Financial news

• JP Morgan chief warns of ‘complacency’ as markets look past credit downgrade

  19-05-2025 22:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Jamie Dimon says possibility of stagflation far higher than investors realize as markets shake off Moody’s triple-A cutJP Morgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned on Monday that investors were being too complacent as markets shook off news that the US has lost its last triple-A credit rating amid fresh concern over the federal government’s burgeoning debt pile.Credit ratings agency Moody’s dealt a blow to Washington on Friday when it stripped the US of its top-notch
  
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• Reeves hopes hat-trick of deals shows Britain is open for business

  19-05-2025 20:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Impact of agreements on food, energy and defence may not be huge but chancellor believes it will draw investors to UKEU reset deal puts Britain back on the world stage, says Keir StarmerRachel Reeves joked to journalists after Monday’s EU-UK reset that trade deals were coming along “like buses”, given the agreements with India and the US that had also been sealed in the past fortnight alone.The chancellor described the EU deal as the best that had been secured by any non-member
  
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• Microsoft employee interrupts CEO’s keynote with pro-Palestinian protest

  19-05-2025 20:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Protester is engineer who worked on Azure software, which enabled Israeli surveillance of PalestiniansA Microsoft employee disrupted a keynote speech by the company’s chief executive with a pro-Palestinian protest at the company’s annual developer conference on Monday.Joe Lopez, a Microsoft firmware engineer who worked on parts of the company’s cloud-computing platform, Azure, was escorted out the Build conference by security nearly immediately after he confronted Satya Nadella
  
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• Perrier owner scrutinised after France reportedly covered up illegal water filter treatment

  19-05-2025 20:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Report finds Nestlé used purification treatments that were unauthorised for natural mineral waterFrance’s lucrative mineral water industry is under scrutiny after a report by the senate found the French government had covered up a scandal over illegal filtering treatments of premium brands.At the heart of the report, released on Monday, is France’s world-famous fizzy water, Perrier. Obtained from a source in southern France and traditionally served on ice with a slice of lemon
  
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• The Guardian view on the EU trade deal: a rational step forward | Editorial

  19-05-2025 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Tangible gains from these negotiations will be limited, but the prime minister has at last set a positive toneSo much remains to be worked out in Sir Keir Starmer’s deal with the EU that it must be regarded as a staging post rather than a final destination. In several key areas, the agreement announced in London on Monday is really a commitment to have more meetings at which negotiators will try to make more agreements.On the issue of visas for young people and the UK’s mooted r
  
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• Tariffs are clearer at Diageo – not much else is | Nils Pratley

  19-05-2025 17:57 via theguardian.com
  Diageo ought to be fine but given the turmoil of the past couple of years, the market wants to wait and seeJohnnie Walker owner Diageo says Trump tariffs could hit profits by $150mIn February, when Donald Trump was directing his opening tariff salvo at Canada and Mexico, Diageo reckoned it could be looking at a $200m (then £161m) hit to profits in just four months. An annualised rate of $600m was large but you can understand why: Canadian whisky and Mexican tequila are big sellers for Diag
  
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• How to protect your data after a cyber-attack

  19-05-2025 17:56 via theguardian.com
  What to do you if you’re worried your information may have fallen into the wrong handsAnother cyber-attack has hit the headlines – this one involving the personal data of hundreds of thousands of legal aid applicants in England and Wales.It comes hard on the heels of recent cyber-attacks that caused huge disruption at Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, and has prompted fresh reminders for people to be extra-vigilant for any suspicious activity. Continue reading...
  
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• Bankrupt DNA testing firm 23andMe to be purchased for $256m

  19-05-2025 17:55 via theguardian.com
  Drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ capture of genetic testing firm in bankruptcy auction raises privacy concernsThe drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the genetic testing firm 23andMe Holding for $256m through a bankruptcy auction, the companies announced on Monday.Regeneron said it will comply with 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable laws with respect to the use of customer data and that it is ready to detail its intended use of the data to a court-appoint
  
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• Ghosts of Brexit past haunt new UK-EU deal – Politics Weekly Westminster

  19-05-2025 17:05 via theguardian.com
  The UK and EU have reached a deal, in what Downing Street hopes will be a reset with Brussels after Brexit. But with negotiations coming down to the wire and fishing yet again a sticking point, how much has changed? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look at how the talks unfolded and how the politics around the new deal could play out Continue reading...
  
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• UK’s 50 richest families hold more wealth than 50% of population, analysis finds

  19-05-2025 16:32 via theguardian.com
  Equality Trust says billionaires getting ‘ludicrously’ richer, with top two now wealthier than whole of 1990 rich listThe number of billionaires in the UK has grown sharply – from 15 in 1990 to 165 in 2024 – at the same time as inequality in the UK’s overall wealth distribution has dramatically increased, analysis has found.Timed to coincide with the Sunday Times’ rich list, the Equality Trust’s investigation also found that billionaires have become &ldq
  
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• Starmer denies claim ‘win-win’ UK-EU deal has sold out fishing sector – video

  19-05-2025 16:01 via theguardian.com
  Keir Starmer has rejected claims he has sold out the fishing sector, saying the deal between the UK and the EU is 'good for fishing'. The last-minute agreement was reached early on Monday morning and will remove checks on agrifoods, add £9bn to the UK economy and lower food prices, according to No 10. The trade-off for the deal was fishing access and rights for an additional 12 years – more than the UK had offered – which is likely to lead to claims of betrayal from the industr
  
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• Will Labour’s shake-up really fix Great Britain’s ailing railways?

  19-05-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  As South Western becomes the latest operator to be renationalised, there are questions about whether the changes will lead to lower faresAt the rarely experienced hour of 6.14am on Sunday, the first train to carry the Great British Railways branding will make its way out of London Waterloo to Shepperton: traversing the Surrey commuter belt emblazoned with a red, white and blue GBR logo, and proudly renationalised to boot.The next train with the planned state body’s branding may be some yea
  
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• Car-free streets, geothermal heating and solar panels: Paris’s new eco-district – in pictures

  19-05-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Clichy-Batignolles, in the city’s north-west, is emblematic of the ‘15-minute’ city approach to urban planning Continue reading...
  
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• Eurozone growth forecasts cut amid uncertainty over Trump trade war

  19-05-2025 15:42 via theguardian.com
  Tariffs impact demands ‘considerable downgrade’, to 0.9% this year and 1.4% in 2026, says European CommissionBusiness live – latest updatesThe European Commission has cut its growth forecasts for the eurozone this year and next as a result of uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s tariff wars.The commission said the impact of tariffs demanded a “considerable downgrade” to the expected growth this year of the 20-member eurozone to 0.9% from the previous forecast,
  
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• Energy bills in Great Britain could fall this summer but ‘crisis not over’

  19-05-2025 14:19 via theguardian.com
  Ofgem price cap on gas and electricity likely to drop by £129 to £1,720 a year, says consultancy Cornwall InsightBusiness live – latest updatesHousehold energy bills could drop this summer but experts have warned that “the crisis is not over” for households and manufacturers struggling to afford gas and electricity costs.The industry regulator’s quarterly price cap is expected to fall in July by an average of £129, or 7%, according to forecasts from Corn
  
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• Ryanair to raise air fares after lower ticket prices hit profits

  19-05-2025 11:20 via theguardian.com
  Chief executive Michael O’Leary says full-year results are ‘robust’ and airline will pay about €400m in dividendsBusiness live – latest updatesRyanair has said air fares will head back up this summer after a year of lower fares saw the budget airline’s profits fall 16%.Europe’s biggest airline carried just over 200 million passengers in 2024-25 with ticket prices down 7% to fill its planes, after a dispute halted bookings from some online agents, reducing
  
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• StockX refuses to refund me over peeling £300 Bape trainers

  19-05-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Reader accuses reselling site of giving customers no recourse over quality issues after sneakers began to fall apartIn January, I bought a pair of designer “snakeskin” trainers by A Bathing Ape for £300 from the online reseller StockX. Several years ago I had the same pair and loved them.Unfortunately, a few weeks after I started wearing them, I noticed the leather was peeling, and I contacted StockX to see whether it could help. I found its response unsatisfactory. Contin
  
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• Expert tips on saving money on meat, from alternative cuts to the best butchers

  19-05-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From planning ahead to knowing what looks (and smells) good, a carnivore’s guideIt is estimated that UK households throw away 10 % of beef, pork and poultry they buy each year. That’s about 250,000 tonnes in total, so it is important to plan what you are going to buy to avoid waste and save money. Continue reading...
  
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