Aldi and Lidl’s growth rate falling behind June 23, 2009 DISCOUNTERS like Aldi and Lidl are now growing less quickly than British stalwarts such as J Sainsbury and Morrisons in a sign that the traditional supermarkets’ fight-back is succeeding, a survey showed yesterday. Britain’s grocery market grew by a recession-beating 6.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to 14 June compared to the same period [...]
Rise in US inflation lower than forecast as slump takes its toll June 17, 2009 US consumer prices edged up in May on higher petrol prices, but fell over the past 12 months by the most since 1950, in a sign that inflation was not a threat for now as the country fights a brutal recession. The Labour Department yesterday said its Consumer Price Index (CPI) edged up 0.1 per [...]
Headline UK inflation still above target June 16, 2009 BRITISH headline inflation fell by much less than had been expected in May, raising speculation that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may decide not to extend its quantitative easing programme beyond the current £125bn. Official data yesterday showed that consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent last month, taking the annual rate of [...]
Economy fears hit oil, miners and banks but defensives fly June 16, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.1 per cent higher yesterday, recovering only a small part of Monday’s sharp falls as strength in defensive stocks was countered by falls in oils, miners, and banks. At the close the FTSE 100 was up 2.56 points at 4,328.57, rallying slightly after hitting a six-week closing low on Monday when [...]
Sucking up to get ahead can work a treat May 19, 2009 DEAR VEXED: It’s become a dog-eat-dog world at the office. I’ve always thought the best way to get ahead was hard work. But I’m wondering if sucking up to my boss comes into it. If so, how much and how should I do it without seeming obvious? Mark, 29, risk analyst IT’S good that you [...]
Pay cuts loom as prices fall to 61-year low May 19, 2009 AN ESTIMATED 80 per cent of workers face the prospect of a pay freeze or cut, after the measure of inflation used for the majority of wage settlements plunged last month. The Retail Prices Index (RPI), which is used for workers’ wage settlements and includes mortgage and rent payments, shrank to -1.2 per cent year-on-year [...]
Woes aid Whitbread September 5, 2008 Whitbread, Britain’s biggest hotel and restaurants operator, yesterday emerged as a rare winner in the consumer slowdown, revealing a boost in sales in the first half of this year. Whitbread’s Premier Inn budget hotel chain accounts for about 70 per cent of total profits. Premier Inn had total sales up 17.9 per cent and like-for-like [...]
Bet on inflation to beat the downturn August 26, 2008 The market climate has created just the right conditions to make a mint, says Katie Hope It’s pretty grim out there at the moment. Food and fuel prices are rising at the fastest rate on record, contributing to soaring inflation. Even Bank of England governor Mervyn King, who is charged with keeping inflation at around [...]
Don’t be spooked by inflation: there are ways to protect your portfolio August 15, 2008 Clever investors can protect themselves from the worst effects of rising prices, says Esther Shaw Figures out last week showed that inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), jumped to 4.4 per cent in July, more than double the Government’s 2 per cent target. On other measures, the figure is [...]
It’s chilly in the summer air August 14, 2008 It could just be the weather, but it was a decidedly grumpy Bank of England governor who chaired the central bank’s quarterly inflation report yesterday. Looking thin-lipped and put-upon, Mervyn King gave an impassioned explanation of why it was not his or the Bank’s fault that inflation is high, and rising. Not since Pontius Pilot [...]