BILL OF THE WEEK June 21, 2009 MONEY was obviously of little concern to these four diners at South Kensington restaurant L’Etranger last week, as they spent a corking £2,263.33 on the restaurant’s “1961 Table” tasting menu. For £500 per person, they ate scallops wrapped in prosciutto parma ham and black tobiko with oyster, chive and champagne vinaigrette; a three-way game platter [...]
Magritte & frites in Brussels June 14, 2009 IF it is known for anything, Brussels is probably most famous for its beer and frites. Either that, or the spectacular Grande Place, an ornate masterpiece designed to awe visiting merchants. Or the Manneken Pis, the statue of the urinating boy that stands close to the Grand Place. Or the Atomium, the strange construction in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 10, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES RIKSBANK BORROWS €3BN FROM ECBThe European Central Bank (ECB) stepped in yesterday to help avert a Baltic financial crisis by lending €3bn (£2.6bn) to the central bank in Sweden, whose banks dominate the region’s financial sector. The ECB move signalled the Frankfurt institution’s willingness to shore up official European help for countries such [...]
Odey and GLG among hedge fund winners June 10, 2009 WINNERS are emerging from the hedge fund sector’s dramatic comeback in May, with groups like Odey and GLG now trumpeting net gains as high as 35 per cent this year so far. Hedge fund managers are saying investments in banks and emerging markets paid off last month, while recent research claimed May saw the vehicles [...]
APPLE LAUNCHES NEW iPHONE June 8, 2009 APPLE yesterday unveiled the iPhone 3GS, a new version of the hit product, which has 100 new features and the ability to shoot video. The phone is expected to hit stores on 19 June in the US and costs between $199 (£124) to $299 for customers who sign up to a two-year contract. The existing [...]
Banks shrug off McDonald’s and Apple worries June 8, 2009 US stocks rebounded late yesterday to end flat, shrugging off lighter-than-expected sales from McDonald’s and lowered iPhone prices from Apple. The three major US stock indexes had fallen more than 1 per cent before rallying in the last hour of trading, led by bank shares. Analysts pointed to the S&P 500’s recent piercing of its [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 7, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday Telegraph WIGLEY TO ADVISE ADVENTThe former chairman of Merrill Lynch’s European operations and a respected City figure, is joining the private equity firm Advent International to identify investment opportunities across the financial services industry. Wigley will become a part-time operating partner at Advent, which is sitting on a large cash-pile after raising [...]
BACK TO THE CORE June 7, 2009 THE world’s technology bloggers are convinced that Steve Jobs, Apple’s charismatic boss, is about to make a comeback to the group after a long layoff with illness. There are rumours that Jobs, who has been off since January, may appear at Apple’s software developers’ conference this week in San Francisco.
FINANCE GRANDEES GRACE ARK’S PARTY OF THE YEAR June 4, 2009 TWO fingers to the downturn: despite the current economic woes, nearly 900 of the world’s wealthiest financiers and celebrities descended on Waterloo station last night for the premier charity event of the year, hedge fund king Arki Busson’s annual Ark gala dinner. Busson, the boss of Swiss fund of hedge funds EIM, and his fiancé, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 3, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BANKRUPTCIES SET TO RISEThe number of corporate bankruptcies is set to surge by 35 per cent this year, turning the world economy into a “burial ground” for businesses, according to a study by Euler Hermes, the credit insurer. In a study published today the Paris-based unit of Allianz, says the rate of corporate [...]