Financial news

• Britons are still worse off than in 2008, new research claims

  17-09-2019 20:08 via theguardian.com
  Thinktank challenges official statistics claiming average citizen is £128 poorer than a decade agoBritons are £128 a year worse off on average than they were in 2008, according to a report that reveals household incomes were hit harder in the wake of the financial crash than official figures have revealed.The New Economics Foundation said figures used to calculate GDP, which is adjusted to take account of rising prices, failed to include essential items that affected the cost of livi
  
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• Consumer groups urge Coalition to crack down on dodgy payday lenders

  17-09-2019 20:00
  Ongoing delays prompt warning that predatory behaviour continues to force the vulnerable into debt spiralThe Coalition insists it is progressing new laws to crack down on dodgy payday lenders as consumer advocacy groups warn ongoing delays will see more vulnerable people exposed to the unethical practices of the sector.An alliance of consumer groups has begun a fresh push in Canberra to force the government to introduce laws that it promised in response to a 2016 review of small amount credit co
  
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• Oil price tumbles as Saudi recovers from drone attack - business live

  17-09-2019 16:19
  Saudi Arabia is reportedly making better-than-expected progress recovering from the drone attack on its huge crude processing facility in AbqaiqLatest: Sources say Saudi oil will be online sooner than thoughtBrent crude plunges 6%, after surging 14% yesterdayEarlier:King Salman: We’ll defend our installationsIran rules our negotiations with USIntroduction: Saudi attack drove oil price up 3.19pm BST Here’s a chart showing how the price of a barrel of Brent crude has suddenly tumbled,
  
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• The Body Shop goes green again with refill stations and 'activist zones'

  17-09-2019 15:32
  Chain tests new concept store in bid to revive activist spirit of founder Anita RoddickThe Body Shop has opened a UK concept store that aims to mark a return to the activist roots of its late founder, the environmental and human rights campaigner Anita Roddick.As well as a zone to encourage shoppers to become part of a collective of local campaigners, ideas being trialled in the central London outlet include a refill station – initially just for shower gels – which the ethical chain
  
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• Wall Street investment giants voting against key climate resolutions

  17-09-2019 15:00
  Asset management companies BlackRock Inc and Vanguard have failed to live up to pledge to support climate action at energy firmsSome of Wall Street’s largest asset management companies are failing to live up to commitments to use their voting power to fight the climate crisis, according to a new report.The report, published on Tuesday by the Washington DC-based Majority Action and the Climate Majority Project, claims that BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager with more tha
  
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• Plan for huge Yorkshire mine in doubt as firm pulls £400m bond sale

  17-09-2019 13:09
  Sirius Minerals says government turned down request for financing supportThe construction of a huge fertiliser mine in the North York Moors has been thrown into doubt after the company behind it pulled plans for a $500m (£403m) fundraising.Sirius Minerals had postponed the planned junk bond issue last month and the company’s chief executive, Chris Fraser, said Sirius would not be able to go ahead with it due to “ongoing poor bond market conditions”. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Banker to the stars' Frédéric Levesque goes on trial in France

  17-09-2019 10:51
  Financier accused of cheating rich celebrity clients out of millions of eurosTo the directors and celebrities who came to him for money to fund their projects, Frédéric Levesque was clever, charming, intelligent and the man who never said non.He took their calls at any time of the day or night, calmed them and proposed solutions to their financial woes; on occasions he did not even ask them to sign documents on the loans he made for hundreds of thousands of euros, they told French
  
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• WeWork delays $20bn IPO after struggling to interest investors

  17-09-2019 09:26
  Office-sharing company’s value has been slashed since January but it says flotation will still take place this year WeWork, the US office-sharing company, has postponed its stock market flotation after receiving a lukewarm response from investors.WeWork’s parent, We Company, had planned to launch an investor roadshow this week to drum up interest in its $20bn (£16bn) share sale, slashed from an initial valuation of $47bn. It hoped to price and list its shares next week, but has
  
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• My BT landline broke – and it said it needed to stop traffic to fix it

  17-09-2019 08:00
  The engineer insisted the fault was in the road, which delayed getting the problem solvedI am a lady in my 80s and have been without my BT landline for four weeks because of a fault. It was reported in early August, and an engineer came out promptly to say the fault was by a road and would need traffic lights to assess and repair. There was no communication for a week, so I complained again and another engineer came and told me the same thing.On 23 August, with no progress, I demanded to speak t
  
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• Hollow boom: why black Americans feel left out of US’s robust economy

  17-09-2019 08:00
  Unemployment rate tells a different story about the economy when race is considered, even when job numbers are strong“What I’ve done for African Americans in two and a half years, no president has been able to do anything like it,” Donald Trump boasted in August, the latest in a series of statements in which he has claimed to be the best president for black Americans in history.Bahiyyah Dixon, 36, of Newark, New Jersey isn’t feeling it. Even during a period of historic ec
  
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• GM strike: auto workers accept ‘sacrifice’ to fight management 'greed’

  17-09-2019 08:00
  United Auto Workers called a strike on Sunday for the first time in over a decade as contract negotiations reached an impasse
  Uncertainty, apprehension and stress were the words people picketing General Motors workers at the car company’s sprawling Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant used to describe day one of their strike.If the strike by United Auto Workers (UAW) members drags on, they could soon end up earning just $250 per week, and there’s fear about what that could mean for their
  
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• Arrival time: how the white van went green

  17-09-2019 07:00
  UK firm, which provides electric commercial vehicles, claims to be enjoying significant successAs the British automotive industry endures its worst period in almost two decades, it might not seem like a good time to open a new van factory. Investment has come to a virtual standstill as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit looms and commercial vehicle production has plunged by a third in response to waning demand.But Arrival begs to differ and has put its money where its mouth is with a new factory i
  
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