FTSE up as UK manufacturing decline slows July 2, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up this morning as new data showed that the decline in UK manufacturing slowed in June. The manufacturing PMI – a respected survey of the sector – stood at at 48.6, up from 45.9 in May and well ahead of the consensus forecast of 46.5. New orders also rose strongly to [...]
Scandal is devastating blow to every bank July 1, 2012 IN THE bad old days of 2007 and 2008, at 11am each day, we’d wait with mounting anticipation for the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor). Queues formed outside branches of Northern Rock, HBOS, RBS and Lloyds teetered on the edge of unsustainability, and we (foolishly) looked to Libor to tell us quite how bad things [...]
Eurozone action helps stem bank losses June 29, 2012 The FTSE 100 rose this morning as a string of measures aimed at patching up the Eurozone injected more confidence into markets. Leaders of the bloc agreed to take emergency action to bring down Italy and Spain’s surging borrowing costs, create a single supervisory body for eurozone banks, and enable the bloc’s ESM bailout fund [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 28, 2012 BAE Systems Tom Arseneault has been appointed executive vice president, product sectors, and chief technology officer of the defence giant. He most recently served as president of BAE’s electronic systems sector, and joined the company in 2010. Additionally, Larry Prior, current executive vice president, service sectors, will become chief operating officer. Mercer Aled Jones has [...]
FTSE led down by scandal-hit Barclays June 28, 2012 The FTSE 100 slipped this morning as miners dipped and Barclays was dented by the Libor scandal while it was confirmed that the UK had lurched back into recession. Britain’s economy shrank by 0.3 pe rcent during the first three months of this year, official data confirmed, leaving the nation in its second recession in [...]
FTSE led down by scandal-hit Barclays June 28, 2012 The FTSE 100 slipped this morning as miners dipped and Barclays was dented by the Libor scandal while it was confirmed that the UK had lurched back into recession. Britain’s economy shrank by 0.3 per cent during the first three months of this year, official data confirmed, leaving the nation in its second recession in [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 27, 2012 LDC The private equity house has announced that Keith Holdt has been appointed as investor director in its value enhancement group. He joins from Swiss Post Solutions, where he was head of global business development and sales. Holdt previously spent eight years with IBM. Lloyds Banking Group Andrew Bester has been appointed chief executive, wholesale [...]
Boosted by bank and commodity stocks, FTSE breaks its losing run June 27, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading shares bounced back yesterday, snapping a four-session losing streak, with commodity and banking stocks squeezed higher as worries over the global growth outlook were eased by some upbeat US data. Volumes were again low, however, as most investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of a crucial European summit. The FTSE 100 [...]
Banks fuel FTSE gains but Eurozone picture darkens June 27, 2012 Banks fuelled modest gains on the FTSE 100 in early trading but investor confidence remained weak overall as the Eurozone’s leaders failed to offer any evidence of a path to recovery for the bloc. Disagreements between the region’s policymakers over how to deal with the turmoil are weighing on investors’ confidence ahead of a European [...]
UK heading for time bomb over housing benefit June 26, 2012 LOWER rates of home ownership are set to cost the government an extra £8bn a year in housing benefit, a think-tank said this morning. Once today’s generation of renters retire, there will be 3.45m pensioners claiming housing benefit by 2060, the Strategic Society Centre (SSC) has calculated. In today’s prices, these claimants will cost the [...]