Financial news

• How News Corp-owned agency monitors journalists' social media use – video explainer

  17-05-2018 18:17 via theguardian.com
  News Corp-owned social media agency Storyful has come under scrutiny over a plugin that monitors content journalists are looking at on social media. The tool, called Verify, is a system for checking the authenticity of videos posted on social media platforms. However, a leaked screen capture reveals it also enables Storyful to watch in real time what its clients are looking at. Storyful denies any wrongdoing with the plugin 
  Storyful uses tool to monitor what reporters watch Continue readin
  
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• What are the factors driving up the price of crude oil?

  17-05-2018 15:58 via theguardian.com
  Donald Trump, geopolitics and more make an impact, posing a challenge for central banksThe price of oil has hit its highest level since November 2014, reaching $80 per barrel, as geopolitical fears cause concerns to rise over potential disruption to supplies.Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, have risen by around half in the past year.Continue reading...
  
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• Save for our pensions? We millennials can barely find the money to live | Poppy Noor

  17-05-2018 13:59 via theguardian.com
  After rent and student loan debt, people my age struggle to eat, let alone put away a few hundred grand for our old age• Average person will need £260,000 for retirement, says reportI’m yet to see a zombie movie that portrays the most likely way that a post-apocalyptic world will play out: hungry pensioners roaming around; not yet dead, but no pension to keep them fed, looking for an arm to gnaw on. If you think I’m being disrespectful to elderly people, I’m not: tha
  
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• Rail commuters warned of disruption in timetables shake-up

  17-05-2018 12:30 via theguardian.com
  Govia Thameslink Railway is bringing in extra services but is withdrawing othersHundreds of thousands of rail commuters in the south-east have been advised to check train times and expect disruption as the biggest-ever change to timetables comes into effect on Sunday.
  Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates Britain’s largest rail franchise, covering a quarter of all journeys, has rescheduled every train as it brings in more than 400 extra services a day. Continue reading...
  
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• Nationalisation of east coast mainline was the only viable option | Nils Pratley

  17-05-2018 12:28 via theguardian.com
  Chris Grayling’s decision to bring route under public ownership avoids rewarding failureThe decision was “very finely balanced”, said transport secretary Chris Grayling, meaning both options on the east coast mainline were terrible from this point of view. He chose the right one.Keeping Stagecoach, under the Virgin Trains banner, on the job would have looked appalling. The operator got its numbers spectacularly wrong when it agreed to pay £3.3bn for an eight-year deal to
  
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• Burberry profits from 'belt bag' and Christopher Bailey swan song

  17-05-2018 12:28 via theguardian.com
  British luxury brand also boosted by collaboration with hip Russian designer Gosha RubchinskiyThe success of an expensive new Burberry handbag and an acclaimed final collection from Christopher Bailey helped the British brand beat analysts’ expectations as it posted a 5% rise in annual profits.The improvement in performance came after Bailey received rave notices for a rainbow-hued collection in February and Burberry launched a casual fashion collaboration with the hip Russian designer Gos
  
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• Brent crude oil hits $80 per barrel as Total threatens to quit Iran - business live

  17-05-2018 12:16 via theguardian.com
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as energy prices hit fresh three and a half-year highsBreaking: Brent crude has smashed through $80/barrel this morningIntroduction: Total will quit Iranian gas fields without sanctions waver
  Move undermines Europe’s efforts to preserve Iranian nuclear dealMacron calls for protection for EU companiesShipping giant also planning to quit Iran 11.16am BST US crude oil has also hit its highest level since 2014.It’s up nearly 1% at over $72
  
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• Paddy Power Betfair in talks to buy FanDuel after US sports betting ruling

  17-05-2018 12:10 via theguardian.com
  Discussions with fantasy sports league company come as UK bookmakers are well placed for slice of US marketPaddy Power Betfair has made the first move in an expected wave of takeover activity prompted by the legalisation of sports betting in the US, as it launched a bid for fantasy sports league company FanDuel.Shares in UK gambling companies soared earlier this week as investors responded to the US supreme court’s decision to overturn a law known as PASPA, a ban on sports bets that had st
  
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• US deal boosts Ocado's stock market value above £5bn

  17-05-2018 12:09 via theguardian.com
  Online supermarket brings logistics and tech to deal with US grocery giant KrogerOcado is making a major push into the US market after striking a deal to provide its technology in America to the grocery giant Kroger, the world’s third largest retailer.Shares in online grocer Ocado surged almost 50% to 790p, adding £1.5bn to its stock market value, taking it above £5bn for the first time, as investors cheered the news. Continue reading...
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP recovery cut short amid Brexit customs union fury

  17-05-2018 11:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound dropped sharply against US dollar at the start of the European session this morning. The pound US dollar rate is currently at around $1.352, down around half a cent from the high struck overnight.
  
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• Mothercare to close 50 stores with 800 jobs lost as firm fights for survival

  17-05-2018 10:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  MOTHERCARE has confirmed it will close 50 stores across the country causing 800 jobs to be lost in another hit for British retailers.
  
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• Mothercare to close 50 outlets and reinstate ousted CEO

  17-05-2018 09:02 via theguardian.com
  Maternity retailer brings back Mark Newton-Jones, who was sacked in April, as part of rescue planMothercare is to close 50 stores with the potential loss of at least 800 jobs and is rehiring its former chief executive – who was sacked only last month – under a rescue plan designed to secure the future of the struggling baby goods and maternity retailer.The group said Mark Newton-Jones, who was ousted in April, would now be returning to lead the business. His departure came after Moth
  
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• Maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals cut to £2

  17-05-2018 08:05 via theguardian.com
  Ministers ignore pleas from bookmakers and decide to reduce stake from £100The maximum permitted stake on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will be cut from £100 to £2, the government has announced after ministers ignored pleas from bookmakers and branded the machines a “social blight”.The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport opted for £2 after more than a year of furious argument between anti-FOBT groups and high street bookmakers
  
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• EasyJet used four different reasons for not compensating us

  17-05-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  We’ve been told our flight was cancelled due to lightning, air traffic, a strike and staff shortageEasyJet is giving us four different reasons why our flight to Pisa was cancelled so that they don’t have to pay compensation. We’ve been told it was due to lightning, air traffic disturbance and an air traffic controllers’ strike in Italy. At the time, however, the excuse was lack of staff. TSB, Ipswich Continue reading...
  
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• Bitcoin price CRASH: Cryptocurrency price falls to almost $8,000 after turbulent 24 hours

  17-05-2018 05:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN has dramatically crashed to almost $8,000 in a major drop as it loses almost three per cent of its value in 24 hours, after a shocking 6 per cent decrease the day before.
  
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• Japan plans $400m hit on US goods in response to Trump tariffs

  17-05-2018 05:29 via theguardian.com
  As US-China talks begin aimed at averting a trade war, Tokyo jockeys for leverage with Trump administrationJapan is considering slapping tariffs on US imports worth $409m in retaliation against steel and aluminium levies imposed by Donald Trump, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.Related: Trump 'working' with Xi Jinping to save jobs at Chinese company hit by US banContinue reading...
  
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• Bitcoin set to be the world’s DOMINANT currency? Twitter CEO backs BTC in crypto 'BATTLE'

  17-05-2018 02:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN has received backing by Twitter’s CEO to be the internet’s “native” currency in the future as BTC continues to battle with other cryptocurrencies for investor attention, it has emerged.
  
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• Co-op to fight food waste with pre-closing time donation scheme

  17-05-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Retailer will give fresh produce to community groups two hours before stores closeThe Co-op is to end “last-minute” sales of fresh produce to reduce the volume of edible food going to waste in its stores every day.Two hours before closing time, the national supermarket chain will remove items with a use by or best before date for that day, so they can be donated to thousands of charities and small community groups in time for them to be frozen or turned into meals. Continue reading..
  
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• Capita put NHS England patients at risk, says watchdog

  17-05-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Outsourcing firm’s primary care back-office contract criticised by NAOThe outsourcing giant Capita has put patients at risk of serious harm after taking over NHS England’s administration service, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.Failures resulted in 87 women being notified incorrectly that they were no longer part of the cervical screening programme and may have compromised patient safety, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).Continue reading...
  
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• State takes back control of east coast mainline

  17-05-2018 00:19 via theguardian.com
  Rail service to be renationalised temporarily after Virgin and Stagecoach could not meet paymentsThe East Coast rail service will be temporarily renationalised, the government has decided, after operators Virgin and Stagecoach could no longer meet the promised payments in the £3.3bn contract.
  The London-Edinburgh-Inverness service will be taken back into public control on 24 June, a little over three years since Virgin Trains East Coast (Vtec) started running. It will be rebranded as the L
  
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