Market Buzz
IQ Option launches trading in Cryptocurrencies and CFDs
We all know that cryptocurrencies are more than just a trend now. A lot of people have seen their major benefits over the past few months. However, there is a lot of people who still believe that these markets are volatile and unstable. Which is partially true. But from another point of view… A post shared by IQ Option (@iqoption_official) on Jul 18, 2017 at 6:42am PDT .
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit impasse, energy cap, house prices, BP
The UK has told EU negotiators their sums on the Brexit bill do not add up, as talks on Britain’s separation from the bloc hit deadlock. Tensions boiled over in Brussels as the EU accused Britain of failing to reveal its hand on the financial settlement. - Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Credit card lenders, Fox News, ASOS
Credit card lenders appear to be targeting people struggling with unaffordable levels of debt, according to a new report calling on Britain’s financial watchdog to intervene. Research from Citizens Advice finds almost one in five people struggling with debts have had their credit card limit raised without them requesting it. The charity has demanded the Financial Conduct Authority bans the practice, amid growing concerns over a boom in lending. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: North Korea, Brexit talks, services sector, builders
Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe have vowed to increase pressure on North Korea after the regime launched a missile over Japan on Tuesday morning. The Japanese prime minister denounced the launch as an “unprecedented and grave threat” to the country’s security. In a 40-minute phone call with Trump, they agreed to call for an emergency meeting of the UN security council to discuss the situation. - Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: RBS, HS2 v hyperloop, soft Brexit, UK biotechs
A division of the taxpayer-owned RBS bank which was meant to help companies in trouble mistreated many of its clients but did not try to “profit from their distress”, according to a leaked report by the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. According to the report, seen by the BBC, investigators found “inappropriate action” by Global Restructuring Group (GRG) was experienced by 92% of “viable firms” they dealt with. - Observer.
Friday newspaper round-up: Pay gap, house prices, SoftBank
Britain’s top companies could be forced to disclose and explain the pay gap between their chief executive and workers under plans to be set out by Theresa May as she tries to show her domestic reform agenda remains on track. Despite the Conservatives’ disastrous general election performance, the government is keen to demonstrate that it will get to grips with rising corporate pay in plans expected to be announced next week. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Provident Financial, Amazon/Whole Foods
The food and drink industry has issued a warning of significant disruption and economic damage if the government fails to stem the flow of EU nationals leaving the UK. Nearly a third of British food and drink businesses have had non-UK EU workers leave their employment since last summer’s Brexit vote, according to a survey of more than 600 businesses representing nearly a quarter of the food chain’s 4 million workforce. Almost half said more planned to leave because of uncertainty about their future.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Identity theft, Vodafone/OpenReach, Provident Financial
Eric Daniels, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank when it was bailed out with £20bn of taxpayer money during the 2008 financial crisis, is suing the bank for hundreds of thousands of pounds in disputed bonuses. Daniels, who was heavily criticised by politicians during his tenure at Lloyds, has filed a legal claim to try to collect some of his bonus payments that were withheld by the bank. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Murdoch, Ford, Co-op, QE
A campaigning group opposed to Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of Sky is threatening a legal challenge to the media regulator’s ruling that the broadcaster would remain “fit and proper” to hold a UK licence if it was snapped up by 21st Century Fox. Activist group Avaaz has hired lawyers and launched the first steps of a judicial review against the communications regulator following its report into the £11. 7bn bid by Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for the 61% of Sky it does not already own.
Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, mobile auction, Thomas Cook, pay
Britain could be subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice for years after the UK leaves the European Union, it has emerged. This week the Government will publish its blueprint for how Britain will treat rulings by the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, in civil court cases after Brexit. - Telegraph.
Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit deals, White House, productivity, Cuadrilla
EU migrants will be barred from claiming in-work benefits unless they have been employed for at least four years after Brexit under plans to revive a pledge by David Cameron. Ministers are understood to be examining plans to bar migrants who arrive in the UK after March 2019 from claiming in-work benefits unless they have worked in the UK and "contributed" for four years. - The Telegraph.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Libor lawsuit, UK shale, freedom of movement
The US government has filed what could be the largest Libor scandal-related lawsuit yet against some of Britain’s biggest lenders, alleging that their role in rigging borrowing rates had played a part in the collapse of American banks once worth more than $400 billion. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has begun a High Court claim against banks including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, alleging that they colluded to hold down borrowing rates for several years, a practice known as “lowballing”, to give the market a false idea of their financial health.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Help to Buy, Brexit, China, Easyjet, Glencore
The number of first-time buyers is increasing rapidly because of the support of the government’s Help to Buy scheme and ultra-low mortgage rates. First-timers borrowed £5. 9 billion in mortgages in June, up by 26 per cent compared with May and 9 per cent on June last year. This equated to 36,000 loans, a rise of 22 per cent from the previous month, according to UK Finance, the trade organisation. - The Times .
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit customs deal, Sainsbury's, stamp duty
David Davis, the Brexit secretary, is expected to set out more clearly the government’s hopes for a future customs deal with the European Union this week, to help inform the next round of Brexit negotiations. With Theresa May not expected to return to her desk in Downing Street from her holiday until Thursday, the government is keen to show that preparations for Brexit have not ground to a halt. - Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Consumer slowdown, retail squeeze, Pru, SMEs
Businesses and investors are braced for a spending slowdown as those who have kept up a shopping spree in the last year run out of “borrowed time and borrowed money”. Households have continued to spend since the Brexit vote, helping drive up sales among retailers and supermarkets already benefiting from a windfall created by the devaluation of the pound. - Telegraph.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Credit crackdown, L&G, real wages, BT, BHP
Lloyds Banking Group has shortened the terms of some of its zero per cent balance transfer deals in a sign that banks are responding to a Bank of England crackdown. Earlier this year Lloyds was offering a Halifax-branded card giving customers 43 months interest free – a market-leading rate. The equivalent card today has been pegged back to 38 months. - Mail on Sunday.
Friday newspaper round-up: Eggs, Mortgage Arrears, Asda
Four supermarkets have withdrawn products from their shelves as it emerged that 700,000 eggs from Dutch farms implicated in a contamination scare had been distributed to Britain. The Food Standards Agency said the number of contaminated eggs estimated to have reached the UK was far higher than the 21,000 first supposed, and that egg salads from Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda, sandwiches from Morrisons, and sandwich fillers from Waitrose had been withdrawn. - The Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: North Korea, Telit Communications, Johnston Press
North Korea has defied threats of “fire and fury” from Donald Trump, deriding his warning as a “load of nonsense” and announcing a detailed plan to launch missiles aimed at the waters off the coast of the US Pacific territory of Guam. A statement attributed to General Kim Rak Gyom, the head of the country’s strategic forces, declared: “Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him”. The general outlined a plan to carry out a demonstration launch of four intermediate-range missiles that would fly over Japan and then land in the sea around Guam, “enveloping” the island.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: South Africa, North Korea, Retired households
President Zuma was left humiliated and enfeebled last night by a major revolt within his own party after at least 30 stalwart MPs were believed to have turned against him in a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The South African leader survived the overall motion with 198 votes supporting him in parliament against 177 who wanted him to step down. Nine MPs abstained in the secret ballot. - The Guardian .
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Hiring, leaseholds, energy costs, Global Blue
The booming jobs market shows no signs of abating, according to figures from recruitment agencies that show the fastest rise in jobs placements for more than two years. Companies shrugged off Brexit uncertainty to increase their permanent staff headcount last month at the quickest pace since April 2015, while temporary hires rose at the fastest rate in almost two and half years. - The Times.