were right to hold rates June 15, 2011 THE Bank of England could have stopped inflation rising above target but chose to prioritise economic output by keeping rates at their historic low, governor Sir Mervyn King told the City last night. Raising interest rates “would have meant a weaker recovery, or even further falls in output, despite our having experienced the worst downturn [...]
Core inflation edges up in US June 15, 2011 AMERICA is facing the dreaded prospect of “stagflation”, key economic data releases suggested yesterday. Underlying inflation rose to its highest in almost three years in May, while separate reports exposed disappointingly flat industrial and manufacturing activity. US industrial output edged up just 0.1 per cent in May as supply chain disruptions from Japan’s earthquake stalled [...]
Fed up at work? Don’t slow down, gear up for an entrepreneurial adventure June 15, 2011 OVER 60 per cent of people confess to not being engaged by their work, and 30 per cent of employees feel their strengths would be better suited to another career, according to a Towers Perrin/Gallup poll. A lot of people clearly want to work elsewhere. But for all the talk of “transferable skills,” moving into [...]
Sarkozy blames speculation June 14, 2011 FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out at commodity speculators yesterday, arguing that tighter controls would prevent spiralling global prices. Sarkozy, head of the G20 group of the world’s leading economies, said he wants to see new rules requiring minimum cash deposits with a central authority for all commodities derivatives deals, not just those on formal [...]
AGE STEALS A MARCH ON BEAUTY IN THE IMF LEADERSHIP CONTEST June 13, 2011 DO CITY insiders know something the rest of the world doesn’t about the IMF leadership race to replace the disgraced Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Ever since Stanley Fischer announced his bid on Saturday, the odds on the Bank of Israel governor have been steadily shortening to make him Paddy Power’s “biggest liability” – even though at 67, [...]
WAITING FOR BERNANKE TO SURPRISE US June 13, 2011 EQUITY markets continue to struggle. Last week, many major global stock indices dropped below a succession of significant technical support levels. The downside momentum appears to be picking up and so far any rallies have been unconvincing and on low volume. Investors have plenty to fret about. Europe’s political leaders can no longer delay facing [...]
Sterling’s slump is costing us all dear June 12, 2011 WELCOME to price hike Britain. Wherever one looks, consumer goods and food are becoming dearer. Energy prices are rocketing. One fundamental reason for these increases is the collapse in the value of sterling since the recession, a development which has been insufficiently well understood by the UK’s political establishment. Sterling’s slump is a dramatic reversal [...]
Mining shares rebound and oil stocks rise on supply fears June 9, 2011 MINERS rebounded from the previous day’s sharp sell-off to help push Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, while oil stocks tracked crude higher on supply fears. The FTSE 100 closed up 47.45 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,856.34, having bounced well clear of the session low of 5,795.00, although thin volumes exaggerated the index’s [...]
Wall Street ends its six-day losing streak June 9, 2011 WALL Street ended higher for the first time in over a week yesterday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 rising 1 per cent at one point, but many analysts saw the rebound as short-lived. A report showing record US exports in April eased some concerns about a stalled economic recovery, which had been weighing [...]
Fitch to downgrade US if debt repayments missed June 8, 2011 AMERICA could lose its AAA credit rating if the government fails to raise its debt ceiling and subsequently misses interest payments in August, leading ratings agency Fitch warned yesterday. Some Republicans have been flirting with the notion that a brief US default might be an acceptable price to pay if it forces the White House [...]