Business Comment
Stephen Foley: America on bailout red alert again
US Outlook The US is back on Bailout Red Alert, and this time round the federal government looks like it might have to pay to bail out – itself. No one should be surprised to learn that the Federal Housing Administration has found itself facing big losses, what with so many Americans failing to pay their mortgage. Republican politicians scent a scandal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac proportions, and are already making hay, but this is no time for the Obama administration to go defensive about its support for the US housing market.
Inside Business Comment
Stephen Foley: Can Hefner bear to part with Playboy?
Saturday, 14 November 2009
US Outlook Someone needs to persuade Hugh Hefner to hang up his dressing gown. The 83-year-old founder of Playboy magazine is in talks about selling his company, according to rumours swirling on the New York Stock Exchange, but it remains uncertain if the old lech can bear to part with it.
Howard Wheeldon: Why this is the best deal for investors
Saturday, 14 November 2009
There is no reason why investors should not welcome the prospect of a merger between British Airways and Iberia. This is far more about revenue and profit enhancement than it is about cost savings.
David Prosser: BT to reverse the pension charges
Friday, 13 November 2009
Outlook Not a bad day for Ian Livingston, CEO at BT. His elevation to the top job at the telecoms giant in June 2008 was something of a hospital pass: within months he had to issue a shock profits warning after a disastrous performance from BT's Global Services division, and a series of other problems also loomed large. But yesterday's trading update, however, suggests Mr Livingston's hard-nosed approach is beginning to have an impact.
Hamish McRae: A world that is now divided into the haves and the have-debts
Friday, 13 November 2009
Economic Life: The sorting out that results from the debt load has hardly begun and will be a lasting legacy of this cycle.
David Prosser: BA can no longer fly solo
Friday, 13 November 2009
Outlook It has been two years in the making, but the British Airways merger with Iberia finally seems to have been cleared for take-off. Thank goodness for that. After a disastrous year, BA is in desperate need of some good news – the £500m of annual cost savings that analysts believe the Iberia deal could deliver certainly fit the bill.
David Prosser: Cricket facing a vicious bouncer
Friday, 13 November 2009
Outlook Leaving aside the politics of today's expected announcement from the Government review of sports broadcasting – though the conspiracy theories are great fun – insisting that the Ashes must return to terrestrial television won't do cricket too many favours. Sky paid getting on for £300m to secure exclusive rights to the series just gone, plus the 2010-11 and 2013 Ashes. No terrestrial broadcaster will pay anything like that for the 2015-16 series, when the new rules are likely to come into force.
David Prosser: Time running out for stamp duty saving
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Outlook The recovery of the UK housing market has never looked sustainable and the latest lending figures suggest it may already be beginning to run out of steam. The number of mortgages for house purchase agreed in September was only marginally higher than in August, The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports, and lower than July's figure. And while we're still up significantly on the same months of last year, the low base makes the comparisons pretty meaningless.
David Prosser: Cameron gets a warning
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Outlook A sign of trouble ahead? Mervyn King has wasted no time firing a shot across the bows of the Conservatives. The Bank of England Governor seems to have been irked by David Cameron's speech to his party conference last month, during which the Tory leader said the quantitative easing programme would have to stop because "in the end, printing money leads to inflation". Mr King warned Mr Cameron off yesterday, insisting the decision was "one for the Bank".
David Prosser: Budget pleas set to fall on deaf ears
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Outlook Bless. Within hours of the Treasury announcing yesterday that the Chancellor will deliver the pre-Budget report on 9 December, every special interest group under the sun was publishing its list of demands. There are sure going to be a lot of disappointed folk around come 10 December.
James Moore: The worst is over
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Just as it's possible to talk your way into a recession, you can also talk your way out of a recovery. We might be in danger of doing just that. All right, last month's third-quarter GDP numbers were a nasty shock. But in the past few weeks there have been other numbers which offer some grounds for hope. There are signs of life on the high street. The housing market, if not exactly healthy, is out of its trough.
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