Ebola to Ukraine: The West has failed to pay the piper – with terrible results October 19, 2014 Something truly terrible happened in Hamelin, Germany in the early Middle Ages, something so dire it has become embedded in western consciousness as the fairy tale “The Pied Piper.” Whether the town experienced a severe case of the Black Death, a rush of emigration to Eastern Europe, suffered through the Children’s Crusade, or was the [...]
Sweden hunts for suspected Russian submarine October 19, 2014 Sweden's military is searching for "foreign underwater activity" less than 31 miles from Stockholm. According to Reuters, the mobilisation of troops, ships and helicopters is on a scale not seen since the depths of the cold war. Russia's bellicose actions in Ukraine are making nations in the Baltic and Nordic regions uneasy. Stockholm is just across the [...]
Worries escalate over recession in the Eurozone as currency bloc slips further towards deflation October 16, 2014 Eurozone inflation hit a five-year low in September as weak spending continues to plague hopes of an economic recovery. Prices rose just 0.3 per cent year-on-year in September according to figures published yesterday by official data house Eurostat. The figure was down from 0.4 per cent in August and continues the single currency area’s apparent [...]
Diageo sales on the rocks amid weakness in emerging markets October 16, 2014 Diageo suffered a 1.7 per cent fall in first quarter sales, as the slowdown in China, currency weakness, and sanctions against Russia took its toll on the business. The drinks giant behind Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky said yesterday that sales were down 1.5 per cent on an organic basis in the three months [...]
Oil prices slide to four-year low as Opec digs in October 14, 2014 Brent crude slid below $85 yesterday, marking a four-year low for the commodity, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that oil demand would expand slower this year than it had since 2009. In its oil market report for October, the stated that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) crude oil output [...]
Russia pulls bond sale after rouble sinks and sanctions bite October 14, 2014 Russia was forced to pull a bond sale yesterday as its currency sank to a record new low and sanctions against the government, over continued intervention in Ukraine, began to bite. The country pulled the plug on a planned auction, the first in a month, as it continued to struggle with the impact of international [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown share price hit by market fears around Scottish independence and Russia-Ukraine conflict October 14, 2014 Fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown was hit by turmoil in the geopolitical arena last quarter, as the fear stalking stock markets dragged down performance. The FTSE 100 giant, based in Bristol, said concerns over the Scottish referendum, conflict between Ukraine and Russia, unrest in the Middle East and poor data from the Eurozone had made customers [...]
Shares down at industrials after Investec downgrades 15 firms October 13, 2014 INVESTEC sent share prices tumbling yesterday after it downgraded several UK industrials companies yesterday, blaming the deteriorating economic environment in Europe. The bank said that in light of recent profit warnings in the industrials sector, it had identified vulnerable companies, downgrading 15 of the most affected. Investec said it had focused on those with “significant [...]
Fifa like intelligence agency, says investigator October 13, 2014 THE LAWYER tasked with investigating allegations of Fifa corruption has urged football’s world governing body to stop operating under a cloak of secrecy better suited to an intelligence agency. Michael Garcia used an appearance yesterday in the City of London to call for Fifa to implement greater transparency and a change in tone of leadership [...]
Russian rouble sinks to record lows as oil prices tumble October 13, 2014 Vladimir Putin was enjoying himself at Russia’s first Grand Prix for a century yesterday, but the party was quickly over as the Russian president woke up to further falls in oil prices and a weakening rouble. The Russian currency hit record lows against the dollar and the euro on Monday morning, as tumbling oil [...]