Banks and miners lead FTSE lower June 8, 2012 Miners and banks led the FTSE down in early trading as investors shunned riskier assets and ran for cover as global economic growth stutters. The fall tracked losses on Wall Street yesterday and Asia overnight despite an initial boost after China cut its interest rates in an attempt to accelerate its growth. But US Federal [...]
M&S to introduce in-store banking service June 8, 2012 Retailer Marks & Spencer said it plans to launch an in-store banking service next month, backed by Europe’s biggest bank HSBC. The group said 50 M&S Bank branches will open in M&S stores across the UK over the next two years, with the first branch scheduled to open in July at its flagship Marble Arch [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 7, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Barristers face up to bankruptcy Growing numbers of criminal barristers are facing possible bankruptcy at a time the government is making cuts to legal aid funding. Figures confirm that in the last three years, 130 barristers have given notification that they are facing bankruptcy proceedings, directors disqualification proceedings or have entered into CVAs [...]
Former BlackRock City offices set for major redevelopment June 6, 2012 PLANS to redevelop BlackRock’s City headquarters into a new 319,000 square feet office block were recommended for approval yesterday, as the latest office block in the Square Mile takes a step closer to construction. The island site at 33 King William Street on the north side of London Bridge is owned by Topland, the property [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 6, 2012 Winston & Strawn Justin McClelland has joined the law firm from Milband as a partner in its global commercial litigation practice. He started his legal career at Slaughter & May, and previously served in Army Legal Services, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998. PIMCO [...]
Singaporean feng shui firm to list on Aim June 5, 2012 A SINGAPORE-BASED consultancy firm that advises blue-chip companies using the ancient Chinese philosophy of feng shui is to float on London’s junior stock market to raise £1.5m. New Trend Lifestyle Group, which counts Citibank and Standard Chartered among its clients, announced yesterday its intention to float on Aim at the end of June to fund [...]
Shoppers stay at home while prices creep up June 5, 2012 SHOP prices increased again in May while footfall kept dropping, industry data showed today. Overall shop price inflation hit 0.4 per cent in May, up from 0.2 per cent in April, according to British Retail Consortium figures, taking the annual price rise up to 1.5 per cent. Food price inflation jumped to 0.6 per cent [...]
Dig into the miners to take gains from growth June 5, 2012 A BIG problem when it comes to day trading most retail equities is that sifting through balance sheets, analysing company performance and then taking a position based on your analysis isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But when trading mining equities, you often have the advantage of trading the macroeconomic news affecting the stock, [...]
A CFD strategy to hedge losses in a broader portfolio June 5, 2012 RECENT falls in the FTSE 100 index, from highs of close to 6,000 in mid-March to its current position under the 5,300 mark, may have spooked some investors. However, it is possible to hedge losses in your equities. By using contracts for difference (CFDs) as part of a short-term hedging strategy, traders can minimise their [...]
Graff Diamond’s Hong Kong adventure ends in disaster May 31, 2012 IN an ideal world, ahead of the Jubilee weekend, we would now be looking forward to the listing of Graff Diamonds shares in London. Graff’s history is London through and through. Founder Laurence Graff started as a jewellery apprentice here in 1950 and then 12 years later opened his first two stores in the capital. [...]