Bucharest, 2002. The ”Transition”
15 years ago
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
More than 200 to go as Sainsbury’s wields axe in Holborn
Supermarket giant Sainsbury's is to shed more than 200 jobs at its head office in Holborn.
Group hugs for Ken, Mandy and George?
cityspy@eveningstandard.co.uk
21.01.2009
At least new shadow Business Secretary Kenneth Clarke and his ministerial counterpart Lord Mandelson have one thing in common. The pair are involved in the secretive Bilderberg Group, the hush-hush network of international business and political leaders that meets for occasional conferences. Clarke records in the Commons' Register of Members' Interests that he went to the Bilderberg conference in Virginia last summer. Like freemasons, Bilderberg members traditionally look out for each other. But that's not always the case — just ask another British politician who was invited to that select gathering in Virginia. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, subsequently discovered what a mistake it was to cross Mandy on holiday in Corfu...
Ken Clarke's bank manager will be hoping he doesn't have to cut back too heavily on his after-dinner engagements. A recent speech to UBS netted him between £5000 and £10,000. Talks to Goldman and BGC International paid him up to £5000 a go.
A motto for Obama: it's the plumbing, stupid
Obama madness. Millionaire pipe-fixer Charlie Mullins, the Pimlico Plumber, received a call from CBS. Would he like to record a message for Barack Obama? The US producers presumably chose him as an English version of Joe the Plumber, who briefly dominated the election campaign. Mullins duly asked that the new man sort out the US and world economy as quickly as possible.
Which British companies might do well in Barack Obama's New America? Spotted among the 2000 special guests selected to attend the inauguration of the 44th US President was one Paul Lester, chief executive of the FTSE 250 military and civil outsourcing company VT Group.
Who says there's no money in financial PR these days? Business must be booming at FTI, the US parent of London's Financial Dynamics. It has agreed to sponsor golf champ Padraig Harrington by having its name printed on his cap. The small logo followed by three letters is reckoned to cost FTI a cool $2.5 million (£1.8 million) over three years. Harrington, who has won back-to-back Opens, is good with numbers — he is a qualified accountant. So he knows a gift horse when he sees one.
To Snakes and Ladders indoor children's playground at Syon Park, not a well-known City hangout, but increasingly popular with the banking fraternity. Normally, it is frequented by the 4x4-driving wives of rich City types and their offspring. On Monday, the waiting area was littered with alpha males staring at their BlackBerries and ruffling through the business sections of the papers. City Spy's man in the ball pool says: “All redundant. That one's from Merrill, that one's from Lehman and he's from Goldman . Their wives send them here with the kids.”
21.01.2009
At least new shadow Business Secretary Kenneth Clarke and his ministerial counterpart Lord Mandelson have one thing in common. The pair are involved in the secretive Bilderberg Group, the hush-hush network of international business and political leaders that meets for occasional conferences. Clarke records in the Commons' Register of Members' Interests that he went to the Bilderberg conference in Virginia last summer. Like freemasons, Bilderberg members traditionally look out for each other. But that's not always the case — just ask another British politician who was invited to that select gathering in Virginia. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, subsequently discovered what a mistake it was to cross Mandy on holiday in Corfu...
Ken Clarke's bank manager will be hoping he doesn't have to cut back too heavily on his after-dinner engagements. A recent speech to UBS netted him between £5000 and £10,000. Talks to Goldman and BGC International paid him up to £5000 a go.
A motto for Obama: it's the plumbing, stupid
Obama madness. Millionaire pipe-fixer Charlie Mullins, the Pimlico Plumber, received a call from CBS. Would he like to record a message for Barack Obama? The US producers presumably chose him as an English version of Joe the Plumber, who briefly dominated the election campaign. Mullins duly asked that the new man sort out the US and world economy as quickly as possible.
Which British companies might do well in Barack Obama's New America? Spotted among the 2000 special guests selected to attend the inauguration of the 44th US President was one Paul Lester, chief executive of the FTSE 250 military and civil outsourcing company VT Group.
Who says there's no money in financial PR these days? Business must be booming at FTI, the US parent of London's Financial Dynamics. It has agreed to sponsor golf champ Padraig Harrington by having its name printed on his cap. The small logo followed by three letters is reckoned to cost FTI a cool $2.5 million (£1.8 million) over three years. Harrington, who has won back-to-back Opens, is good with numbers — he is a qualified accountant. So he knows a gift horse when he sees one.
To Snakes and Ladders indoor children's playground at Syon Park, not a well-known City hangout, but increasingly popular with the banking fraternity. Normally, it is frequented by the 4x4-driving wives of rich City types and their offspring. On Monday, the waiting area was littered with alpha males staring at their BlackBerries and ruffling through the business sections of the papers. City Spy's man in the ball pool says: “All redundant. That one's from Merrill, that one's from Lehman and he's from Goldman . Their wives send them here with the kids.”
Barclays biggest victim as banks sell-off rumbles on
Mickey Clark, Evening Standard,
21,Jan,2008
Another big sell- off of bank shares in New York and then in Asia set the agenda for further day of carnage among the UK's biggest lenders on the London stock market.
Shareholders of the major banks were left to count the cost of the latest sell-off. Those banks already contained with the Government's “golden circle” struggled to make headway. Royal Bank of Scotland edged 0.6p higher to 10.9p on turnover of 225 million but the enlarged Lloyds Banking Group shed a further 3p to a record low of 41.8p as a total of eight million shares changed hands. Investors remain worried by the growing prospect of full nationalisation for both companies.
Citigroup continues to rate RBS a buy but has cut its target from 100p to 35p following the sharp fall in the price. It says nationalisation remains a possibility, and RBS will continue to be a volatile investment. The market has lost confidence that the bank has sufficient capital.
Barclays was the biggest casualty on the day, losing 12.4p to 60.5p on turnover of almost 200 million shares, despite its assertion that it remains in rude financial health. The City is less convinced and is worried about further big write-offs and the possibility of it turning to the Government for extra funding — making it another bank on the fast track to nationalisation.
21,Jan,2008
Another big sell- off of bank shares in New York and then in Asia set the agenda for further day of carnage among the UK's biggest lenders on the London stock market.
Shareholders of the major banks were left to count the cost of the latest sell-off. Those banks already contained with the Government's “golden circle” struggled to make headway. Royal Bank of Scotland edged 0.6p higher to 10.9p on turnover of 225 million but the enlarged Lloyds Banking Group shed a further 3p to a record low of 41.8p as a total of eight million shares changed hands. Investors remain worried by the growing prospect of full nationalisation for both companies.
Citigroup continues to rate RBS a buy but has cut its target from 100p to 35p following the sharp fall in the price. It says nationalisation remains a possibility, and RBS will continue to be a volatile investment. The market has lost confidence that the bank has sufficient capital.
Barclays was the biggest casualty on the day, losing 12.4p to 60.5p on turnover of almost 200 million shares, despite its assertion that it remains in rude financial health. The City is less convinced and is worried about further big write-offs and the possibility of it turning to the Government for extra funding — making it another bank on the fast track to nationalisation.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
NatWest in crisis: shares dive to 10p
Jonathan Prynn and Paul Waugh, Evening Standard
19.01.09
SHARES in banks collapsed today as Royal Bank of Scotland unveiled a £45 billion loss — the biggest in British commercial history.
RBS, which owns NatWest, was the biggest faller and by afternoon was down 69 per cent to 10.7p. Two years ago its shares were worth £6.
19.01.09
SHARES in banks collapsed today as Royal Bank of Scotland unveiled a £45 billion loss — the biggest in British commercial history.
RBS, which owns NatWest, was the biggest faller and by afternoon was down 69 per cent to 10.7p. Two years ago its shares were worth £6.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Help Ireland or it will exit euro, economist warns
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph
Last Updated: 9:12AM GMT 19 Jan 2009
B/Jesus, I'll give even money on that, Paddy me boy... !
Last Updated: 9:12AM GMT 19 Jan 2009
B/Jesus, I'll give even money on that, Paddy me boy... !
Russian tycoon 'had RBS loan of £2.5bn written off'
By James Kirkup and Caroline Gammell, Telegraph
Last Updated: 7:01AM GMT 19 Jan 2009
The past lending practices of RBS – of which the taxpayer now holds a majority share – have emerged as a particular concern.
Senior Government figures are said to have been infuriated to learn that RBS was part of a group of banks that offered a £2.8billion loan to a firm owned by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who last year hosted both Peter Mandelson and George Osborne on holiday in Corfu.
The apparent loan to Mr Blavatnik has now brought the 51-year-old, who divides his time between America, Russia and Britain – where he resides in a £41million home in Kensington Palace Gardens –into the spotlight.
Raised in a Jewish household, (which is now politically correct for saying he is Jewish. Editor) he moved from Russia to America at the age of 21 to find a new life, earning an MBA from Harvard. He regularly returned to Russia for business and founded Access Industries in 1986, making his fortune in chemicals and natural resources, including oil, aluminium and coal.
Last Updated: 7:01AM GMT 19 Jan 2009
The past lending practices of RBS – of which the taxpayer now holds a majority share – have emerged as a particular concern.
Senior Government figures are said to have been infuriated to learn that RBS was part of a group of banks that offered a £2.8billion loan to a firm owned by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who last year hosted both Peter Mandelson and George Osborne on holiday in Corfu.
The apparent loan to Mr Blavatnik has now brought the 51-year-old, who divides his time between America, Russia and Britain – where he resides in a £41million home in Kensington Palace Gardens –into the spotlight.
Raised in a Jewish household, (which is now politically correct for saying he is Jewish. Editor) he moved from Russia to America at the age of 21 to find a new life, earning an MBA from Harvard. He regularly returned to Russia for business and founded Access Industries in 1986, making his fortune in chemicals and natural resources, including oil, aluminium and coal.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Monetary union has left half of Europe trapped in depression
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph
Last Updated: 9:36AM GMT 18 Jan 2009
Events are moving fast in Europe. The worst riots since the fall of Communism have swept the Baltics and the south Balkans. An incipient crisis is taking shape in the Club Med bond markets. S&P has cut Greek debt to near junk. Spanish, Portuguese, and Irish bonds are on negative watch.
Dublin has nationalised Anglo Irish Bank with its half-built folly on North Wall Quay and €73bn (£65bn) of liabilities, moving a step nearer the line where markets probe the solvency of the Irish state.
A great ring of EU states stretching from Eastern Europe down across Mare Nostrum to the Celtic fringe are either in a 1930s depression already or soon will be. Greece's social fabric is unravelling before the pain begins, which bodes ill.
Each is a victim of ill-judged economic policies foisted upon them by elites in thrall to Europe's monetary project – either in EMU or preparing to join – and each is trapped.
As UKIP leader Nigel Farage put it in a rare voice of dissent at the euro's 10th birthday triumph in Strasbourg, EMU-land has become a Völker-Kerker – a "prison of nations", to borrow from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This week, Riga's cobbled streets became a war zone. Protesters armed with blocks of ice smashed up Latvia's finance ministry. Hundreds tried to force their way into the legislature, enraged by austerity cuts.
"Trust in the state's authority and officials has fallen catastrophically," said President Valdis Zatlers,
who called for the dissolution of parliament.
In Lithuania, riot police fired rubber-bullets on a trade union march. Dogs chased stragglers into the Vilnia river. A demonstration outside Bulgaria's parliament in Sofia turned violent on Wednesday.
These three states are all members of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2), the euro's pre-detention cell. They must join. It is written into their EU contracts.
The result of subjecting ex-Soviet catch-up economies to the monetary regime of the leaden West has been massive overheating. Latvia's current account deficit hit 26pc of GDP. Riga property prices surpassed Berlin.
The inevitable bust is proving epic. Latvia's property group Balsts says Riga flat prices have fallen 56pc since mid-2007. The economy contracted 18pc annualised over the last six months.
Leaked documents reveal – despite a blizzard of lies by EU and Latvian officials – that the International Monetary Fund called for devaluation as part of a €7.5bn joint rescue for Latvia. Such adjustments are crucial in IMF deals. They allow countries to claw their way back to health without suffering perma-slump.
This was blocked by Brussels – purportedly because mortgage debt in euros and Swiss francs precluded that option. IMF documents dispute this. A society is being sacrificed on the altar of the EMU project.
Latvians have company. Dublin expects Ireland's economy to contract 4pc this year. The deficit will reach 12pc of GDP by 2010 on current policies. "This is not sustainable," said the treasury. Hence the draconian wage deflation now threatened by the Taoiseach.
The Celtic Tiger has faced the test bravely. No government in Europe has been so honest. It is a tragedy that sterling's crash should have compounded their woes at this moment. To cap it all, Dell is decamping to Poland with 4pc of GDP. Irish wages crept too high during
the heady years when Euroland interest rates of 2pc so beguiled the nation.
Spain lost a million jobs in 2008. Madrid is bracing for 16pc unemployment by year's end.
Private economists fear 25pc before it is over. Spain's wage inflation has priced the workforce out of Europe's markets. EMU logic is wage deflation for year after year. With Spain's high debt levels, this is impossible.
Either Mr Zapatero stops the madness, or Spanish democracy will stop him. The left wing of his PSOE party is already peeling off, just as the French left is peeling off to fight "l'euro dictature capitaliste".
Italy's treasury awaits each bond auction with dread, wondering if can offload €200bn of debt this year. Spreads reached a fresh post-EMU high of 149 last week. The debt compound noose is tightening around Rome's throat. Italian journalists have begun to talk of Europe's "Tequila Crisis" – a new twist.
They mean that capital flight from Club Med could set off an unstoppable process.
Mexico's Tequila drama in 1994 was triggered by a combination of the Chiapas uprising, a current account haemorrhage, and bond jitters. The dollar-peso peg snapped when elites began moving money to US banks. The game was up within days.
Fixed exchange systems – and EMU is just a glorified version – rupture suddenly. Things can seem eerily calm for a long time. Politicians swear by the parity. Remember John Major's "soft-option" defiance days before the ERM blew apart in 1992? Or Philip Snowden's defence of sterling before a Royal Navy mutiny forced Britain off the Gold Standard in 1931.
Don't expect tremors before an earthquake – and there is no fault line of greater historic violence than the crunching plates where Latin Europe meets Teutonia.
Greece no longer dares sell long bonds to fund its debt. It sold €2.5bn last week at short rates, mostly 3-months and 6-months. This is a dangerous game. It stores up "roll-over risk" for later in the year. Hedge funds are circling.
Traders suspect that investors are dumping their Club Med and Irish debt immediately on the European Central Bank in "repo" actions.
In other words, the ECB is already providing a stealth bail-out for Europe's governments – though secrecy veils all.
An EU debt union is being created, in breach of EU law. Liabilities are being shifted quietly on to German taxpayers. What happens when Germany's hard-working citizens find out?
Last Updated: 9:36AM GMT 18 Jan 2009
Events are moving fast in Europe. The worst riots since the fall of Communism have swept the Baltics and the south Balkans. An incipient crisis is taking shape in the Club Med bond markets. S&P has cut Greek debt to near junk. Spanish, Portuguese, and Irish bonds are on negative watch.
Dublin has nationalised Anglo Irish Bank with its half-built folly on North Wall Quay and €73bn (£65bn) of liabilities, moving a step nearer the line where markets probe the solvency of the Irish state.
A great ring of EU states stretching from Eastern Europe down across Mare Nostrum to the Celtic fringe are either in a 1930s depression already or soon will be. Greece's social fabric is unravelling before the pain begins, which bodes ill.
Each is a victim of ill-judged economic policies foisted upon them by elites in thrall to Europe's monetary project – either in EMU or preparing to join – and each is trapped.
As UKIP leader Nigel Farage put it in a rare voice of dissent at the euro's 10th birthday triumph in Strasbourg, EMU-land has become a Völker-Kerker – a "prison of nations", to borrow from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This week, Riga's cobbled streets became a war zone. Protesters armed with blocks of ice smashed up Latvia's finance ministry. Hundreds tried to force their way into the legislature, enraged by austerity cuts.
"Trust in the state's authority and officials has fallen catastrophically," said President Valdis Zatlers,
who called for the dissolution of parliament.
In Lithuania, riot police fired rubber-bullets on a trade union march. Dogs chased stragglers into the Vilnia river. A demonstration outside Bulgaria's parliament in Sofia turned violent on Wednesday.
These three states are all members of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2), the euro's pre-detention cell. They must join. It is written into their EU contracts.
The result of subjecting ex-Soviet catch-up economies to the monetary regime of the leaden West has been massive overheating. Latvia's current account deficit hit 26pc of GDP. Riga property prices surpassed Berlin.
The inevitable bust is proving epic. Latvia's property group Balsts says Riga flat prices have fallen 56pc since mid-2007. The economy contracted 18pc annualised over the last six months.
Leaked documents reveal – despite a blizzard of lies by EU and Latvian officials – that the International Monetary Fund called for devaluation as part of a €7.5bn joint rescue for Latvia. Such adjustments are crucial in IMF deals. They allow countries to claw their way back to health without suffering perma-slump.
This was blocked by Brussels – purportedly because mortgage debt in euros and Swiss francs precluded that option. IMF documents dispute this. A society is being sacrificed on the altar of the EMU project.
Latvians have company. Dublin expects Ireland's economy to contract 4pc this year. The deficit will reach 12pc of GDP by 2010 on current policies. "This is not sustainable," said the treasury. Hence the draconian wage deflation now threatened by the Taoiseach.
The Celtic Tiger has faced the test bravely. No government in Europe has been so honest. It is a tragedy that sterling's crash should have compounded their woes at this moment. To cap it all, Dell is decamping to Poland with 4pc of GDP. Irish wages crept too high during
the heady years when Euroland interest rates of 2pc so beguiled the nation.
Spain lost a million jobs in 2008. Madrid is bracing for 16pc unemployment by year's end.
Private economists fear 25pc before it is over. Spain's wage inflation has priced the workforce out of Europe's markets. EMU logic is wage deflation for year after year. With Spain's high debt levels, this is impossible.
Either Mr Zapatero stops the madness, or Spanish democracy will stop him. The left wing of his PSOE party is already peeling off, just as the French left is peeling off to fight "l'euro dictature capitaliste".
Italy's treasury awaits each bond auction with dread, wondering if can offload €200bn of debt this year. Spreads reached a fresh post-EMU high of 149 last week. The debt compound noose is tightening around Rome's throat. Italian journalists have begun to talk of Europe's "Tequila Crisis" – a new twist.
They mean that capital flight from Club Med could set off an unstoppable process.
Mexico's Tequila drama in 1994 was triggered by a combination of the Chiapas uprising, a current account haemorrhage, and bond jitters. The dollar-peso peg snapped when elites began moving money to US banks. The game was up within days.
Fixed exchange systems – and EMU is just a glorified version – rupture suddenly. Things can seem eerily calm for a long time. Politicians swear by the parity. Remember John Major's "soft-option" defiance days before the ERM blew apart in 1992? Or Philip Snowden's defence of sterling before a Royal Navy mutiny forced Britain off the Gold Standard in 1931.
Don't expect tremors before an earthquake – and there is no fault line of greater historic violence than the crunching plates where Latin Europe meets Teutonia.
Greece no longer dares sell long bonds to fund its debt. It sold €2.5bn last week at short rates, mostly 3-months and 6-months. This is a dangerous game. It stores up "roll-over risk" for later in the year. Hedge funds are circling.
Traders suspect that investors are dumping their Club Med and Irish debt immediately on the European Central Bank in "repo" actions.
In other words, the ECB is already providing a stealth bail-out for Europe's governments – though secrecy veils all.
An EU debt union is being created, in breach of EU law. Liabilities are being shifted quietly on to German taxpayers. What happens when Germany's hard-working citizens find out?
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