WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 1, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES OPTIONS TRADING REACHES RECORD VOLUMES Options trading volumes in the US soared to a record last month as market volatility and the “flash crash” added to secular growth in the industry. Nearly 406m listed options contracts were traded in May, according to figures released by the Options Clearing Corporation, up 29 per cent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES WATCHDOG HINTS AT CURBS ON TARGETED WEB ADS Companies such as Google and Yahoo could face tougher scrutiny in the UK after the Office of Fair Trading said it could step in to regulate targeted advertising on the internet. The watchdog said that more needed to be done to ensure that consumer rights [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BC PARTNERS WINS MORE TIME Investors in BC Partners have granted the UK-based private equity group an extension to the investment period on its latest fund, in a sign that buy-out groups are winning more time to deploy their $500bn of unspent capital. The extension of BC Partners’s investment period from November until [...]
ENRC ramps up output to meet demand May 13, 2010 KAZAKH miner ENRC has recorded a big jump in first-quarter output following a rebound in demand for stainless steel. Ferrochrome production, which is used as a component in stainless steel, climbed a massive 70 per cent to 345,000 tonnes. The company also said revenue for the three months to 31 March had “increased significantly” on [...]
Sainsbury’s profit rises to £610m May 13, 2010 SAINSBURY’S made a pre-tax profit of £610m over the year to 20 March. The figure represents a 17.5 per cent improvement on the company’s figures last year. Like-for-like sales – excluding fuel – were up 4.3 per cent. Meanwhile total sales were up 5.1 per cent to £21.4m with new shops and a boost in [...]
Obama puts boot into BP May 3, 2010 A WHITE House spokesman yesterday promised to keep a “boot on the throat” of oil giant BP as chief executive Tony Hayward met with Washington officials to discuss ways to stop a worsening oil leak from spreading further. The British energy giant said it will foot the bill for the clean up of the oil [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 28, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GOLDMAN PRESSED FOR CDO LOSS SETTLEMENT Goldman Sachs is in talks over a potential settlement with an investor that claims that it lost money and went out of business after buying into a $1bn (€760,000) mortgage-backed security that was later privately criticised by a senior executive at the bank. Basis Yield Alpha Fund, [...]
FTSE drops after Spain downgrade April 28, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday, extending the previous session’s steep falls, after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating to AA, overshadowing strong corporate earnings. The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.91 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,586.61, after it tumbled 2.6 per cent on Tuesday — its biggest one-day [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TOSCAFUND HAS EYE ON £500M OF MORTGAGES Toscafund, the London-based hedge fund founded by ex-Credit Lyonnais star analyst Martin Hughes, is raising capital to acquire up to £500m of UK residential mortgages. The group has already closed a £250m fund of UK sub-prime mortgages, launched late last year, sources told the Financial Times. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BEEF PRICE SURGES FOLLOWING HARSH US WINTER Beef prices are soaring after cattle failed to fatten up during the harsh US winter and cash-strapped ranchers culled herds to cope with the recession. Cattle futures have risen more than 20 per cent since December and are again flirting with $1 a pound, a milestone [...]