It’s time for financial bears to hibernate January 13, 2014 Investors are about to face a news drought, following on from Friday's US payroll data. Kit Juckes of Societe Generale says that should be enough to send financial bears, particularly of the emerging markets variety, into hibernation. We're going to need to wait "until the snow melts and the true data pictures emerges", he says. [...]
Sports Direct buys up stake in Debenhams January 13, 2014 An unusual decision from Sports Direct this morning, but markets seem to like it. The retailer announced this morning that it's bought a 4.6 per cent stake in Debenhams. Shares in the latter have climbed over five per cent on the news: In a statement this morning, Sports Direct said that the move is to [...]
Greene King brews up record-breaking Christmas January 13, 2014 Pub retailer Greene King has posted a rise in like-for-like sales of five per cent for the last six weeks. The company achieved a six per cent rise in like-for-like sales over the years two most important trading weeks. Christmas Day proved to be the most successful in the company's history, with 62,000 meals sold, [...]
Online fashion giant Asos set to reveal sparkling Christmas sales January 12, 2014 ONLINE fashion giant Asos is set to report a leap in sales of as much as 38 per cent tomorrow thanks to rising demand in Germany and a strong performance in the UK. The online retailer is expected to have bucked the gloom faced by many bricks and mortar retailers this Christmas, with Peel Hunt [...]
London Report: Retailers reveal where tills rang for Christmas January 12, 2014 RETAILERS are expected to reveal where UK shoppers showed their Christmas cheer, with a round of results in contrast to last week’s gloomy December tidings. Figures out this week from retailers such as Argos, Asos, Dixons, Ocado and Primark are expected to show increased sales. The successes are in contrast to the sales dips seen [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: Big banks will set pace in new earnings round January 12, 2014 AFTER the S&P 500’s impressive 30 per cent return in 2013, Wall Street will get a better picture of reality this week as the pace picks up for companies reporting earnings. A number of big banks are due to report quarterly and full-year results, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo tomorrow, Bank of America on [...]
Bitcoin wins the heart of libertarian CEO January 10, 2014 Encouraged by positive Senate hearings in November and enthusiastic Bitcoin processors, online retailer Overstock.com has decided to take the plunge and accept the cryptocurrency. In the first 90 minutes of Bitcoin sales, the site received around 150 orders. Overstock took the decision several months earlier than had been planned. The libertarian chief executive of Overstock.com, [...]
As retailers suffer poor Christmas sales – is a tech revolution their only hope? January 10, 2014 In the wake of poorer than expected Christmas trading results, a veteran of the retail trade is warning that if businesses fail to innovate, they will continue to face challenges getting customers to walk through their doors. Chief executive of mobile payment solutions specialist Powa Technologies, Dan Wagner, says that innovation is key for retailers [...]
UK’s manufacturing recovery stutters in November January 10, 2014 Manufacturing's revival has lost some momentum. While analysts had expected to see production expand for the third consecutive month, new figures from the Office for National Statistics show that it was flat in November. Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg, says that the "hard data is not keeping pace with the red hot business [...]
A two-speed high street January 9, 2014 A CLEAR split between Britain’s winners and losers in the battle for consumers’ cash this Christmas emerged yesterday, as three of the biggest retail chains revealed worse-than-expected trading. Poor results from Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer added to dreary updates from Sainsbury’s and Mothercare, with heavy discounting, weak consumer spending and the rising discount [...]