First-time buyers drive UK housing sales in March
The number of house hunters increases to its highest level in five months.The UK housing market improved during February and March, as first-time buyers continued to capitalise on the stamp duty...
View ArticleNestlé to buy Pfizer Nutrition for $11.85bn
The Swiss company says the acquisition would "enhance its position in global infant nutrition". The Swiss food giant Nestlé has agreed to acquire the US-based Pfizer Nutrition for $11.85bn, in a bid...
View ArticleMorning Call: pick of the papers
The ten must-read comment pieces from this morning's papers. 1. Reform the House of Lords now and it can survive (Guardian) The second chamber is costly and unrepresentative, write Andrew Adonis and...
View ArticleWalmart "deeply concerned" by accusations of endemic corruption
New York Times investigation alleges corruption in Mexican subsidiary and subsequent cover-up by US executives.The New York Times claims, in a 7,600 word report, that Walmart's Mexican subsidiary,...
View ArticleThe Republicans are radicals, not conservatives
The party has forgotten that change, if necessary, should be incremental and practical.It's not Ted Nugent's fault that he is clearly a born whack-job, but we can hold Republicans accountable for...
View ArticleAstraZeneca to buy Ardea Biosciences for $1.26bn
The acquisition includes Ardea’s new gout treatment. The British drug maker AstraZeneca has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire the US biotechnology firm Ardea Biosciences for $32 per...
View ArticleFSA loses UBS test case
Regulator denied right to penalise inadequate supervisionThe Financial Services Authority has lost a test case which it was pursuing over the right to penalise senior managers when things go wrong on...
View ArticleCameron vows: I won't have dealings with tax avoiders
The PM sets a precedent after he is challenged on Philip Green's tax avoidance. After his worst month since entering office, David Cameron has launched a media offensive in an attempt to draw a line...
View ArticleVodafone Europe to buy Cable & Wireless for £1.04bn
The deal follows Tata’s exit from bidding last week. After weeks of negotiations, Vodafone Europe has signed an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) for 38 pence per share –...
View ArticleComputers can't read
How to beat our robot overlords.There is growing evidence showing that, for certain types of examinations (read: SATs, the American college admission tests taken by around 1.5 million students each...
View ArticleBreivik has not been given a platform
Television has exposed the mass murderer for who he really is.Is a televised trial giving Anders Breivik what he wants? It’s one of those odd coincidences that the start of Breivik’s trial should...
View ArticleOpinionomics | 23 April 2012
Must-read comment and analysis. Featuring the entrepreneurial state, the austere state, and the United States.1. IMF encourages Europe's economic suicide (Telegraph) Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues that...
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PMIs hint at Eurozone contraction
Indicies fall to 5-month low.Purchasing managers indices have fallen for the third month in a row in the Eurozone, to their lowest point in five months. PMIs are important economic predictors which...
View ArticleBalls shows his human side again
Shadow chancellor completes London Marathon. Here's Ed Balls proudly displaying his London Marathon medal after finishing the race in five hours and 33 minutes. The shadow chancellor, who raised...
View ArticleTheatre Review: Wild Swans
The first stage adaptation of Jung Chang's award-winning novel is a masterpiece.You might wonder how an award-winning novel of 700 pages can possibly be condensed into a 90-minute stage play. But Sacha...
View ArticleIs Argentina allowed to seize YPF?
Argentina's expropriation of its former state oil company attracted international condemnation - but it was within its rights.Argentina's expropriation of 51 per cent of the shares of YPF, the formerly...
View ArticleBercow’s Burmese daze
The stuffed shirts are grumbling over the prospect of the saintly Aung San Suu Kyi following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Her Maj and the Pope. Speaker Bercow wishes to invite the...
View ArticlePhilips Electronics first-quarter net income surges
Health-care and lighting sales grew, while consumer lifestyle sales declined.The Dutch group Philips Electronics has reported a net income of €249m for the first quarter of 2012, compared to €138m for...
View ArticleOfcom to investigate Sky News "canoe man" email hack
It is thought that a journalist from the broadcaster hacked into the emails of John Darwin. Media regulator Ofcom is to investigate Sky News over its admission that one of its journalists hacked into...
View ArticleOther people's business, Monday 23 April
Formula one and the red flag in Bahrain. 1. On Investing: The future isn’t grim, and it belongs to young entrepreneurs, (Washington Post) We have plenty to be optimistic about, writes Barry Ritholtz....
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