Profits fall at regional newspaper publisher as online rush continues
31 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 65 views]
The move away from print to online advertising continues to take its toll at Johnston Press. The second biggest publisher of regional newspapers in the UK, with journals such as the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post in its stable, saw profits in the six months to June fall to £79.8 million from £82.2 million in the [...]
SEC drops investigation into former Shell chief
31 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 77 views]
It’s hard to believe it was over two years ago now. You may recall, the start of 2004 saw the revelation that Shell had overstated its oil reserves. Bad announcement followed bad announcement, resignations followed, and ultimately the crisis claimed the head of chairman, Sir Philip Watts. Before the dust had time to settle it [...]
Fed dissenter explains hawk posture
31 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 58 views]
Stateside, the debate over whether the Fed has permanently put interest rate rise on hold, or has merely paused for breath, rages on. When the minutes of the last meeting, in which the Fed chose to end the run of upping rates for 17 successive meetings, were unveiled, there was one dissenter. Fed rate setting [...]
Mortgage spending soars – healthy consumers, or something else?
31 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 54 views]
According to the latest data from the Bank of England, mortgage borrowing has soared. In fact July saw mortgage borrowing leap by £9.79 billion. That’s the biggest monthly rise for three years. So does that complement the findings of the CBI in the retail sector, and show the British consumer is back, spending and in [...]
Is the retail boom back on?
31 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 77 views]
The High street posted its best year on year growth since December 2004 in the 12 months to August, said the CBI yesterday. Maybe, at last, the High Street slowdown is well and truly over. Every month the CBI asks its retail members whether sales are up or down. The balance forms its distributed trade [...]
Business leaders want more immigrant workers
30 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 67 views]
It reads like a Who’s Who. The chairman is Lord ( Leon) Brittan, also on the list are the chairmen and women of many of the UK’s top companies , including Sir Nigel Rudd of Boots,;Bryan Sanderson of Standard Chartered, Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, BP’s Peter Sutherland, Chris Gibson-Smith of the London Stock Exchange, [...]
UK buy outs market becomes victim of its own success
30 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 59 views]
So what do you think if someone offers to buy a product off you for more than you thought it was worth? Do you say thank you very much? Or do you think, “maybe I was wrong, and the product is worth even more, so ‘no thank, you, I want more’ “? It appears that [...]
Google and Apple see boardroom link
30 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 62 views]
Hello, what’s going on here? Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, has been appointed as a director of Apple Computers. Mr Schmidt said of Apple that it is “one of the companies in the world that I most admire”. He has been Google CEO since 2001. But the real question is this. What are [...]
Interest rate freeze was a close call, says Fed
30 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 61 views]
As ever the latest news from the US is, on the face of it, contradictory. According to the minutes of the Fed meeting held earlier this month when it chose to keep rates on hold, the decisions was a close call, and one member voted for another hike. In fact, the Fed’s interest rate setting [...]
US economic boom has bypassed Mr and Mrs Average
30 Aug 2006 [0 Comments | 69 views]
It all depends on how you measure average. But by one method at least, the average US household is worse off today than in 2000. Households particularly badly hit are those in which the main income earner is under 65. Retired households have faired better, or so says the US Economic Policy Institute. On the [...]
