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Utente:AudryDoherty569

2012-04-01T01:04:07Z

86.149.107.96: Nuova pagina: Finance ministers in Copenhagen have agreed to increase the size of the eurozone's rescue funds. Eurozone countries agreed to boost the joint lending power of the "firewall" from 500b...

Finance ministers in Copenhagen have agreed to increase the size of the eurozone's rescue funds.

Eurozone countries agreed to boost the joint lending power of the "firewall" from 500bn to 800bn euros ($1.1tn; �667bn).

The firewall is the permanent mechanism to bail out troubled eurozone nations.

But in reality, what the eurozone countries are doing is making commitments available earlier that they had already agreed to give.

As Spain and Italy's finances have looked more precarious, investors have been worried about whether the eurozone's firewall could cope with more bailouts.

The new enlarged fund, combined with what the International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend to the eurozone, should be enough to cope with a new crisis, some suggest.

"Including the IMF commitments, this is enough to take care of Italy and Spain for the next three years and that was the point of this exercise," Christoph Weil, senior economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, told the BBC.

He added that he did not think Spain and Italy would require bailouts.

Others were less convinced.

"Today's decision is a classic European compromise," said Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING bank in Brussels.

"It was as far as the German government was willing to go and it was the minimum most other eurozone countries were expecting.

"A bigger increase... could have sent a stronger signal and would have been more convincing," he said.

IMF head Christine Lagarde welcomed the move.

"The IMF has long emphasised that enhanced European and global firewalls, together with the implementation of strong policy frameworks, are critical for ending the crisis and securing international financial stability," she said.

Utente:ClarieMazzola232

2012-03-30T17:09:45Z

86.149.107.96: Nuova pagina: he proportion of shops in Britain lying empty has hit a new record of 14.6% in February, according to figures compiled by the Local Data Company. Vacancy rates had begun to stabilise ...

he proportion of shops in Britain lying empty has hit a new record of 14.6% in February, according to figures compiled by the Local Data Company.

Vacancy rates had begun to stabilise at the end of 2011, but they have risen in January and February, the LDC said.

It is further evidence of a difficult start to the year for retailers.

Consumer confidence also slipped back in February, the latest survey from Nationwide indicated, largely due to concerns about employment prospects.
Continue reading the main story
�Start Quote

It is a timely reminder to the government... of the significant challenges facing town and city centres up and down the country�

End Quote Matthew Hopkinson Local Data Company

* High Street casualties
* Cautious consumers 'pay off debt'
* Job woes hit consumer confidence
* Sharp decline in UK retail sales

There was an increase in the number of respondents describing their economic situation as bad.

"Consumers also scaled back their expectations for the future, with the forward-looking aspects of the index weakening during the month," said Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner.

Utente:SeanaDesantiago283

2012-03-30T05:36:24Z

86.149.107.96: Nuova pagina: Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) has reported a quarterly loss, due in part to falling revenues on the back of weak smartphone shipments. The Canadian company made a n...

Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) has reported a quarterly loss, due in part to falling revenues on the back of weak smartphone shipments.

The Canadian company made a net loss for the three months to 3 March of $125m (�78m), compared with a profit of $934m a year earlier.

Revenues fell to $4.2bn from $5.2bn.

The firm also suggested it would refocus on the corporate market rather than on individual consumers.

It also announced the resignation of former co-chief executive Jim Balsillie.

Chief technology officer David Yacht will also be standing down.

Shares in the company fell as much as 9% in after-hours trading following the trading statement. They have fallen by 80% over the past year.

Shipments of BlackBerry smartphones in the quarter fell to 11.1 million, down 21% from the previous three-month period.

Shipments of the company's PlayBook tablets hit 500,000, largely due to substantial discounting.

For the full financial year, the company made a net profit of $1.2bn, down from $3.4bn in the previous year.

The results were worse than analysts had expected and RIM shares fell sharply in after-hours trading.
Corporate focus

RIM has struggled to keep up with rivals in the smartphone market, such as Apple's iPhone and handsets running on Google's Android operating system.

It has also struggled to gain a foothold in the tablet market.

Utente:JosselynBarreras507

2012-03-29T17:15:18Z

86.149.107.96: Nuova pagina: Cautious consumers' repayments on credit cards, loans and overdrafts outstripped new borrowing by �305m in February, figures show. This safety-first approach had led to a contractio...

Cautious consumers' repayments on credit cards, loans and overdrafts outstripped new borrowing by �305m in February, figures show.

This safety-first approach had led to a contraction in borrowing through loans and overdrafts for more than three years, major banks said.

The figures, from the British Bankers' Association (BBA), showed a slowdown in activity in the mortgage market.

It said remortgaging levels were at their lowest for 13 years.
'Difficult economic times'

Despite their cautious approach, consumers still spent �7bn on credit cards in February - a similar level as the previous six months, the figures show.

Repayments outstripped new borrowing on credit cards by �39m in February. The repayment in unsecured lending was driven by weak demand, and continued payback, of loans and overdrafts.

Unsecured lending by the banks contracted by 1.8% in the 12 months to February.

"Businesses and households continue to be cautious about their finances in the face of difficult economic times and this shows up in a reluctance to take on new credit, or where possible, seeking to pay back bank borrowing," said BBA statistics director David Dooks.
Mortgage dip

However, activity returned to more "normal" levels in February, said the group which represents the High Street banks.