Britain already has a free trade deal with China, leaving Europe won’t improve it February 5, 2018 | City Talk Between 1839 and 1841 and then again between 1856 and 1860, the British Empire launched a series of military engagements against China. The cause? A trade imbalance between two of the biggest superpowers in the world. Demand in Britain for Chinese goods including silk, porcelain and tea was huge. It created an enormous trade imbalance [...]
Nick Jones’s Soho House primed for $2bn float on New York Stock Exchange February 4, 2018 Private members' club giant Soho House is plotting a $2bn (£1.4bn) float on the New York stock market. Founded by entrepreneur Nick Jones, the network of clubs, restaurants and workspaces has sites across the world, with recent additions including the City's new hotspot The Ned. The company has now hired bankers from JPMorgan and Goldman [...]
Higher oil prices push Shell earnings up 184 per cent February 1, 2018 Royal Dutch Shell has reported a 184 per cent increase in income for 2017, thanks in part to higher oil and gas prices. The figures Income rose to $12.98bn (£9.11bn) last year, compared with $4.58bn in 2016. Basic earnings per share rose 172 per cent, from $0.58 to $1.58, and the dividend was maintained at [...]
Wall Street may be calming down after its month long rally February 1, 2018 | City Talk Wall Street’s bull run had been due a reality check for weeks. Yet when it eventually came, the only surprise was its speed and scale. The trigger was that time-honoured red flag – an analyst note which prompted US traders to question their recent run of frothy exuberance. On Monday morning, Goldman Sachs warned that [...]
Sir Humphrey’s conclusion – Brexit is going to hurt after all January 31, 2018 | City Talk The famously verbose Sir Humphrey – the civil servant star of Yes Minister – was a master at sugarcoating things. Yet his real life equivalents – Whitehall’s top civil servants – pulled no punches in a leaked analysis of the impact Brexit will have on Britain’s economy. The searing assessment imagined a worst-case scenario and [...]
Will Apple take the Dow over 27,000 this week? Only a fool would bet against it January 30, 2018 | City Talk How much higher, and how quickly, can Wall Street rise? It’s a question this column has asked a couple of times, but it’s one that bears repeating after the Dow Jones hit a new record close on Friday. Might we see the Dow break 27,000? Market sentiment suggests yes. Moreover, it suggests it could do [...]
Bombast and bluster from President Trump won’t win him any new friends January 29, 2018 | City Talk What were people really expecting from President Trump’s speech to the World Economic Forum on Friday? For some it was an apology, for others it would have simply been a more conciliatory approach. He gave neither. President Trump instead boasted of America’s greatness, told the gathered delegates that when the US economy grew so did [...]
The FCA’s issued a fresh warning on bitcoin, cryptocurrency and binary option scams as fraudsters move online January 28, 2018 The UK's financial regulator is issuing a fresh warning to consumers over bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that are luring people into scams online. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said investors are now being targeted by fraudsters on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, more than they are over the phone, tempting people to put cash into [...]
As the Pound surges on renewed confidence, is the glass half empty or half full? January 25, 2018 | City Talk Wednesday saw sterling stage a surge against the Dollar that was less of a bull run than an all out charge. The Pound began the day at the psychologically important $1.40 mark and then proceeded to smash past $1.42, easily its highest level since the 2016 Brexit referendum. True, the UK posted some strong jobs [...]
The global economy is booming, but not for everyone January 24, 2018 | City Talk Optimism about the future path of the global economy is at record levels among the chief executives of the world’s largest companies, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Its 2018 survey of the world’s business elite found a large majority of chief executives believe global economic growth will “improve” over the next year. In fact, the number [...]