Business
HEADLINES:
Madoff's London operations to be probed by SFO
Scandal: The Serious Fraud Office have launched an investigation into the London operations of alleged fraudster Bernard Madoff CommentsSainsbury’s raises hopes of bonuses in sales leap
Retail: Sainsbury is toasting its best ever Christmas, pledging to create thousands of new jobs and offering hope for 120,000 existing staff that they will still get a bonus this year Comments
Recruiters feel the pain as City jobs market hit
Economy: The UK jobs market is shot to pieces — and it’s getting worse, said two of the country's leading recruitment firms Comments
Job cuts to come as Zavvi set to close 22 stores immediately
Retail: Music and entertainment retailer Zavvi will immediately close 22 stores in Britain, cutting 178 jobs CommentsNews
Rate cuts will not work, says Sainsbury boss'Interest rate cuts are failing to drag UK out of recession'
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More business news
Ukrainian and Russian gas companies hold talks over energy crisis
Gas crisis: The heads of Russian and Ukrainian gas companies have held talks to discuss the dispute that plunged Europe into an energy crisis, but both sides said no breakthrough was reached CommentsDownturn hits jewellery as Signet sales slump
H Samuel owner Signet revealed UK sales plunged in the run up to Christmas as the downturn in consumer spending hit jewellery sales Comments
IT firm Satyam’s £1bn fraud ‘India’s Enron’
Scandal: European customers of India’s Satyam, including London-listed news giant Thomson Reuters, are struggling to work out how the potential collapse of fraud-hit Indian IT Services giant Satyam would affect their operations CommentsPorn moguls seeking a handout from Washington to support US sex industry
Media: First it was the banks demanding billions of dollars of US taxpayers money to bail them out, then the carmakers. Now it is the turn of the pornography industry to hold out the begging bowl to Washington CommentsTelereal snaps up Land’s Trillium for ‘bargain’ £750m swoop
Property: Property giant Land Securities today agreed the sale of outsourcing arm Trillium at a price well below the £1 billion it originally went Comments
Job cuts help Persimmon to slash its debt
Property: Housebuilder Persimmon says its 2000 job cuts have helped reduce its debt mountain by £300 million since last June Comments
Yahoo signs deals to crack TV market
Technology: Online search firm Yahoo has forged a string of deals it hopes will help put its services on the world’s televisions CommentsFuture of Merckle’s estate is uncertain
Engineering: Feras are growing about the future of Adolf Merckle’s businesses, including HeidelbergCement due to the debt burden it carries as a result of the takeover of Britain’s Hanson CommentsLenovo to axe 2500 from its workforce
Technology: Computer-maker Lenovo Group is slashing its workforce by 11% as it forecasts its first loss in three years CommentsSales drop at Majestic as the City pulls plug on parties
Consumer: Conspicuous corporate consumption was definitely out this Christmas, according to Majestic Wines chief executive Steve Lewis CommentsHouse of Fraser and Ted Baker make gains to beat the High Street downturn
Retail: Department stores group House of Fraser and fashion chain Ted Baker prove there is still some life on the High Street CommentsCathay Pacific has its wings clipped by fuel-hedging
Aviation: Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has seen paper losses from fuel-hedging almost treble to £646.5 million in two months as it bought long-term fuel supply contracts at the top of the market before prices plunged CommentsRose defends M&S and fends off talk of a takeover
Retail: Sir Stuart Rose puts a brave face on a slump in sales at Marks & Spencer and dismisses rising City talk that the retailer could face a takeover bid Comments
M&S, Cattles lead a cull of 3000 workers
Economy: More than 3000 jobs were axed or are under threat as Marks & Spencer led the cull with the loss of 1230 posts Comments
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Analysis
As patents run out, drug firms need to find a new Viagra
Analysis: The head of Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, this week set the pharmaceutical industry alight with talk of a megadeal when he revealed a shopping list of rivals in his sights Comments
Innovation must be focus for advertising agencies facing deep recession
Media analysis: In the print and broadcasting media, we know well enough about the effects of the advertising downturn Comments
Lawyers leap on electronic ‘paper trail’ in hunt for firms that use pirated software
Legal analysis: Consumers who download pirated video games are beginning to realise that they may receive solicitors’ letters demanding compensation for breach of copyright Comments
THURSDAY UPDATE
European recession fears see share prices tumble
Shares across Europe fell today amid further signs the recession in Europe will turn out to be a long, drawn-out affair
Opinion, comment, your views
Darling, you’ve changed your sums so fast...
Alistair Darling says the Treasury will abandon its forecast that the economy will start growing again in the second half of 2009
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