UK manufacturing does not need favours – but it deserves a better press March 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S greatness was built upon the brains and brawn of our industrial revolution. Excepting sporadic flourishes of genius, we hit our stride when great minds turned their energies to the tasks of extracting, designing, building and moving the world’s wants. Machines replaced the labour of men, so those born poor could work their family out [...]
AT A GLANCE: RAIL REFORM March 8, 2012 ● Timings Transport secretary Justine Greening has put out a consultation paper in response to Sir Roy McNulty’s report into the sector last year. She hopes to see £3.5bn cut from the annual budget by 2019. ● Peak fares could rise Though the government wants to end inflation-busting fares, plans to ease congestion could include [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 7, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CURRENCY TRADING VOLUMES DROP Volumes in the world’s multi-trillion dollar foreign exchange market have dropped to six-year lows as nervous investors have shied away from trading the euro and central banks have continued to maintain a tight grip on the value of their currencies. SOCGEN TO FACE REGULATOR PROBE Société Générale is to [...]
Optimism in the air for property show March 4, 2012 AROUND 19,000 delegates are expected to attend MIPIM, the world’s largest property conference, which begins in Cannes today – a rise of 1,000 compared to the year before. More than 90 countries are attending the four-day extravaganza to discuss investment opportunities and showcase property from the City of London to Manchester and Birmingham. Event organiser [...]
US stocks return to the highs of 2008 March 1, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday, moving back to 2008 highs, after a jump in bank shares and further upbeat data on the labour market, though sharp gains in oil prices limited the advance. After losses on Wednesday, the rebound took the S&P 500 back above its 1,370 resistance level, which is seen as key to maintaining [...]
GM closer to Peugeot deal February 29, 2012 FRENCH car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen is set to consult engine partners Ford and BMW before agreeing to a tie-up with General Motors. The US firm is expected to take a seven per cent stake in PSA, which is reportedly planning a rights issue to raise cash for new ventures. GM, the world’s biggest carmaker, [...]
Hoare Govett’s larger clients look poachable February 27, 2012 JEFFERIES Group, the global investment firm that has picked up the Hoare Govett name and around 50 of its remaining employees, has done a good job in hanging on to many of the firm’s stars. So, corporate advisers like Paul Nicholls and Chris Zeal have made the move across to the new firm, as has [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 26, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES WELLS FARGO EYES EUROPEAN BANK ASSETS TO POWER EXPANSION PLANS Wells Fargo plans to increase the size of its wealth management and insurance divisions through acquisitions as well as buying more assets from shrinking European banks, its chief executive says. John Stumpf, whose bank’s market capitalisation is bigger than that of any other [...]
With the state out of money we have much to learn from the American way of giving February 23, 2012 TAKE a walk on Park Avenue or Wall Street and you’ll see countless posters and banners profiling the wide variety of cultural activities on offer in New York. And at the bottom of each you’ll see sponsorship from a large private company – usually a bank, and usually a big one at that. Goldman, Morgan, [...]
Jacobean tale of incest is a 21st century triumph February 23, 2012 Theatre ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE Barbican **** by Steve Dinneen JOHN Ford’s Jacobean tale of incest and revenge is dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century in this highly stylised and deliciously sinister production. The forbidden love between Giovanni and his sister Annabella is portrayed as a tender but doomed affair – similar [...]