Markets hit by Eurozone contagion fears November 7, 2011 Banks were the weakest link on the FTSE 100 this morning as the move towards a coalition government in Greece failed to impress wary investors. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who attempted to call a referendum on a crucial European Union bailout plan, will stand down when the new government takes over. Eurozone ministers meet [...]
LLOYD BLANKFEIN GETS HIS JUST DESSERTS FROM BUSINESS ELITE November 6, 2011 THERE WAS only one sour note at the Goldman Sachs and Financial Times Business Book of the Year awards – the Roquefort-flavoured ice-cream, which went down about as well as sovereign debt exposure at MF Global. “I’m not sure about this,” said Jonathan Taylor from HM Treasury as he laid down his spoon with a [...]
Coop to make second-round bid for Lloyds branches November 4, 2011 The Co-operative Group will make a second-round bid next week for the 632 Lloyds Bank branches being sold as part of its bailout deal, the Manchester-based bank has confirmed. The Coop, which also owns former building society Britannia, joins new high street bank NBNK in the second-round race to buy the Lloyds assets in an [...]
FTSE weak as investors eye G20 November 3, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked falls in Asia as leaders of the world’s biggest economies gathered in France for a G20 summit set to be dominated by the threat of Greece falling out of the Eurozone. The leaders of France and Germany, angered at Greece’s shock move to call a referendum on its latest bail-out plan [...]
DO YOU FIND YOU ARE SHOPPING MORE ONLINE? November 2, 2011 MARK JAY | MARSH “Yes, because it is convenient and easy. You can browse for better deals and find the exact products you are looking for.” ALAN WALSH | LLOYD’S OF LONDON “I didn’t two years ago – I still don’t now. But my wife does now more than she used to. She says you [...]
Markets hit by MF Global bankruptcy October 31, 2011 MARKETS plunged in London and New York yesterday as MF Global, the $41bn brokerage, became the first big American casualty of the European sovereign debt crisis. MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US following the collapse of a last-minute deal to sell off assets. It became the eighth-largest bankruptcy in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 31, 2011 Fat Prophets The independent research and fund management specialist has promoted David Thang from senior technical analyst to senior trading strategist. Thang joined Fat Prophets in 2009 as senior technical analyst in Australia. He started his career in Melbourne at Goldman Sachs JBWere in the institutional equities and money market proprietary traders division, before moving [...]
Weaker mining and energy prices drag the FTSE down October 31, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fellback yesterday, led by weaker miners and energy issues, as commodity prices retreated under the influence of a firmer dollar and worries over demand from China, with banks also under pressure after recent gains. Miners and integrated oil stocks took over 30 points off the UK blue chip index, as they [...]
Miners peg back markets October 31, 2011 European shares fell early in the session with miners hurt by falling metals prices while the afterglow of last week’s Eurozone debt deal began to fade. Miners were dented by Japan wading into the currency markets to rein in the value of the soaring yen, which sent the dollar up. A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced [...]
Weak City to harm UK jobs October 30, 2011 THE NEGATIVE impact of the Eurozone crisis on the City will damage the whole of the British economy, economists warned this morning. Financial sector employment fell by 14,000 in the second quarter, Ernst and Young’s Item Club said, while it expects no or little recovery in City jobs next year. “Given the extent to which [...]