FSA extends PPI mis-selling settlement time June 13, 2011 The City watchdog has extended the amount of time the banks have to settle claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance while Barclays has pledged to fully compensate thousands of customers. Barclays has committed to settle tens of thousands of outstanding claims over the scandal, putting pressure on rivals to follow suit. The Financial Services Authority [...]
Growth worries hit Wall St for sixth day June 8, 2011 US STOCKS extended losses for the sixth straight day yesterday as investors worried that a slowing economy could deepen the market’s retreat. The latest evidence of a slowdown came in the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which gives an anecdotal report on the economy. It reinforced Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s bearish assessment on growth delivered late [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 5, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES PAULSON FUND FALLS 6PC IN MAY Paulson & Co, the world’s third- largest hedge fund, saw the value of its flagship fund drop close to 6 per cent in May, echoing losses across the industry. The loss tops negative returns in the first quarter at the $37bn (£22.5bn) New York-based money manager, famed [...]
STORM CLOUDS GATHER OVER THE ECONOMY June 2, 2011 ■ Slowest US and UK factory activity since September 2009 ■ Inflation pressures start to feed through into British wages ■ Yields on 10-year US government bonds fall to three per cent STORM clouds gathered over the global economy yesterday, as a raft of gloomy data poured doubt on the strength of the UK and world [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES WALL STREET “MISPRICED” LINKEDIN’S IPO A prominent Facebook investor and director accused Wall Street of undervaluing the LinkedIn initial public offering earlier this month, contributing to the doubling of its shares on opening day. Peter Thiel, an early Facebook investor and co-founder of PayPal, said banks did not understand the full potential of [...]
EU is set for its own sub-prime crisis April 18, 2011 HUMAN beings have an infinite capacity for self-delusion, especially when it comes to matters financial. I still remember how, in late 2006 and early 2007, all too few investors, financiers, commentators and regulators wanted to believe that the US property market was in the early stages of a crash or that there was anything to [...]
EU is set for its own sub-prime crisis April 17, 2011 HUMAN beings have an infinite capacity for self-delusion, especially when it comes to matters financial. I still remember how, in late 2006 and early 2007, all too few investors, financiers, commentators and regulators wanted to believe that the US property market was in the early stages of a crash or that there was anything to [...]
London house prices record another jump April 11, 2011 HOUSE prices in London have increased for the second straight month, as the capital continues to defy the housing market slump afflicting the rest of the UK. In London a positive balance of 21 per cent of chartered surveyors reported rising house prices in March, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed today. In [...]
DEFAULT ZONE April 7, 2011 FRESH worries about the viability of the euro surfaced yesterday as the ECB became the first major central bank to hike interest rates from historic lows, raising the base rate from one to 1.25 per cent. The Institute of Directors (IoD) said that a euro break-up is “probably the number one macroeconomic risk to the [...]
FACT CHECKER April 7, 2011 “IS SPAIN next?” seemed to be the question on every economist’s lips this week even before Portugal bowed to the inevitable. A Spanish bailout would swamp the current €440bn bailout fund and could take the single currency with it. But there are good reasons to think that the debt contagion will stop short of Madrid. [...]