Starbucks Corp. informed that it started talks with the HMRC as the company has been facing growing criticism since it was revealed that the world's most known coffee chain paid only £8.5 million in corporation taxes in 14 years. In addition, Starbucks Corp. might pay more in the near future as it is reviewing its UK tax approach.
It's a bit Hong Kong. And a bit Dubai. With a little Gold Coast thrown in for good measure. But what are we doing on this bitty isthmus, anyway?
What a long, strange, boring, indecisive, inconclusive year it's been for investors. There are big problems which don't seem to have any solution. Yet collapse is not desirable and appears to be preventable, if you give a central bank enough room to cut rates and buy bonds through quantitative easing. Are we stuck in an endless rut? Or will things get worse, then better...or better, then worse?
It's not only gun sales that spiked after Election Day. So did the sale of Gold Eagles from the U.S. Mint.
In yesterday's Daily Reckoning we promised to tell you today why people stop believing what they believe. We believe what we're going to show is bound to offend you, or at least some of you. But it's a big, bad world and a challenging idea never hurt anyone's feelings. Or if it did, that's too bad. The free world is a rough and tumble place, and you don't have the right to not be offended.
Investor optimism about the outlook and prospects for Australian equities is somewhat tempered in the short term, as macroeconomic headwinds such as the fiscal cliff in the US remain in the news.
By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 13 points or 0.1% while the S&P fell 0.2% to 1407 and the Nasdaq lost 0.
The ASX200 attempted a rally in the first half hour of trade although the move faded quickly and the index lost ground over the remainder of the session. The weaker economic pulse from the US in addition to the war of words between politicians in relation to the fiscal cliff allowed sellers to get traction over regional indices, the majority of which ended in negative territory at the conclusion of the regional session.
The Australian sharemarket is a touch lower ahead of the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision this afternoon. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.2 per cent or 10.0 pts to 4530. Most of the market is now trading in the red, with the energy and mining sectors the biggest drags on trade.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for the first time on Sunday, hinted that her government may ultimately accept a write-off of Greek debt in the future; but stated that Athens first had to fulfil their fiscal targets, including posting a budget surplus by 2014/2015.
By Greg PeelDunn & Bradstreet has today released the findings of its September quarter survey of Australian business executives.
By Andrew NelsonNovember was a little kinder to uranium producers than September or October was, with new demand trickling into the market and providing some support for spot prices.
Thousands of Russian truck drivers probably made the thumbs down sign and said "Nyet" (No in Russian) after they were stuck in a 200-kilometre gridlock over the weekend. The traffic jam along the M-10 motorway lasted for 44 hours and trapped more than 4,000 trucks. The gridlock was caused by heavy snow.
Woodside Petroleum announced on Monday that it is committed to buy a 30 per cent stake in the Leviathan offshore gas field for $1.3 billion. It would be Australia's largest foreign direct investment into Israel.
By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 59 points or 0.5% to below 13,000 while the S&P dropped 0.5% to 1409 and the Nasdaq lost 0.
By Ben TraynorMark Carney's been hired to bang bankers' heads together...WHERE have all good men goneAnd where are all the gods?Where's the streetwise HerculesTo fight the rising odds?Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I ...
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaAt its final meeting for calendar 2013, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has sliced off a further 25bp to bring the official cash rate down to 3.
Not for the first time, Monday bore witness to one of those perverse circumstances where stocks rise in response to weaker economic news. The last week in the US was defined by a lack of progress in relation to the fiscal cliff, although Republicans and Democrats expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved in a timely fashion. Weekend developments in Washington saw an opening gambit being made by the Democrats, which was summarily dismissed by the Republicans. 'The game' has beg...
Is it laughable, or lamentable? The market, that is. In the past few years, it has become a joke...a tool of manipulation, an unreliable source of information. Despite the outperformance of the US equity markets this year, ordinary investors (presumably people with savings they would like to invest in productive and attractive businesses) are not interested.
The Australian sharemarket is kicking off the new trading week in positive fashion, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.5 per cent or 22.3 pts to 4540.3. This adds to last week's 2 per cent rise; the local market's second straight week of gains.
So we've decided to chronicle our attempt to join an Aussie Rules football team. The Daily Reckoning seems like as good a place as any to do this for your amusement. Thrilling, right?
William Knox D’Arcy: The Greatest Australian You’ve Never Heard Of
While our political leaders push, shove and bicker like stupid kids in a playground, signs of a weakening economy continue to mount. Yesterday, Rio Tinto told investors it plans to slash $5 billion in costs by 2014. Mining services companies duly suffered more share price falls.
On the 30th of November, Osram informed that it would downsize another 4.700 jobs as well as sell its plants to better compete with Asian rivals. The job cuts at Osram will help the company save approximately €1 billion ($1.3 billion) and improve profitability as the market for traditional light bulbs shrinks significantly. Earlier this week Siemens AG announced to spin off Osram.
- JBH needs to boost flagging revenues- Plans to trial home appliance expansion- Not what analysts had in mind- Scepticism reignsBy Greg PeelHands up who remembers Brashs? In the 1980s Brashs became the iconic, large chain, go-to music store during the vinyl-to-CD transition, as well as selling "bro...
Australian Resource Minister Martin Ferguson and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman are in India to sign a $10-billion agreement with the Indian company, The Adani Group, to develop a coal mining project in the Galilee basin.
Sixteen Chinese miners were trapped on Saturday after a coal mine in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province in northeast China was flooded. The 16 are among 22 miners deployed by the Furuixiang Coal Company.
Archibald Colquhoun returned from a trip to Myanmar (Burma) enthusiastic about the opportunities in the country. He wrote a book about it all: Burma and the Burmans: Or, 'The Best Unopened Market in the World'.
On the 29th of November, Japan's industrial companies Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Hitachi Ltd informed that they had reached a basic agreement to merge their thermal power units as they try to compete against global giants, including Siemens and General Electric.
On the 29th of November, Kingfisher Plc posted its third-quarter profit. According to a statement, the Europe's largest home-improvement retailer saw a 6 percent drop in the period ended October 27 as sales declined in its main markets in France and the UK, not to mention that the company's results were affected by unfavorable foreign exchange movements as well.
