M&S share price suffers after downgrade ahead of third quarter results January 5, 2015 Marks & Spencer shares fell over three per cent in mid-afternoon trading after a downgrade by investment bank Societe Generale and as it prepares to report third quarter sales figures later this week. The British retailer started the new year on the back foot after analysts at Societe Generale took the stock rating from "buy" to [...]
Oil slides to new five-and-a-half-year low amid global supply glut January 5, 2015 Brent crude slipped below $55 per barrel today, marking a new five a half year low for the black stuff. It came after record supplies from Iraq and Russia fueled speculation persistently low prices were set to continue. Data from Russia's energy industry showed oil output hit a post-Soviet high last year at around 10.5m [...]
US hedge fund founder Thomas Gilbert shot dead in New York January 5, 2015 Thomas Gilbert, who founded $200m (£130m) hedge fund Wainscott Capital Partners, has been killed after being found shot in the head at his flat in Manhattan, New York, yesterday. New York City Police Department said his son Thomas Gilbert Junior, 30, had been taken in for questioning but not charged with a crime. Earlier, police [...]
Manufacturing confidence plunges from a year earlier January 5, 2015 UK manufacturers are gearing up for a tough year as the country's economy slows and global conditions worsen. The number of firms looking forward to an improved British economy slid to 37 per cent, from around two-thirds a year earlier, a survey by the EEF and Aldermore said today. Additionally, firms expecting conditions in the [...]
Euro falls to nine-year low as investors eye ECB policy January 5, 2015 The euro tumbled to a nine-year low against the dollar this morning after the European Central Bank (ECB) hinted quantitative easing could be on the way and disputed reports Germany was preparing for a so-called "Grexit." The common currency slid to $1.1860 in pre-market trade, its lowest level since March 2006. It also pushed the [...]
Wax-jacket maker Barbour facing four week strike action in Newcastle December 31, 2014 Wax-jacket maker Barbour, the upmarket brand beloved by City types, could be faced with four weeks of industrial action as it enters into the New Year. Employees at the company's warehouse in Gateshead, Newcastle will walkout over plans to introduce new shift patterns. The strike, which is scheduled to start on 5 January, comes after [...]
Eight of Britain’s most endangered professions: Scissor-makers, denim manufacturers and beer barrel crafters December 31, 2014 Britain's fast-dying craft industry risks taking a whole number of valuable and interesting skills with it, according to the Heritage Crafts Association. This is because the skills needed to produce beautifully intricate crafted goods rests in the hands of an ageing population and could be extinct in the next five years. In conjunction with the [...]
ECB official Peter Praet hints at quantitative easing amid falling oil prices December 31, 2014 The European Central Bank's (ECB) chief economist has hinted quantitative easing could be on the way, as plunging oil prices threaten to derail price expectations in the embattled eurozone. Peter Praet told German Newspaper Boersen-Zeitung the glut in global oil supply meant inflation rates were likely to remain negative throughout "a substantial part of 2015", something [...]
Apps to improve your work-life balance in 2015 December 31, 2014 A 24/7 business cycle coupled with the smartphone invasion can create a seemingly insurmountable workload making it increasingly impossible to achieve the ideal work-life balance. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and for the tech-savvy there's a myriad of apps to help fight back against the increasingly blurred lines between work and play. Rescue [...]
Apple’s App Store and iTunes introduces UK no-questions-asked 14-day refund guarantee December 30, 2014 European users of iTunes, the App Store and iBook who find they've accidentally downloaded a rubbish song or boring movie are now entitled to a no questions asked 14-day money back guarantee. Apple has updated its terms and conditions giving customers 14 days to return purchases excluding gift-cards according to 9to5mac.com. The changes, which apply [...]
