No lament for the end of the family-run firm June 3, 2010 THE days of family-run firms could be numbered according to a survey carried out by Haines Watts, the accountancy firm. It found that out of the 650 small business owners it asked, a paltry 16 per cent responded that they planned to hand control of their business to another family member. So, what has led [...]
TIME TO PAY June 3, 2010 Q. What is the “time to pay” scheme and how does it work? A. The “time to pay” scheme is a long-standing tax deferral scheme by HMRC that was not widely known prior to 2008, when the government re-launched it as part of a package of recession-busting measures. It allows businesses to delay paying a [...]
Banks drag FTSE down even lower June 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, led down by banks, but finished well off session lows on fresh hopes for economic recovery after strong US pending home sales data. The FTSE 100 closed 11.98 points or 0.2 per cent lower at 5,151.32, having dropped as low as 5,072.53. The index fell 0.5 per cent on [...]
US energy shares push Wall St up June 2, 2010 US stocks rallied yesterday as investors rushed back into beaten-down shares, led by energy, which bore the brunt of the sell-off a day earlier. The energy sector handily led the way up with the S&P energy index gaining 4.3 per cent. US-listed shares of BP climbed 3.1 per cent to $37.66 even as the company [...]
UK bank stocks are attractive but precarious June 2, 2010 COMPARED to some of the financial institutions in continental Europe, Britain’s banks, even the part-nationalised ones, are managing to exude an air of respectability and even strength. While French and German financial institutions – banks and insurers – are estimated by Barclays Capital to hold just under €80bn of Greek debt, British banks have minimal [...]
The search for safety fuels a rush to buy gold June 2, 2010 AS THE euro crisis simmers on, investors are rushing to stock up on physical gold in the search for a safe hold of value. Gold prices spiked to record highs in May, reaching $1,249 or £840 per ounce. Castlestone Management’s Angus Murray has even suggested a rise to $1,400 in the short-term and a trend [...]
THE TIPSTER June 2, 2010 SINCE Richard Glynn took over the helm of Ladbrokes on 22 April, shares in the bookmaker have dropped over 13 per cent. The technical outlook for Ladbrokes looks challenging because it is trading below its 50, 100 and 200-day moving average, which are all clustered around the 150p area. Downtrend resistance and indicators are all [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS June 2, 2010 ISHARES LAUNCHES POLAND ETF IN US BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund division iShares yesterday launched a fund on NYSE Arca in the US which gives exposure to the Polish stockmarkets. The ETF tracks the MSCI Poland Investable Market index, which measures the performance of the top 99 per cent of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in [...]
Big oil will live on, but faces a harder future June 2, 2010 AS BP steps up its efforts to stem the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the speculation surrounding the costs associated with the clean-up continues to increase. BP estimates that the cost will be roughly $4bn, while some analysts predict that the clean-up, along with related lawsuits, could be as high as $10bn. While [...]
BP’s fall makes the FTSE more diverse June 2, 2010 THE importance of BP, which makes up close to 5 per cent of the entire FTSE All Share Index, has come into sharp relief since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil well in April. The stock has fallen more than 30 per cent, whereas the FTSE All Share Index has fallen by 12 per [...]