Nasdaq beats its dotcom bubble record – New York Report April 23, 2015 THE Nasdaq Composite, the US market index most closely associated with technology stocks, closed at an all-time high yesterday, surpassing a 2000 record set just before the dotcom crash. Its record close of 5,056.06 capped a slow, unsteady climb from a 2002 low of 1,114.11 that spanned a recession, the rise of biotech and social [...]
FinTech payment startups least likely to get acquired by banks April 23, 2015 Financial technology startups shaking up the payments industry are least likely to be acquired by established banks, despite the increasing efforts by financial institutions to become more innovative. The most likely end-game for a successful startup developing innovative new ways for making payments in the rocketing FinTech sector is being acquired by a major technology firm such [...]
London’s best eats now within reach: New app Uncover aims to take the pain out of restaurant reservations April 22, 2015 Many of London’s top restaurants can be legitimately described as “exclusive”, primarily because they cost upwards of a hundred pounds a head – prices way out of most ordinary people’s price range. There is, however, another echelon of exclusivity inhabited by restaurants that aren’t only eye-wateringly expensive, but are also booked up for years to [...]
Strong Arm and a sunnier Sky lift the FTSE close to record – London Report April 21, 2015 THE TOP share index advanced yesterday towards a recent record high, with shares in ARM Holdings and Sky rising sharply after the companies announced strong profits. The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 10.80 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 7,062.93 points by the close, after gaining 0.8 per cent in the previous session. However, the [...]
Steve Jobs was wrong: The customer knows best in the age of crowd-sourcing April 21, 2015 Apple’s 1997 “Think Different” campaign stands out as one of the major turning points in that company’s history. It was a message that Steve Jobs and his innovative spirit had returned to the firm, after he left in 1985. Jobs was as famous for championing the misfit as for saying that, in business, you won’t [...]
Arm Holdings share price jumps as revenues rise 22 per cent April 21, 2015 The figures One of the darlings of the UK's tech scene has reported revenues up 22 per cent to £227.5m in the first quarter, as sales in the phones its chips power jumped. Arm Holdings, which licenses its chip designs to the likes of Apple and Samsung, said pre-tax profits had jumped 24 per cent [...]
US stocks rise with tech firms poised to rally – New York Report April 20, 2015 CHINA also boosted Wall Street yesterday as shares ended sharply higher, also buoyed by investors snapping up technology stocks on cautious optimism over upcoming earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 208.63 points, or 1.17 per cent, to end at 18,034.93. The S&P 500 gained 19.22 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 2,100.4, and [...]
Strategy rules: Five key lessons from tech titans April 20, 2015 Focus on platforms rather than products and be smart about risk. There's no shortage of advice on how to run a business like Steve Jobs. Anecdotes abound about how the titans of tech have designed products, managed people, and charted their companies’ growth, but it can be hard to distil practical lessons from them. A [...]
Time’s 100 most influential people: This is the most important age April 17, 2015 You won't see Janet Yellen or Alexis Tsipras running in the same circles together with Kimye (that's celeb power couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West), but they have one thing in common – influence. Along with head honchos like Apple boss Tim Cook, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, politicians Angela Merkel and Putin, and comedians John Oliver [...]
FTSE off its record high as Pearson’s shares are knocked – London Report April 16, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index slipped off record highs on Thursday, with media group Pearson underperforming after a newspaper report of a glitch in a lucrative contract. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index initially rose to an all-time high of 7,119.35 points but then edged back and closed down 0.5 per cent at 7,060.45 points. Pearson fell [...]