Private banker pay holds up in tough market

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota By Martin de Sa'PintoZURICH | Fri Oct 7, 2011 10:26am BST ZURICH (Reuters) - Stiff competition for top private bankers has kept a floor under pay even as low interest rates, flaccid client trading and tougher regulation squeeze industry profit margins.Sky-high pay and bonuses for investment bank counterparts may once have turned private bankers green with envy.But the drive to slash wage bills and rein in risk has made investment bankers expendable as many banks realign their business around more stable private banking."Pay was never extreme in private...

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Pension funds warn on cost of economic stimulus

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota LONDON | Fri Oct 7, 2011 10:35am BST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's pension funds have warned the Bank of England's latest round of quantitative easing to help revive the stalled economy will put an onerous burden on companies as it drives up the cost of funding payments to retired workers.Quantitative easing depresses the yield on UK government bonds, known as gilts, making it more expensive to pay for future liabilities, pension funds association the NAPF said.On Thursday the Bank announced a new round of stimulus, expanded by 75 billion pounds, to...

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ECB Saves Banks as Governments Act on Greece

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota October 07, 2011, 5:04 AM EDT By Gabi Thesing and Jeff Black (Updates with Sarkozy comment in sixth paragraph. Click EXT4 for more on the European debt crisis.)Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank’s move to keep euro-area banks afloat is buying governments more time to recapitalize them as Greece edges closer to default.The ECB said yesterday it will reintroduce yearlong loans, giving banks access to unlimited cash through January 2013, and resume purchases of covered bonds to encourage lending. At the same time, the European Commission...

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Asian stocks climb amid European developments

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Asian stocks climbed Friday after Europe's move to backstop troubled banks and Britain's plan to pump more stimulus into its fading economy gave a boost to confidence.After a week of wild gyrations stemming from Europe's debt crisis, investors in Asia reacted positively to news that the Bank of England will turn on its stimulus taps and that the European Central Bank will offer new short-terms to banks that are facing difficulties securing funding.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index leaped 3.5 per cent to 17,778.34 after surging 5.7 per cent the day before...

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Belgium’s Ratings Put by Moody’s Under Review for Downgrade

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota October 07, 2011, 5:24 PM EDT By Dave Liedtka Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Belgium’s Aa1 local- and foreign- currency ratings were placed under review for a downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service because of rising funding risks for euro region nations with high levels of debt and additional bank support measures which are likely to be needed.The review will focus on the vulnerabilities of the Belgian public debt in the current euro area sovereign crisis and potential costs and contingent liabilities that the government may incur in supporting Dexia SA,...

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Activists call for board shake-up at News Corp

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota LONDON | Thu Oct 6, 2011 10:57am BST LONDON (Reuters) - Pension funds should oppose the re-election of James Murdoch to News Corp's board to draw a line under the hacking scandal that has engulfed the company, a shareholder activist body said on Thursday.The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, whose members have combined assets of 100 billion pounds, also said the roles of chief executive and chairman held by Rupert Murdoch should be separated and an independent chair installed to improve accountability."News Corp (NEWS.O) and its shareholders desperately...

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Moody's cuts UK banks as capital worries simmer

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Steve SlaterLONDON | Fri Oct 7, 2011 11:56am BST LONDON (Reuters) - The credit rating of two top UK banks was cut on Friday due to the likelihood of less state support in a future crisis, as the government sought to reassure investors UK banks were well capitalised and able to cope with a European debt crisis.Ratings agency Moody's cut its rating on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) by two notches, downgraded Lloyds (LLOY.L) by one notch, and cut its ratings on Santander UK (SAN.MC), the Co-Operative Bank, Nationwide Building Society...

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EU Leaders Under Pressure for Bank Rescue Plan

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota October 07, 2011, 7:01 AM EDT By Gavin Finch and Liam Vaughan (Updates with Shapiro’s comment in sixth paragraph.)Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders are under pressure from investors to devise a comprehensive plan to rescue the region’s banks before a Group of 20 summit in November.“A blanket recapitalization of banks, in some cases, over- capitalizing those banks, would be the only thing that’s going to restore confidence at this juncture,” Simon Maughan, head of sales and distribution at MF Global Ltd. in London, said in a Bloomberg Television...

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Ireland Aims to Be First to Exit Euro Rescue

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota October 07, 2011, 11:39 AM EDT By Dara Doyle and Margaret Brennan (Updates with credit-default swaps in ninth paragraph.)Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Ireland aims to be the first of three bailed-out euro-area countries to exit their rescue program, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said.Kenny said the government wants to sell debt in 2012 and intends to be in the market “as soon as possible.” Ireland will “in time be upgraded by the rating agencies,” Kenny said.“Of all the countries in difficulty, Ireland leads by example,” Kenny said in a Bloomberg Television...

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The Job Market Is Frozen For Everyone

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota The number of jobs in America grew by 103,000 last month, according to this morning's big jobs report. That's not as bad as economists were predicting, but it's not good.This kind of job creation is enough to keep up with population growth, but not enough to drive down the unemployment rate, which has been just over 9 percent for months now. The job market seems frozen in place.The unemployment rate varies significantly among different demographic groups....

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U.S churns out 106,000 jobs

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota The United States added 103,000 jobs in September, a burst of hiring that followed a sluggish summer for the economy. The figure at least temporarily calms fears of a new recession that have hung over Wall Street and the nation for weeks.The Labor Department also said Friday that the nation added more jobs than first estimated in July and August. The government's first reading had said the economy added zero jobs in August.The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent.While the report was clearly better than feared, it also showed the economy is not...

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Short sellers shift focus onto fund managers

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota By Tommy WilkesLONDON | Fri Oct 7, 2011 10:32am BST LONDON (Reuters) - Short-sellers are ramping up their bets against European fund managers hit by falling stock markets and the risk of nervous clients pulling out of their investments, research from Data Explorers shows.Unlike banks and insurers, European asset managers have little direct exposure to Greek sovereign debt after selling their holdings as the country was downgraded in previous years.But the wider market turmoil hurts managers' bottom lines as a slump in equity markets and a client rush...

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After Jobs, Who Will Be Next American Visionary?

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota This graphic requires version 9 or higher of the Adobe Flash Player.Get the latest Flash Player.Thomas Alva Edison: Transformed American industry and culture by inventing the phonograph and the motion picture camera and developing a long-lasting electric light bulb. Known as the Wizard of Menlo Park, Edison also founded General Electric. In this photo from 1877, Edison stands with the phonograph. Visionary. Uncompromising. Intuitive. Risk-taking. Steve...

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Steve Jobs leaves behind an Apple generation

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Hong Kong (CNN) – Antonia Murray, 17, spends nearly every waking hour in the company of an Apple device. She has an iPad, an iPod Touch, a Macbook and a Mac desktop. Among her peers at Hong Kong’s Island School, she’s no outlier though. She’s just an ordinary member of the Apple generation."I don't think I could last a day of school without my iPad. I'd be so bored” Murray says.For her and her classmates, there has never been a world without Apple. They were toddlers when the first iMac was released, that blue-and-white, compact egg...

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F&C's CEO Grisay to leave as Bramson takes reins

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota By Tommy WilkesLONDON | Thu Oct 6, 2011 11:02am BST LONDON (Reuters) - Edward Bramson, the activist investor who won a bitter boardroom tussle to lead the board of F&C Asset Management in February, has been appointed executive chairman of the funds house after CEO Alain Grisay decided to retire.Grisay, who has worked at the fund manager for over 10 years, the last six as CEO, will step down from the board and as CEO in May 2012, before retiring from the company at end-September, F&C said in a statement on Thursday.F&C's board appointed...

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TSX closes with a loss as traders eye Europe

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota The Toronto stock market fell Friday as traders ignored better-than expected jobs data in both Canada and the U.S. last month and instead focused on Europe’s debt crisis.The S&P/TSX composite index closed near its lows of the day, down by 191.71 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 11,588.36 after gaining about 600 points in the previous two sessions.Statistics Canada reported that the Canadian economy created 61,000 net new jobs in September while the unemployment...

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Food agency database shows rise in serious product recalls

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Lettuce from California, some of which was shipped to Alberta, was recently recalled after a sample tested positive for Listeria contamination. U.S. Food and Drug Administration The number of recalls involving possibly deadly food products has increased over the past two years, and it's a trend that is likely to continue as Canada's food safety body steps up its monitoring.According to a CBC News analysis of product recall data the Canadian Food Inspection...

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Barry Eisler's 'Detachment' From 'Legacy' Publishing

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Enlarge Courtesy Barry Eisler Barry Eisler is a former CIA operative turned thriller writer. His latest book, The Detachment, was e-released on Amazon in September. Courtesy Barry Eisler Barry Eisler is a former CIA operative turned thriller writer. His latest book, The Detachment, was e-released on Amazon in September.Thriller writer Barry Eisler has turned his back on traditional publishing — or as he calls it, legacy publishing. His latest book,...

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Moody's: Belgium could face downgrade

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service late Friday said it was putting Belgium on notice for a possible downgrade.The announcement came after markets closed and was the latest of three from either Moody's or rival Fitch Ratings during the day focusing attention on Europe's debt and banking crisis.Moody's announcement meant the ratings on Belgium's government bonds could be downgraded within the next three months from its high rating of Aa1.Moody's cited Belgium’s high debt levels, the growing reluctance of European banks to lend to each other...

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Maple seeks regulator OK for TSX bid

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Maple Group Acquisition Corp. submitted its proposal to take over TMX Group to four provincial regulators Friday, even though the acquisition attempt has yet to be approved by the company's board.Regulators will seek public comment on the controversial $3.8 billion TMX takeover bid by Maple Group, a consortium of 13 Canadian banks and insurance companies.Maple wants to create a bigger Canadian exchange by merging the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange with the alternative Alpha Trading System, and clearing and depository firm CDS Inc.Alpha and CDS...

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T-Mobile Client Losses Seen Tripling on AT&T Deal Review: Tech

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota October 07, 2011, 5:19 PM EDT By Scott Moritz and Sarah Frier Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- T-Mobile USA, the wireless company AT&T Inc. is trying to acquire, may lose three times the number of contract subscribers this year as in 2010 as the U.S. Justice Department’s attempt to stop the deal is hampering the company’s ability to cut prices and creating concerns among users.The fourth-largest U.S. wireless operator will see the number of customers on monthly contracts decline by about 1.2 million, compared with a drop of 390,000 the year before, according...

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How That Food You Throw Out Is Linked To Global Warming

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Enlarge iStockphoto.com The greenhouse gas emissions associated with food waste amount to 135 million tons a year, a company has found. iStockphoto.com The greenhouse gas emissions associated with food waste amount to 135 million tons a year, a company has found.It's funny how some people are embarrassed by the state of their refrigerator – perhaps because it's full of beer and condiments and nothing else.For me, it's the guilt of seeing off-color...

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Herbicide-resistant superweeds overpowering crops

AppId is over the quotaAppId is over the quota Farming costs, food prices and agricultural pollution may rise as a result of nature's strike back against a biotechnology that has revolutionized modern farming."Superweeds" resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, also known by the trade name Roundup, have infested millions of hectares of cropland through much of the U.S. and areas of southwestern Ontario.That means farmers may no longer be able to reap the benefits of Roundup Ready crops, which are genetically modified to be resistant to glyphosate, allowing farmers to control weeds with the herbicide...

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