Kiev strikes back in East Ukraine April 14, 2014 THE UKRAINIAN government has launched a full-scale anti-terrorist operation in the country, after pro-Russian forces moved into half a dozen towns in eastern Ukraine. The town of Slaviansk saw a reported gun battle yesterday, with at least one Ukrainian soldier and one pro-Russian fighter killed in the violent clashes. Others were said to have been [...]
Asian markets slide as Ukraine crisis escalates April 14, 2014 Asian markets are experiencing partial retreats after Friday saw sliding shares on Wall Street and tensions escalate in Ukraine over the weekend. On 11 April, JP Morgan posted results significantly below estimates, with net income dropping to $5.3bn (£3.2bn), compared with $6.5bn a year earlier. The biotech sector also struggled, leading the Nasdaq substantially lower. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 11/04 – Thatcher’s children, Problem with MBAs, Best of Twitter April 10, 2014 Thatcher’s children [Re: Why Sajid Javid could soon become the Tories’ great hope, yesterday] If the Conservative party wishes to win the 2015 election, it desperately needs a new leader and a change of political direction that encompasses the views of the electorate. Javid may be the only person who could pull off this dramatic [...]
BP: From Russia with Love April 10, 2014 Many of the shareholder questions at BP’s annual meeting today were on the topic of Russia, Ukraine and the oil major’s stake in Rosneft. The FTSE 100 firm is particularly exposed to the ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia over the sovereignty of Crimea, due to its near 20 per cent stake in the Russian [...]
Letters to the Editor – 10/04 – Housebuilding, Liberal vision, Best of Twitter April 9, 2014 Housebuilding [Re: How London can smash through the brick ceiling limiting housing supply, yesterday] A better idea would be to abolish the contradictory demand that developers build “affordable housing”, which actually puts the price of other properties up, thereby harming affordability. The housebuilding market is effectively constrained by such entry barriers. They mean that most development [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 April 2014 April 8, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Heartbleed bug threatens web A flaw has been discovered in a encryption method used on about two-thirds of all websites, including Google, Amazon, Yahoo and Dropbox, potentially exposing web traffic, user data and stored content to cyber criminals. The heartbleed bug was found in the OpenSSL software by a team of security engineers [...]
Ferrexpo ramps up production in face of continued Ukraine unrest April 8, 2014 THE POLITICAL crisis in Ukraine took the gloss off miner Ferrexpo’s strong first-quarter production results yesterday. The FTSE 250 iron ore producer, which operates in the beleaguered country, posted a 9.2 per cent rise in production year-on-year to 2.71m tonnes. The company said last month that the ongoing political conflict with Russia over territory in [...]
Best of the Brokers for 09 April 2014 April 8, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MOTHERCARE Cantor Fitzgerald tells investors to “sell” the retailer ahead of a trading update tomorrow. Dropping its target price from 200p to 151p, the broker said the children’s retailer is “running out of options” with sales dropping at home and overseas. HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS [...]
Letters to the Editor – 09/04 – Student migrants, Stamp duty, Best of Twitter April 8, 2014 Student migrants [Re: It’s a national scandal that Britain is driving away foreign talent, yesterday] Lord Bilimoria hits the nail on the head. The government’s ridiculous net migration target has had the perverse effect of forcing the Home Office to tighten up the rules on international students, who are presumably the very migrants we should be [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 08 April 2014 April 7, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES EU bank failures deal risks unravelling A landmark EU agreement on a common rulebook for handling bank failures is in danger of unravelling over the fine print restricting when a state can intervene to rescue a struggling bank. Britain is facing objections from several other member states as it scrambles to revise a [...]