Business Analysis & Features
Market Report: Strong house prices lift HBOS to record high
Published: 31 December 2005
HBOS shareholders started their new year celebrations early after the country's biggest mortgage lender ended 2005 at a record high. The shares, which edged 1p better to 993p yesterday, have soared by more than 17 per cent this year after doomsayers who forecast a collapse of the housing market were proved wrong.
Review of the year: Industry
Published: 30 December 2005
Review of the year: The Square Mile
Published: 30 December 2005
The inverted yield curve: Does it really presage a US recession?
Published: 30 December 2005
There was a sudden flurry of interest this week in the otherwise moribund post-Christmas financial markets. The source? A rare phenomenon known as the "inversion of the yield curve".
Market Report: FTSE 100's Christmas rally boosts new year hopes
Published: 30 December 2005
The FTSE 100 rose yesterday, the last full trading day of 2006. The blue-chip index gained 15.5 points to 5,638.3 and completed an impressive Christmas rally. Over the past 12 sessions the FTSE 100 has rise 131 points, or 2.3 per cent, and lost ground on just two occasions. If forecasts by the City top's strategists are anything to go by, further gains can be expected in the new year.
Market Report: EMI accused of over-optimism on downloads
Published: 29 December 2005
EMI could have done without the attention paid it by Société Générale yesterday. The French broker warned that growth of digitally downloaded tracks is waning and suggested that industry forecasts might soon have to be downgraded. Such talk left EMI shares, which were among the most actively traded in the FTSE 250, down 2.75p to 241.25p.
What 2006 holds for UK plc
Published: 28 December 2005
The Year Ahead: City looks for Footsie to regain 6,000 next year
Published: 28 December 2005
With just three share trading days left this year, equity analysts are turning their gaze towards the likely outlook for the London stock market in 2006.
Quote Unquote: The most interesting quotes of the year tell their own story of 2005
Published: 27 December 2005
Review of the Year: Merger mania gives the City a Christmas to celebrate
Published: 26 December 2005
January
Ten ways to recover from the expense of Christmas
Published: 24 December 2005
Market Report: Fears of a dismal new year take toll on Alexon
Published: 24 December 2005
On Thursday a leading broker warned investors that HMV's Christmas is unlikely to be a very merry one. Yesterday, it was the turn of Alexon, the fashion retailer, to suffer a similar fate.
The late, late show on the high street as shoppers pick up seasonal bargains
Published: 23 December 2005
With just two days to go until Christmas, canny consumers who have left their shopping until the last minute will be counting their pennies with glee. Surely, after a year that has spawned countless high street casualties, retailers will be practically giving away their stock by now?
The Investment Column: Resist urge to take profits at builder Wilson Bowden
Published: 23 December 2005
Market Report: HMV hits a low note after Merrill downgrade
Published: 23 December 2005
HMV is unlikely to have a merry Christmas or a happy new year. That was the conclusion of a research report from Merrill Lynch yesterday which sent shares in the DVD and videos retailer down 5.25p to 178.75p.
Market Report: FTSE 100 soars on hopes for a happy new year
Published: 22 December 2005
Investors bet on a strong performance by London shares yesterday in the run-up to the new year. The FTSE 100 soared to a four-and-a-half-year high, up 39.5 points to 5,587.4, as the bulls took control of the blue-chip index.
Investment Column: European ad market weighs on ailing Aegis
Published: 22 December 2005
Unwins' fizz turns flat as administrators take the axe to 1,400 staff
Published: 21 December 2005
Nearly all of Unwins' 1,400 staff were made redundant yesterday by administrators called in to the failed off-licence chain.
Market Report: Oil groups plunge on Dana's Mauritania misery
Published: 21 December 2005
The oil exploration sector, which has been one of the UK market's best performers this year, suffered a major shake-out yesterday.
The Investment Column: Pioneering Capita is expensive but a good bet for the long term
Published: 21 December 2005
Market Report: Shot in the arm for drug stocks on Pfizer ruling
Published: 20 December 2005
Pharmaceutical stocks received a shot in the arm yesterday after the US giant Pfizer drove out a challenge to the core patent to its cholesterol treatment Lipitor, the world's best-selling medicine. The audacious challenge by a copycat maker, the Indian company Ranbaxy, was turned down by an American court late last week. Investors reacted with delight yesterday, driving GlaxoSmithKline 23p higher to 1,483p, AstraZeneca 83p better to 2,830p and Shire 7p stronger to 732.5p.
How the Goldman Sachs diaspora spread its influence across the globe
Published: 20 December 2005
The Week Ahead: Capita investors hope for fresh contract wins
Published: 19 December 2005
The City begins winding down for Christmas this week, with very few companies reporting, and share trading activity likely to be well below normal levels.
Small Talk: Langbar founder is interviewed as part of investigation into hedge fund collapse
Published: 19 December 2005
A founder director of Langbar International, the AIM-listed cash shell at the centre of a fraud investigation, has been interviewed by Italian prosecutors who are looking into the collapse of a Canadian hedge fund.
