Financial news

• Markets in Europe and Asia rally to stem some of December's losses

  28-12-2018 19:52 via theguardian.com
  FTSE 100 records best day for rising share prices since AprilStock markets across Europe and Asia rallied on Friday to stem some of December’s heavy losses, with London’s FTSE 100 recording its best day for rising share prices since April.The index of the UK’s most valuable companies closed up 2.3%. BP and Shell were the biggest risers, up 3.5% and 2.3% respectively as oil prices rebounded. Shares in exporters also climbed, led by British American Tobacco, which rose 3.6%. Cont
  
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• Brexiter hedge fund chief's bets against UK economy fail to pay off

  28-12-2018 19:24 via theguardian.com
  Crispin Odey’s share of profit from Odey Asset Management is down £4m on last yearCrispin Odey’s share of the profit of his hedge fund has fallen by £4m, as various bets made by the Brexit-backing billionaire against the UK economy and British businesses failed to pay off.Odey collected £1.5m from Odey Asset Management in the year to 5 April, a 72% decline on the £5.5m he made in the previous 12 months, according to accounts filed at Companies House. Continue
  
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• No end in sight to UK high street retailers' troubles

  28-12-2018 18:47 via theguardian.com
  Shops and restaurants face a tough 2019, with the malaise of falling sales spreading onlineThis has been a challenging year on the high street for shops and restaurants as consumers have reined in their spending, switched to buying on the internet and prioritised spending on leisure and holidays. At the same time, business rates have soared in some locations and the minimum wage rates paid to many shop workers have gone up by more than the rate of inflation.Asos – the biggest UK online-onl
  
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• The year in business: who were the winners and losers?

  28-12-2018 18:07 via theguardian.com
  From the collapse of Carillion to the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, 2018 was a tumultuous year• Days into 2018, the government outsourcing and construction business Carillion collapsed into bankruptcy. Its chairman, Keith Cochrane, chief executive, Richard Howson, and former finance directors Zafar Khan and Emma Mercer were eventually branded “delusional” by MPs as the full extent of the failings at the company became clear in bruising hearings. The bankruptcy is estimated to have cos
  
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• Let’s move to Great Malvern and the Malvern hills: walk in Elgar’s footsteps

  28-12-2018 17:30 via theguardian.com
  Seemingly a sedate affair with prim Victorian hotels, the town has a racy cultural lifeWhat’s going for it? I learned to drive on the Malvern Hills, which is probably why I failed my test. Twice. It’s not a spot for a novice. Hairpin bends. Narrow, winding lanes charged down by local Mr Toads in their Morgans (the car factory is nearby). And you want hill starts? You got ’em: 45 degrees steep (OK, not quite). They – well, I – call them the Midlands Alps, rising with
  
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• Thank you for the music, HMV, but we don’t need you any more | Penny Anderson

  28-12-2018 16:48 via theguardian.com
  High-street super chains are a thing of the past. Thankfully, small record shops will continue to serve true music fansThe latest victim of the current high‑street extinction event seems to be HMV (again): 2,200 people might lose their jobs, and in the current precarious employment climate that in itself will be devastating. But the loss of the sole high-street purveyor of pop music has extra significance, even for someone who was not a fan of the store. I have many fond memories of record
  
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• FTSE 100 roars back: UK stock index recovers from TWO-AND-A-HALF year low

  28-12-2018 16:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE FTSE 100 roared back from a two-and-a-half-year low today as British shares jumped from multi-year drops.
  
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• State pension hotspots MAPPED: More people receive pension HERE than anywhere else

  28-12-2018 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  WEST SOMERSET has been revealed as the state pension hotspot of the UK, with this district having the highest proportion of its population receiving their retirement fund, according to new research.
  
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• With China, we don’t need a trade war but a truce on tech | Anne McElvoy

  28-12-2018 16:08 via theguardian.com
  The west will need to balance security fears with a confidence that global trade is key to our prosperityA visit to Huawei’s HQ in Shenzhen is a glimpse into the way China’s leadership would like to envision its future. About 180,000 workers throng quietly around a pristine campus in the new-build city, which prizes digital expertise so highly that some outstanding engineers are lured with special rent deals to work on a campus that looks more like architect-designed Silicon Valley t
  
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• Save the Children UK chairman resigns after staff complaints

  28-12-2018 15:22 via theguardian.com
  Peter Bennett-Jones, who was criticised over tackling of sexual harassment, quits as UN sack aid worker in UgandaThe chairman of Save the Children UK has resigned after complaints by staff that he was not doing enough to address allegations of sexual harassment.The charity said Peter Bennett-Jones was standing down following objections to remarks he made during recent discussions with staff about the organisation’s future. Continue reading...
  
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• Royal Mail in stamp blunder after confusing D-day beaches with Indonesia

  28-12-2018 15:22 via theguardian.com
  Commemorative stamp, which depicted US troops landing in Indonesia, is being re-designedRoyal Mail has apologised and announced it will re-design a commemorative D-day stamp which depicts US troops in Indonesia, rather than the allied D-day landings in France.The special stamp was planned as part of a Best of British series to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-day landings in Normandy during the second world war. Continue reading...
  
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• END OF THE EURO: Biggest WEAKNESS facing the single currency REVEALED

  28-12-2018 13:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE biggest weakness of the euro is political, with differences in economic policies between member nations having the power to damage the single currency, according to a former chief economist.
  
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• Job fears for npower staff, with ownership transferring to E.ON

  28-12-2018 13:51 via theguardian.com
  Questions had been raised about 6,400 UK employees when SSE merger fell throughConcerns have been raised over job losses at npower after staff were told the ownership of the big six energy supplier will be transferred to the German energy giant E.ON.Questions were raised about the fate of npower and its 6,400 employees in the UK after the recent collapse of the company’s plan to merge with SSE. Continue reading...
  
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• The British film industry after Brexit: ‘We’re going to throw it all away’

  28-12-2018 13:00 via theguardian.com
  With production spend about £8bn a year, business has never been better for British screen industries – but all that could change when we leave the EU‘In England now, there is only the noise of division,” intoned Ralph Fiennes mournfully at the European cinema awards last Sunday. It sounded like a quote from one of Shakespeare’s historical plays, but everyone knew what Fiennes was talking about. His acceptance speech for his European achievement award, in which he b
  
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• TV Licence SCAM: Warning over FAKE messages being sent to THOUSANDS of Brits

  28-12-2018 12:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  CYBERCRIMINALS are still bombarding thousands of unsuspecting members of the British public with fake TV Licensing messages despite several warnings about the scam.
  
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• Bread-and-butter local issues threaten to derail the global economy | Michael Boskin

  28-12-2018 11:09 via theguardian.com
  Leaders must focus on domestic matters in 2019 to solve world problems such as trade and climate changeFor many of the world’s economies, financial markets, heads of government, and carbon policies, 2018 did not end well. The scars of the global financial crisis, combined with longer-term structural economic, technological, cultural, and demographic trends, have left large swaths of the population in many countries feeling politically neglected, culturally disparaged, and/or economically w
  
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• HMV on brink of COLLAPSE: Music retailer 'on edge of administration – 2,200 jobs at risk'

  28-12-2018 09:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  HMV is on the brink of collapsing into administration for the second time with 2,200 jobs at risk, according to a report.
  
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• Folding screens and 5G: what's coming in smartphones in 2019?

  28-12-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  After the notch, phone makers are turning to hole-punch selfie cams and bigger screens From the launch of 5G to phones with large folding screens, more cameras and fingerprint scanners under the screens, 2019 looks set to transform the smartphone in more ways than one.2018 produced phones with notches hiding selfie cameras and sensors in the top of the screen. While not quite the innovation most were likely seeking, notches allowed manufacturers to remove everything from the front that wasn&rsqu
  
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• Thames Water meter check was a waste of my time

  28-12-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It is not possible to install meters in my terrace of houses, yet Thames insists on checking each one separatelyWe live in a terrace of 30 houses which has a canal to the front and back. In the past neighbours have tried to get a water meter installed but have been told that the position of the houses precludes it. Lately, though, Thames Water has told us we must have a meter or else face an annual bill of £601.92 per year. Our bill is £288 for two working adults.Continue reading...
  
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• How to save our high streets? The answer is in the church | Simon Jenkins

  28-12-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Abandoned churches are slowly being reinvented as secular meeting places as the experience economy continues to growI have just had my first Alexa experience. It was in Los Angeles and it was eerie and rather charming. There is no doubt “she” vastly simplifies a range of trivial tasks. To the lonely, she is apparently comforting, like a pet, and with “empathy” increasingly built in, is growing ever more so. But she is clearly driving a nail ever further into the coffin of
  
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• Homes near airports for easy 2019 getaways – in pictures

  28-12-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Take off into the new year with these well-located properties, from Surrey to Scotland Continue reading...
  
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