Article 50 rematch: Government heads to top court with revamped Brexit argument December 5, 2016 All eyes will be on the Supreme Court today as the attorney general doubles-down on the government's claim that the Prime Minister does not need parliamentary approval to trigger Article 50. Jeremy Wright will be the first to put forward arguments in the four-day hearing, while lawyers for pro-parliament activists who won their argument at the [...]
Faith alone won’t keep the euro alive indefinitely December 2, 2016 The euro is an astonishing achievement. Not, obviously, because it’s been a tremendous economic success: unable to devalue, the economies of much of southern Europe are being gutted, facing gravity-defying rates of unemployment (20 percentage points higher in Greece than in Germany), painful efforts to cut wages to restore competitiveness, and essentially unsolvable debt crises. The [...]
It’s time to face facts: Pandora’s Box is open and Europe is finished December 1, 2016 “Therefore, send not to know/For whom the bell tolls, /It tolls for thee.” – John Donne, 1624 Let me begin with a truism. My analytical career has not suffered from betting against Europe. For much as I love the lifestyle and all that comes with it, the continent’s complete, pathetic inability to solve any of [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open October 25, 2016 Apple sales are expected to fall sharply and Twitter is planning another round of job cuts. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing higher ahead of the open, though only slightly. The S&P is up by 0.09 per cent, the Nasdaq is 0.14 per [...]
I lost my job over the Iraq War: Chilcot has restored my faith in democracy July 6, 2016 “In the name of God, go!” – Oliver Cromwell, On The Dissolution of the Long Parliament, 1653 The Iraq war presented me with the most profound moral crisis of my life. I was working in Washington, immersed in two major efforts offering advice on post-war Iraq planning. Yet I could see there was none. The [...]
Tiffany & Co shares are not an investor’s best friend today, as sales slide over seven per cent in the last quarter May 25, 2016 Diamonds may be a girl's best friend but they've fallen out of favour with tourists in the face of the strong dollar. Sales at luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co have dropped by 7.3 per cent over the last quarter, its steepest slide over a three month period in almost six year – sending investors running. Shares in Tiffany slumped by [...]
Platinum producer Lonmin shines as cost-cutting strategy shrinks losses May 16, 2016 The share price of platinum producer Lonmin jumped more than 15 per cent in morning trading after the company announced its losses had shrunk due to its cost-cutting measures, despite the global slump in metals prices. The figures Lonmin announced a total of 2.5m tonnes were mined in the quarter to 31 March, while its core, long-life Generation 2 shafts [...]
SoundCloud founder: Music streaming isn’t “winners take all” market as it launches Go subscription and ad supported free services to take on Apple Music and Spotify May 3, 2016 SoundCloud has said it believes there is plenty of room in the competitive world of music streaming for different platforms as the company launches its paid for subscription service, SoundCloud Go, in the UK and Ireland just weeks after its US debut. Co-founder and technology chief Eric Wahlforss shook off suggestions that it faced stiff [...]
Five of the best European stocks for your portfolio – Pandora jewellery, sportswear firm Adidas, mobile phone company Orange, oil firm Tenaris and publisher Wolters Kluwer all stand out March 30, 2016 Europe has been a popular choice for investors in recent years. This is largely because the region is home to thousands of well-established businesses, many of which are global leaders in their field, and because Europe’s policy makers are determined to keep the region out of another crisis. Although European economies are slow, they are [...]
Penna: managers aren’t good at discussing careers March 30, 2016 According to a study conducted by Penna, the global people management business, over 60 per cent of employees are said to be considering a job shift because of a lack of career development opportunities. Penna says this is due to the fact that many managers are ill-equiped to discuss career topics such as "salary, delayed promotion and aspirations vesus [...]