The British Retail Consortium’s recent survey revealed Christmas 2008 as the worst Christmas ever with a fall of 3.3% in like for like sales and 1.4% in total sales compared to 2007. See the full report. However, there were a few notes of encouragement in some sectors: internet sales were 30% up on last year […]
Indian Technology Firm Rallies After Corruption Charges
After an 87% drop in the share price of Satyam last week on the arrest of some of its board members including the financial director, Vadlamani Srinivas, with the charge of falsifying accounts, the price rallied back 44% today with the announcement of a rescue plan and the appointment of new directors. The false accounting […]
Recession Hits US Jobs Hard
Evidence of the recession hitting hard in the US was seen through the latest unemployment figures which show the biggest loss in jobs since the end of the Second World War, some 2.6 million jobs in 2008 Obama’s response is a Keynesian one: operating contrary to the downward market; the new US government will borrow […]
UK Interest Rates Drop To All Time Low
The Bank of England dropped interest rates by 0.5% to 1.5%, the lowest level ever. This is unlikely to have much effect on the level of bank lending as banks will take the opportunity to wider the spread between the rate thay borrow at and the rate they lend at. The 363 rule of banking, […]
City Champagne Chill
This evening, I found myself at Broadgate Circle, drinking champagne at the bridge of the boat-like, Corney and Barrow, overlooking the ice skating rink, safe from the icy winds in the warmth of the bar. It was a New Year’s drinks party with some colleagues and recent ex collegaues. I was reminded of the scene […]
