Industrial policies are doomed to fail March 6, 2012 SLOWLY but surely, the British establishment is forgetting the lessons of the past 35 years. We have seen the return of high taxes, a softer approach to inflation, talk of wealth taxes (eerily similar to those supported by the Labour party in 1979), the rationalisation of envy and now even a comeback for economic nationalism. [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN PACE DELIVER ON ITS TURNAROUND STRATEGY? March 6, 2012 JONATHAN IMLAH | COLLINS STEWART While the short term outlook is better than expected, the medium to long term negatives will continue to outweigh the positives. The price reflects scepticism at Pace’s ability to execute its turnaround plan and fundamental questions about the long term relevance of the set-top box – and both assumptions are [...]
Apple can even generate buzz with no product March 6, 2012 APPLE’S new iPad has had an impact even before it is unveiled. The product’s overall Buzz score on YouGov’s BrandIndex has increased by two points since the announcement of its release less than a week ago. Looking at longer term trends over the last year, we have seen the uninterrupted rise in its recommend scores [...]
Dow drops more than 200 points March 6, 2012 THE Dow dropped more than 200 points yesterday, handing Wall Street its worst day in almost three months on renewed fears of a disorderly default in Greece and concerns that China’s slowdown would hit global growth. Analysts have expected a pullback for weeks, citing an overstretched market. Despite the day’s decline, the S&P 500 is [...]
Tablet sales cannibalising desktop PCs March 5, 2012 TOMORROW’S Apple announcement could bring more bad news for the desktop computer market, with the Cupertino-based company expected to reveal the third generation iPad and trigger a tablet shopping frenzy. When the iPad 2 was launched this time last year, online marketplace eBay sold 5,000 more tablets in March than in February as iPad-hungry shoppers [...]
Lower US markets led by commodities March 5, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday for the second straight session and the third in the last four trading days, led lower by basic materials shares after China trimmed its growth target for 2012. The S&P 500 index opened lower and data showing the US services sector expanded in February at its fastest pace in a year [...]
Apple passes 25 billion app downloads March 4, 2012 APPLE hit 25bn app downloads this weekend, continuing a string of milestones reached in the last month by the world’s most valuable company. And the announcements are set to keep rolling as Apple is expected to reveal the latest iPad to the world this Wednesday, exactly a year after the iPad 2 was released in [...]
Nasdaq hits 3,000 at last February 29, 2012 THE NASDAQ Composite index skimmed the 3,000 mark yesterday for the first time in over a decade, propelled by Apple’s surge, before sinking back below the line. In a hopeful hint that investor faith could be returning to a pre-dotcom level – the Nasdaq was last above 3,000 as the shutters closed on the internet [...]
ED BREWSTER MAKES A START ON HIS LATEST PR ADVENTURE February 29, 2012 FORMER Pru spinner Ed Brewster has made an appearance at giant telecoms event Mobile World Congress. Brewster is now tasked with looking after PR for Chinese behemoth Huawei as it attempts to conquer the consumer handset market. Attempting to break Apple and Google’s stranglehold over the industry may seem like a tall order but it’s [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 29, 2012 IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES Peel Hunt has upgraded the microprocessor technology firm from “hold” to “buy” following some positive announcements from the company at Mobile World Congress on next generation chips. The broker has also upped its target price to 723p from 550p, as a result of increased confidence in forecasts, particularly ahead of an expected product [...]