Financial news

• Another reason not to send Christmas cards | Letters

  18-12-2017 19:46
  Some people take the opportunity to donate the money they would have spent on Christmas cards and stamps to their preferred charities, writes Sue SpillmanThere were a couple of references in the Guardian on Saturday to the demise of Christmas cards (John Crace’s digested week and an editorial, Seasonal stamp of approval), seemingly blaming laziness/technology/cost and perhaps culture change for the reduction in the number of Christmas cards sent each year.There is another possibility. Some
  
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• Bitcoin bubble warnings grow louder as futures trading begins on CME – as it happened

  18-12-2017 18:44 via theguardian.com
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as cryptocurrency bitcoin joins the world’s largest exchangeClosing summary: Bitcoin futures fall on CME debutDanish central banker says bitcoin is dangerousSingapore: Bitcoin has no intrinsic valueUBS’s Weber: We warn against bitcoinFrance wants G20 debateIntroduction: CME is now offering bitcoin futures 5.43pm GMTTime for a recap.Bitcoin has made a subdued debut onto the world’s largest futures exchange, as a series of politici
  
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• Hermes delivery driver's diary shows flipside to Christmas shopping

  18-12-2017 18:19
  Self-employed drivers work long hours and battle traffic, weather and Christmas logistics to make just over minimum wage Online retailers are expecting record UK sales this Christmas, with deliveries running right up to 24 December. An army of drivers is being deployed to deliver these purchases to shoppers’ homes.Continue reading...
  
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• Watch out, the Brexiteers might be coming for your paid holidays | Frances O’Grady

  18-12-2017 17:03 via theguardian.com
  Millions of Britons rely on the EU’s working time directive for the most basic rights. It appears this is under threat, despite Vote Leave’s promisesMinisters including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are plotting to scrap the working time directive, according to numerous media reports. This is a crucial piece of EU law that protects working people – and which working people were promised would still apply after Brexit.If Johnson and Gove succeed, 7 million workers could lose th
  
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• UBS warns of bitcoin bubble as futures trading begins on CME – business live

  18-12-2017 13:43 via theguardian.com
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as cryptocurrency bitcoin joins the world’s largest exchangeIntroduction: CME is now offering bitcoin futures
  UBS’s Weber: We warn against bitcoin
  ING: Bitcoin will return to niche statusBitcoin futures explainedBitcoin surged to nearly $20,000 last night, before subsidingStarted the year at $969 12.43pm GMTWe should note that CME’s new bitcoin futures contracts actually covers five units of the digital currency.So the 681 contra
  
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• Who will be hit hardest by net neutrality? Marginalised America

  18-12-2017 13:36 via theguardian.com
  In failing to preserve the open internet, the FCC has made life harder for millions of Americans who used to web to engage in politics and write themselves into history
  For Marco Castro Bohorquez, an advocate in Los Angeles, connecting to the internet every day isn’t just about checking in on friends or clicking on headlines. It’s a primary means of survival. Marco is HIV positive and struggles with mental health issues, and often connects to therapists and other providers via Skype.
  
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• UK manufacturing order books near three-decade high, says CBI

  18-12-2017 13:21 via theguardian.com
  Strong growth recorded in November continued in December, but is expected to slow in early 2018Britain’s manufacturers have ended 2017 on a high note, with output surging to meet the strongest order books in almost three decades.The latest snapshot of industry from the CBI found the strong growth recorded in November continued in December but is expected to abate in the early months of 2018. Continue reading...
  
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• Ryanair has recognised unions. Hell must have frozen over | Stefan Stern

  18-12-2017 13:21 via theguardian.com
  It’s a company built on contradictions: everyone moans about it and yet it’s one of the world’s biggest airlines. Something had to give“I don’t even know how there would be industrial action in Ryanair,” the company’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, observed at its annual general meeting in Dublin less than three months ago. “There isn’t a union.”There is now. In fact, not merely one union, but several pilots’ unions from
  
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• Revealed: the government email telling HS2 not to make extra £1.76m payouts

  18-12-2017 13:01 via theguardian.com
  Rail project’s chief was warned that making higher redundancy payments ‘would cause enormous reputational damage’A crucial email from government forbidding HS2 from handing an extra £1.76m to departing colleagues can be revealed by the Guardian – and it shows that HS2’s chief executive was warned that even proposing such payouts “would cause enormous reputational damage to the company”.Last week, MPs on the House of Commons public accounts committe
  
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• Bumper business Christmas quiz 2017

  18-12-2017 12:59 via theguardian.com
  Brexit, the Paradise Papers, chickens … and the new £1 coin – how well can you remember the key events of 2017?•For your overall score, please complete all the questionsWhich of the following did Sainsbury’s add to its food shelves this year?Mealworm burgersEdible flowersHorse meatWhat did bagless vacuum cleaner inventor James Dyson pledge to build next?An electric vehicleHybrid microwave toastersA screenless smartphoneChocolate bars, drink cartons, toilet rolls and
  
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• Meet the actor who became a leading corporate lawyer – and ‘found nirvana’

  18-12-2017 12:54 via theguardian.com
  Bjarne P Tellmann, general counsel at Pearson, on how he started out in law, the cultural transformation he’s led at the firm and how he sees technology shaking up the industryIn an era of change for the legal profession, the role of general counsel (GC) has become one of the most complex, challenging and exciting in the corporate world. No one knows that better than Bjarne P Tellmann, GC and chief legal officer of Pearson, the world’s largest education publishing company.Three years
  
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• Pound v US dollar: GBP exchange rate strengthens as PM to discuss Brexit trade

  18-12-2017 11:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound to US dollar exchange rate is ticking higher this morning as Theresa May meets with her Cabinet to discuss her plans for the second stage of Brexit negotiations.
  
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• Cashflow is firms’ biggest worry but new finance solutions offer hope for growth

  18-12-2017 11:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  Cash flow looks set to cause some restless nights this Christmas as latest findings from Barclaycard suggest this is now the main worry for independent and smaller firms.
  
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• Spread-betting firms' shares plunge as EU watchdog plans crackdown

  18-12-2017 10:51 via theguardian.com
  European Securities and Markets Authority says it is considering ban on high-risk binary optionsA crackdown by the European regulator on high-risk online bets has sent shares in spread-betting firms plummeting.The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said late on Friday it was considering a ban on the marketing, distribution or sale to retail clients of binary options, amid fears they are too risky for amateur speculators.Continue reading...
  
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• Would-be models duped by ‘platforms’ promising easy route to fashion world

  18-12-2017 09:33 via theguardian.com
  Firms promise the ticket to a modelling career with a test photoshoot – but the only thing they bring with them is a hefty billAminata Mendes* has dreams of a modelling career to support her struggling family. An invitation to a photoshoot by a company describing itself as the UK’s largest studio group promised to be the breakthrough. “My family and I are recent immigrants from west Africa and they told me that my modelling potential could help support my family financially,&rs
  
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• Can I keep my help-to-buy Isa even though I've now got a house?

  18-12-2017 09:33 via theguardian.com
  I don’t want to give up my my Halifax Isa as the interest is hard to beat – I’m not sure if I’m breaking any rulesQ I opened a Halifax help-to-buy Isa in December 2015 with £1,000 and have paid the maximum £200 into it every month since. I live in London and recently purchased a house for £500,000, making me ineligible for the government bonus which is capped at houses costing £450,000. I have not closed the Isa as I have accrued £6,000 in re
  
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• Bitcoin CRASH imminent? Investor warns bitcoin bubble is ‘bloodiest DANGER of the century’

  18-12-2017 09:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN is growing to become the biggest financial danger of the 21st century, a veteran investor has gravely warned.
  
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• Global coal consumption forecast to slow

  18-12-2017 09:14 via theguardian.com
  International Energy Agency says burning of fossil fuel is falling fast, driven by drop-off in use by EU, China and USEvery major country in the world except India reduced its consumption of coal last year, with demand for the dirty fuel forecast to stagnate for the next half decade, according to official forecasts. The International Energy Agency said 5.3bn tonnes of coal equivalent were burnt in 2016, down 1.9% on the year before and 4.2% on 2014, the fastest decline since 1990-1992, when the
  
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• Desperate UK homeowners are cutting prices, says Zoopla

  18-12-2017 08:47 via theguardian.com
  Property website says 35% of homes up for sale have cut sale price, with Brexit vote to blame for the biggest discounts in LondonPrice cutting by homeowners desperate to shift their property in a slowing market has reached the highest levels in six years, according to an analysis by website Zoopla.Just over 35% of the homes marketed on the site have marked down their price in the hope of achieving a sale, with the biggest discounts in the London property market.Continue reading...
  
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• Bitcoin price WATCH LIVE: Cryptocurrency news as Bitcoin value soars – LIVE ANALYSIS

  18-12-2017 08:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN has smashed another record high price as the cryptocurrency soared past $20,000 on Sunday. Watch live Bitcoin price update amid fears of a crash.
  
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• Millennials give more generously and carefully to charity, study finds

  18-12-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Charity Commission says young people are more likely to do research on charities before donating than their eldersMillennials are more generous when giving to charities at Christmas and they are more likely to research their chosen charities before donating, according to research by the Charity Commission.Over half of respondents aged between 18 and 24 said they would usually check out a charity before donating, compared with 29% of over-75s. Continue reading...
  
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• John Lewis fails to deliver on its wedding gift list promises

  18-12-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It was a fairytale until it came to getting our gifts deliveredDespite Storm Brian a few weeks ago my wife and I managed to have our fairytale wedding … with the exception of the John Lewis gift list. We had instances where guests had paid for items (which in our view is a contract with John Lewis to supply the goods), only to be informed that they were no longer available and we needed to convert the value into vouchers.Continue reading...
  
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• Deck the stalls: small business festive pop-ups and markets – in pictures

  18-12-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  They sell everything from sloe gin to roast chestnuts at fairs and tipis around the UK. We asked small business retailers to share their stories Continue reading...
  
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• Bitcoin bubble: Cryptocurrency hits new $20,000 record high as experts warn of CRASH

  18-12-2017 08:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN has smashed another record high as the controversial cryptocurrency surged past $20,000 today amid bubble crash fears.
  
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• Weak pound boosts English sparkling wine sales before Christmas

  18-12-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Domestic fizzy wines are replacing champagne in some pubs and restaurants this year, but prosecco is still boomingEnglish sparkling wine is set to oust French champagne in many restaurants, pubs and Christmas dinner tables following sterling’s decline, which has made it the same price as or cheaper than continental rivals.The pub group Fuller’s has replaced its French house champagne, Collet, with English sparkling wine across its 500 UK pubs following a successful trial last year, a
  
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• Boost for fossil fuel divestment as UK eases pension rules

  18-12-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: pension schemes will be free to dump fossil fuel investments after government drops ‘best returns’ legal rules The government is to allow Britain’s £2tn workplace pension schemes to dump their shares in oil, gas and coal companies more easily, empowering them to take investment decisions to fight climate change.Until now, pension schemes have been hamstrung by “fiduciary duties” that effectively require schemes to seek the best returns irrespective
  
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• UK banks face fines as immigration checks on account holders loom

  18-12-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  New rules force banks and building societies to inform authorities if name matches Home Office migrant databaseBanks and building societies face fines and public sanction by the City regulator if they fail to conduct thorough immigration checks on current account holders from January.From the start of 2018, banks will be required to scrutinise the immigration status of their 76 million current account customers against a government database of individuals without leave to remain in the UK. Conti
  
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• Brexit will usher in a dark chapter for new British authors, warns publisher

  18-12-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury warns UK’s exclusive English rights across EU will end, with firms fighting US companies in an open marketThe next generation of British authors could struggle to land a book deal after Brexit, according to the publisher who launched Harry Potter writer JK Rowling’s career.The UK’s close ties with Europe meant British publishers enjoyed a huge financial benefit from exploiting the exclusive English-language rights to books sold across the conti
  
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• UK Businesses ‘buying Bitcoin in desperate bid to pay off hackers’ after cyberattacks

  18-12-2017 06:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN is being bought to pay off hackers who demanded ransoms after hitting firms in cyberattacks, experts have revealed.
  
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• Atlanta chaos: More than 1,000 flights cancelled as blackout hits world's busiest airport

  18-12-2017 06:24 via theguardian.com
  Fire damages Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta on Sunday, leaving many Christmas travellers stranded A sudden power outage brought the world’s busiest airport to a standstill on Sunday, grounding more than 1,000 flights in the US just days before the start of the Christmas travel rush. Passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta were left in the dark when the lights suddenly went out at about 1pm. All outgoing flights were halted, and arriving planes were held at point of depa
  
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