ANALYSTS TAKE THEIR GAMBLE ON WORLD CUP April 7, 2010 WORLD Cup fever is starting to grip the City in earnest ahead of the summer in South Africa, as evidenced by the latest analysts to have a pop at the business impact of the tournament. Sanford Bernstein’s Trevor Stirling, Joao Valli and Melissa Yates yesterday released a missive on the effects of the World Cup [...]
S&P 500 boosted by lift for bankers April 6, 2010 THE S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose modestly yesterday as the banking sector got a lift from positive analyst comments, while minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting eased concern over rising rates. The minutes suggested the central bank could keep interest rates at ultra-low levels longer than investors have anticipated if the economy worsens. Lower [...]
Samsung sees profits up and demand hike April 6, 2010 ELECTRONICS giant Samsung is predicting a surge in flat screen television sales as consumers recover their appetite for spending this year. The world’s largest semiconducter and flat-screen TV maker, which has forecast a record first-quarter profit of 4.3 trillion won (£2.52bn) and sales of 34 trillion won, predicts it will improve its figures in the [...]
US markets flourish as positive news floods in April 5, 2010 Shares of natural resources companies led the gains on expectations that an improving economy would drive up demand. US front-month crude oil futures topped $86 a barrel and gave a big lift to energy shares, with Exxon Mobil Corp up almost 1 per cent and Chevron Corp up 1.3 per cent. The S&P energy index [...]
Wall Street rallies on growth spurt April 5, 2010 The bulls were out in force in the US markets yesterday as its economy received the strongest sign yet that it is on the road to making a full recovery. The Dow Jones soared close to the 11,000 mark, reaching its highest point in over 18 months, following five weeks of consecutive growth. It climbed [...]
iPad mania grips US as sales begin April 5, 2010 APPLE’S latest must-have gadget stormed into US homes yesterday as more than 300,000 people snapped one up on its first day on sale. The highly-anticipated iPad tablet notebook pushed Apple’s shares to its highest ever level after it rose 1.1 per cent. It attracted the usual flurry of add-on sales, with users downloading over 1m [...]
Report of a new Apple iPhone boosts US stocks March 30, 2010 US stocks rose in a slow session yesterday on data showing more stabilisation in the economy, while Apple rallied on a report that it was developing a new iPhone. With the S&P 500 now up 73.4 per cent from the March 2009 bottom and on track for a fourth straight quarterly gain, investors chose to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 29, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BIG INVESTMENTS BOOST UK’S GREEN SECTOR The prospect of thousands of new “green” jobs in the UK as part of a drive for a low carbon economy came a step closer with two big investments in the environmental sector. Siemens, the German industrial giant, became the fourth wind turbine manufacturer to announce that [...]
US iPad distribution may be late March 28, 2010 Customers who preordered Apple’s new iPad may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand. Apple began taking preorders for the iPad on 12 March, promising to ship the touchscreen device to buyers on the official sales launch date [...]
Bullock is Miss Sentimentality in her apple pie Oscar role March 25, 2010 Film THE BLIND SIDE Cert: 12A IT’S certainly a remarkable story. “Big Mike” Oher, a poor black kid from the Tennessee projects abandoned by his junkie mother, became a major star in American football after being rescued by rich housewife, Leigh Anne Tuohy. She and her millionaire husband (Tim McGraw) adopted him as a teenager, [...]