Market Round-up: BHP Billiton’s appetite for acquisition is knocked off course as Canada unexpectedly blocks its $39 billion bid for Potash Corpo — but its shares go sprinting upwards... more
Comment: The election must be viewed as one of the single greatest opportunities to bolster boardrooms with non-executive directors for many a year... more
Market Round-up: As Royal Bank of Scotland’s shares hit highs not seen since December 2008, one analyst warns that the strong run is unlikely to continue... more
A new lurch downwards in the value of the ailing dollar and news of better-than-expected GDP in Japan signalled another rush for commodities, such as metals and oil and gold ... more
Investors were doing their best to look on the bright side today after the combined losses from Royal Bank of Scotland and British Airways reached £1.79 billion during the first six months of the year ... more
The current strikes by postal workers is not only impacting badly on small businesses, it is also causing headaches for major companies such as Barratt Developments, down 2¾p at 142p ... more
Hard on the heels of yesterday’s record losses of £1.9 billion from housebuilder Taylor Wimpey comes news that Goldman Sachs has upgraded two other companies in the sector because it thinks they look good value for money... more
Property group Segro has launched a deeply discounted £500 million rights issue, becoming the latest — but not the last — property company to seek more cash from investors... more
Economics: Housebuilding shares soared after the Government launched plans to resuscitate the market — but analysts warned that any gains will be short-lived... more
Housebuilder Barratt Developments is axing about 1,000 jobs to cope with the property crisis, while building products giant Marshalls chopped 140 staff... more
Housebuilders' shares are back on the slide after a top Bank of England official declares the current slump in building activity is even worse than in the 1990s recession... more
A funny old business, building houses. For a decade, builders tried to convince us that the process was more than simply capturing housing inflation, putting it through the accounts and paying it out as cash dividends.... more
Afternoon:
8°c
