Sunday 1 April 2007

April 1st Sunday Business Round-Up

Quite a quiet week this week, the markets have recovered from what could/should have been the beginning of a recession. Instead the credit binge looks set to continue a while yet. Here are 10 interesting stories:

French House price crash to follow USA - Spain vulnerable too, Britain will be someday too, we just have no idea when..

Whitbread finally up for the chop? - A low share price and lots of Private Equity money may mean that Alan Parker (and the shareholders) get a good offer soon.

Interest rates to rise - According to The Times, I can see this and another 2 rises yet. the government needs to slow borrowing urgently; so go on holiday abroad this year, the £ is at a 20-year high!

There's money in Green - Even capitalists and see the money in going green these days; it must be here to stay.

Blogs worth millions - yes, your blog could be turned into a cash fortune by new US advertising software.

New runway for Heathrow
- I want this, but how can any 'green' government approve this in today's environment?

BA bidding for Iberia? - With open Skies now signed there will be lots of change in the Airline sector in the UK. Investors often make good returns when there is lots of M&A activity in a sector...

Gambling on the buffers - A thoughtful piece from The Observer on what the impacts are on the complete failure of the Government's proposed gambling policy. My two pennies, better for the UK firms but denies us valuable foreign investment.

How far can Outsourcing go? - A typically lefty view, with a scared journalist writing the end is nigh, but some detail is worth noting. Particularly the slowing of the outsourcing trend in some areas.

Battle for Bridgewell - One of the worst examples of UK City broking is currently up for sale after a truly monumental failure. This is an overview, but really, I am at a loss as to why anyone would be interested in these people.


See you at the same time next week.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to chat about business on your blog, but never get the time, so here's probably a first and last, but maybe not.

The housing boom is going to hit us very hard because of the accrued debt of course. I hope it doesn't hit at all, but it will, and this being the case I hope it is while Brown is PM because he desrves it.

Private equity sales I think will slow considerably in the near future as they hedge their bets. So may Whitbread is a last or maybe not at all. We'll see.

I think interest rates could see more than just another couple of rises, and I think the value of sterling may force more than just the quarter percent at a time. Sterling value is hurting me in one sense and a boon on the other. All in all I want sterling back to about 1.60. Brown and the Government will too, and don't forget the presidential electiosn will have an effect in the near...ish...future.

I don't agree about green; it will burst soon as did the likes of GM etc. Though they are still growing of course, just not at the rate they were.

Heathrow will get its runway because even the greenest of Governments will be pragmatic.

BA is a shark even without Open Skies...

I agree with you completely on gambling, and let's not forget the policy can be resurrected...reserves come in many forms...

Outsourcing has run its course now and is coming back as more and more people are aware of it. Surprisingly, to me, people are willing to pay that bit extra for a UK source, and companies have been slow to recognise that but are gradually realising it. I always thought outsourcing was a fad, in most cases.

If they think it is worth £60million then good luck to them, but where they get the figure is a mystery. Not really my forte.

Quick and succinct, the way I like it :-)

James Higham said...

Fascinating roundup but more fascinating is how you managed to post, using Blogger. Mine is down.

CityUnslicker said...

Shot - thanks for this.

I am not so sure about the depth of a property crash. There is so much demand realtive to supply at the moment that this will support the market for years to come; not save it, but support it. The UK is different to USA, France and other countries becuase of our population density and archaic planning laws.


PE should slow, but a lot of money is still being raised and it all needs to find a home.

If interest rates go up so will the pound. To be back at 1.60 to the dollar we would need rates on a par with Europe; this is not going to happen for years!

As for green economics, I think this is here to stay. People can see fast money here, like the dot com boom maybe; but we are at the start and this has a long way to run yet.

I am not so sure about Heathrow, we have to remember how much green grandstanding is going on and alos the key issue of pollution limits which it already exceeds.

Gambling will undergo big changes now. I think the government has really missed the boat with what it wanted to do.

Outsourcing indeed is slowing down I feel too. There are more senior service jobs going abroad, but also some low skilled ones coming back.

CityUnslicker said...

JH - I will miss your posts then JH!

Anonymous said...

I am not so sure about the depth of a property crash. There is so much demand realtive to supply at the moment that this will support the market for years to come;

The demand, IMO, is because of the investment potential, but if this is hit that will have a hard landing, andf I blieve it will be hit, hard. Brown messed up badly by making saving a bad investment, relatively speaking.

PE should slow, but a lot of money is still being raised and it all needs to find a home.

Agreed, but where is the question.

If interest rates go up so will the pound. To be back at 1.60 to the dollar we would need rates on a par with Europe; this is not going to happen for years!

lol, it is dependant on just our rates though...

The departure of Bliar will have a very slight effect but it will be as the general election draws near when we will see some real thundery weather!

James Higham said...

Credit and binge - two words which should never be seen together.

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