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December 31, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Precious metals prices were mixed in New York on Monday, but both gold and silver ended higher for the seventh year in a row.
February gold was down $4.70 to $838 per troy ounce, while April platinum dropped $14.10 to $1,525.40 per troy ounce.
March silver was up 3 cents to $14.92.
Among base metals, March copper dropped 3 cents to ...
by Elaine Frei
Cyprus and Malta are both scheduled join the euro at midnight on Monday, brining the number of nations using the shared currency to 15.
While only the Greek portion of Cyprus, in the south, will officially adopt the euro, many merchants in the northern, Turkish, portion of the island nation will accept it along with the Turkish lira.
In addition, euro coins ...
by Kay Murchie
Virgin Atlantic cabin crew, who are members of the Unite union, are to stage two 48-hour strikes next month after they voted in favour of industrial action.
The strikes will run for 48 hours each, starting at 0600 on Wednesday 9 January and from 0600 on Wednesday 16 January.
However, in a letter, Sir Richard Branson has warned ...
by Kay Murchie
Heineken, the Dutch brewer, is expanding into the fast-growing Belarus beer market with the acquisition of leading brewer, Syabar Brewing Company, as part of a strategy to obtain leading market positions and compensate for sluggish growth rates in Western beer markets.
Heineken, the world's fourth largest brewer, did not disclose financial details but said it would buy ...
by Kay Murchie
Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, has closed its online film download service it launched less than 12 months ago.
The service was launched in February offering 3,000 films and episodes of popular television shows to US customers to watch on a PC or a portable device compatible with Microsoft Windows Media Player.
A message on Wal-Mart's video download website said ...
by Kay Murchie
John Lewis staff can expect record bonuses averaging over £2,200-a-head after the retailer experienced strong Christmas trading.
Based on last year's profit split, the 70,000 staff across John Lewis and its supermarket chain Waitrose will get a bonus worth one-fifth of their salary.
The retailer also owns one third of grocery home delivery service Ocado, which has also had a good year and ...
December 28, 2007
by Elaine Frei
March wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped its daily limit of 30 cents on Friday to $8.85 per bushel on signs that demand is dropping.
Algeria, Egypt and India have all recently canceled orders for US wheat because its price is higher than that for wheat from other regions.
Kansas City Board of Trade wheat prices also dropped the full ...
by Elaine Frei
The US dollar was weaker in relation to the euro for the sixth session in a row on Friday as unrest continued in Pakistan and as a Commerce Department report showed that new home sales were down by 9 percent in November, convincing many analysts that another US interest rate cut is coming soon from the Federal Reserve.
The greenback ...
by Kay Murchie
Tesco's mobile phone arm is under threat following network shake-up plans from telecoms regulator Ofcom.
It has been claimed that Ofcom wants to make some of the 900MHz radio spectrum, currently used by Vodafone and O2 for second generation calls and text services, available for other operators. Parts of the spectrum could be put up for auction in 2009.
Tesco Mobile, which is ...
December 27, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices were higher on Thursday as geopolitical news was bad and new US inventories data wasn’t much better.
Just before the close of floor trade in New York, West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was 65 cents higher to $96.62 per barrel while Brent crude added $1.75 to $95.69 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.
Nymex January ...
by Elaine Frei
Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade on Thursday on both economic and political news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.17 percent lower to 13,392.85 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.26 percent to 2,690.04 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.11 percent to 1,480.99 in light volume as many traders extended the Christmas holiday. ...
by Elaine Frei
The Swiss franc saw gains against the euro, the US dollar, and most other major currencies on Thursday after opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan as investors looked for a safe place to put their money.
At just past 1 p.m. in New York the Swiss franc was trading at SFr1.1377 to the dollar, at SFr1.6653 to the euro, and ...
by Kay Murchie
Fears of an economic slowdown meant that shops across the UK reported fewer customers than expected earlier this week. Increasing internet sales and a dent in confidence has affected retailers.
However, as high street shops reduced their prices, Boxing Day attracted huge crowds with queues forming outside many shopping centres throughout the UK. Some retailers reported one of the most ...
by Kay Murchie
Amazon.com said customers ordered over 5.4 million items on December 10, the online retailer's busiest day. Last year, its busiest day was December 11 when 4 million items were ordered.
Brian McBride of Amazon said the 2007 holiday season was the strongest since the firm started trading in 1994. This shows the increased confidence that consumers have in Amazon.
Best sellers at the ...
December 24, 2007
by Elaine Frei
February contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded at $93.65 per barrel, up 34 cents from Friday’s close shortly before an early close on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday, after having dropped earlier in the session on mild weather predictions for the next two weeks in the US.
Trade was limited due to the upcoming holiday.
Brent crude on the ICE Futures ...
by Elaine Frei
On a day of limited trade due to holidays both the pound and the yen weakened.
The pound hit a record low versus the euro for the second consecutive session after UK home prices that were reported to have dropped another 0.3 percent lower in December as well as on continuing sentiment that the Bank of England will cut interest rates again.
The ...
by Kay Murchie
Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of the Blackberry, increased its subscriber numbers by 1.65 million in its third quarter. It has also increased users by reducing the cost of its email service. Sales on the day after Thanksgiving (which the US counts as the start of Christmas trading) broke the company's one-day record.
The Canadian firm more than doubled its profit and ...
by Kay Murchie
Fears of an economic slowdown triggered by the Northern Rock crisis has meant that shops across the UK reported fewer customers than expected.
Increasing internet sales and a dent in confidence has affected retailers. Sales on Britain's busiest High Street, Oxford Street in London, were much slower than last year.
Even Selfridges, the department store, reported slower than usual sales. Brent ...
December 21, 2007
by Stewart Douglas
Sports retailer Sports Direct has today offloaded part of its equity stake in manufacturer Umbro to rival Nike, in a move worth £56 million that will pave the way for Nike to complete its takeover approach of the England football shirt manufacturing company.
Sports Direct acquired the stake, amounting to just under 30%, back in October when it was thought that ...
by Stewart Douglas
Software giant Microsoft chairman and multi billionaire Bill Gates has today announced he has acquired a minor stake in a major Mexican brewery, in a move that has been seen as a private investment made through the guise of his private asset management firm Cascade Investment.
The 3% stake in brewer Femsa, which produces Sol and also provides bottling services for Coca Cola, ...
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