In Paris, foie gras has been replaced by spelt September 14, 2009 Coeur de JardinPlaza Athenee25 Avenue Montaigne75008Tel: (33) 15367 6665FOOD SERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: €95 FRENCH food is all about fat: fatty saucisson, foie gras, Roquefort and creme brulee. At least that’s what I thought, until I had lunch at Coeur de Jardin, the outdoor restaurant at the opulent Plaza Athenee hotel, located in the [...]
Illinois waltz shows Tiger’s back to his marvellous best September 14, 2009 ON THE GREENS WITHSAM TORRANCE TIGER WOODS was back to his usual imperious self in Illinois at the weekend, claiming a 71st PGA Tour title by a massive eight shots. The year 2009 might not have brought any majors for the world No1, but still he describes this as one of his best years yet [...]
Paulson was right not to save Lehman September 13, 2009 SO Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers’ former boss, has finally said sorry. The banker they nicknamed “the gorilla”, who himself lost much of his fortune in the collapse of his firm, should have apologised a long time ago to his shareholders, bondholders, staff and counterparties. But he hasn’t changed his mind on one thing: in common [...]
BLOW-BY-BLOW: LEHMAN BROTHERS’ COLLAPSE September 13, 2009 22 August 2007Lehman closes its subprime lender BNC Mortgage as the sector falls into crisis. 17 June 2008Bank posts a $2.8bn loss in just one fiscal quarter. 13 September 2008Barclays and Bank of America end buyout plans as New York Fed boss Tim Geithner holds crisis talks. 15 September 2008In the early hours, Lehman files [...]
GOLD’S HIGHS OFFER SELLING POTENTIAL September 13, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMTHE market returned from its summer holidays last week with a hearty appetite for risk, undermining the US dollar so much that euro-dollar rallied into a new trading range and, unsurprisingly, boosting the price of oil and metals. What was surprising, however, was the surge in gold, which broke the $1,000/oz level [...]
Taking the gay out of Dorian Gray September 10, 2009 FilmDORIAN GRAYCert: 12 THE Portrait of Dorian Gray is a story about a man with a terrible secret about the state of his soul, something that Oscar Wilde was no doubt very familiar with. While Dorian has his painting in his attic, Oscar was firmly in his closet. Like Jekyll and Hyde, Dorian Gray is [...]
BARCAP TRIUMPH IN SQUARE MILE RELAY September 10, 2009 THE City’s many sporting fanatics were out in force last night at the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, which saw around 100 teams of ten runners competing over a specially-designed mile-long course. Special mention must go to third-placed West LB, second-placed Legal & General, and Barclays Capital, who broke L&G’s two-year winning streak to take this [...]
US Beige book sees recovery September 9, 2009 HALF of the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts saw evidence that the US economy had improved by the end of August, although labour markets remained weak and retail sales were flat, a Fed report said last night. Dallas, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond and San Francisco noted gains. “Most districts noted that the outlook for economic activity [...]
USconsumers cut borrowing as unemployment starts to bite September 8, 2009 US consumers slashed their borrowings by a record $21.6bn (£13bn) in July, the Federal Reserve said last night. Total US consumer credit fell at a 10.4 per cent annual rate to $2.47 trillion, suggesting that households were shying away from credit amid rising unemployment. Analysts were expecting a much smaller $4bn decline in July after [...]
Forward forex markets are bearish for the dollar’s status September 8, 2009 A QUICK glance at the usually lively currency markets would suggest that not a whole lot is going on in foreign exchange. Major currency pairs are stuck in tight trading ranges – the euro-dollar, for example, has been stuck in the $1.33-$1.44 trading range since June. It would be tempting to say that traders ought [...]