In one of the classic understatements of the year so far, new finance minister George Osborne has just announced his findings that the British economy is in a dire state and there will be difficult times ahead. Osborne’s revelation came as the government sat down to take action on tackling the record budget deficit. Osborne took up the role of Chancellor after the center-right Conservatives joined with the center-left Liberal Democrats to form the country’s first coalition government for more than half a century, as the Labour Government wound up 13 years rule.

Britain has barely limped out of the worst recession since World War Two, and the new government is under pressure to show their pre-election promises to reduce spending and raise taxes to cut a budget deficit running at more than 11 percent of GDP were not hollow. The coalition already pledged to significantly accelerate the reduction of the deficit in the next five years, cutting £6 billion pounds ($8.75 billion) from non-frontline public services during the current financial year. George Osborne is expected to unveil his emergency Budget on June 22 as the new coalition Government attempts to overcome the appalling state of the economy inherited from Labour.

Meanwhile on the home front, news from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) is that mortgage borrowing by house buyers is on the increase, with the number of loans made to home buyers rising by 25% between February and March, to reach 45,000. First-time buyer borrowing rebounded faster than that by existing home owners, according to CML who also went on to warn that mortgage rationing might continue indefinitely unless the new government helped lenders raise finance.

The latest news on the small business front has shown decrease in UK business insolvencies last month. On a year to year basis, it was shown that

the total number of insolvencies fell by 15.1% in April compared with the same month last year, 2,274 in April 2009 down to 1,818 in April 2010.

Businesses that fell into the medium sized category were found to have suffered the most in April. Companies employing between fifty to hundred workers being the most vulnerable.

In a move that may indicate a thawing of hostilities between internet giant Google and the printed media – particularly Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, announced that Google were holding talks with Murdoch and other newspaper proprietors regarding running subscription services for their online sites. Murdoch has repeatedly criticized Google for undermining newspapers by allowing internet users too much access to their valuable news content. Late last year Murdoch went far as threatening to sue Google for including headlines from News International in its search results. Staring from June, the Times and Sunday Times are set to erect a pay wall limiting access to their online news sites to paying customers. The papers will also withdraw their articles from Google’s search engine

With annual results due to be issued before the weekend, mobile phone company Vodafone are expected to announce a 150 percent increase in profits, with analysts expecting pre-tax profits of around £10.4 billion for the year to the end of March. Vodafone’s profits for 2009 were just £4.1 billion, largely due to one of impairment of £5.9 billion pounds of impairment charges.

Reports are that the Spanish bank Santander are believed to have emerged as likely winners of the tender to take over the 318 Williams & Glyn-branded Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branches across England and Wales. Santander has apparently outbid Virgin, Spanish rival BBVA and Blackstone, with only National Australian Bank’s Clydesdale Bank arm still in the running. RBS is expected to make around £2 billion pounds from the successful completion of the sale.

Meanwhile credit card firm American Express has reportedly become the latest contender to enter into bidding for the payment processing arm of Royal Bank of Scotland. The partially state owned bank has been forced to sell of this division under European Commission rules governing state aid. The move by American Express, which has joined forces with private equity house Permira to table a bid in the £2.5 billion pound auction for RBS’s Global Merchant Services division, has been welcomed by RBS. Previously the bank had stated concerns over stand alone private equity buyers having sufficient experience to manage the business. With experience of processing payments of millions of customers in 130 countries, American Express could fit the bill and help RBS in their drive to expand in emerging markets,

Property development and investment giant, British Land, appears likely to take over the mantle as being the largest company in the field in the UK, leaving their bigger rival, Land Securities in their wake, when both companies announce full year results this week. British Land is expected to reveal that its net value of assets has increased by more than 20 percent over the past year to 490 pence a share, while Land Securities will announce that their shares have risen 16 percent increase in its net asset value over 690 pence a share.

Coming back down to earth with a thump will be British Airways who are widely expected to report losses of more than £600 million pounds when they reports their results on Friday. It is expected that results for the 12 months to the end of March will mark the airline’s worst ever financial performance, over a period in which it suffered from the effects of recession, strikes and bad weather. There are suggestions from senior staff that the company will not be able to survive any further blows. Analysts attending the shareholder’s conference will be keen to hear how chief executive Willie Walsh intends to explain the losses as well as the company’s ongoing dispute with cabin crews.

Pharmaceutical retailer and wholesaler Alliance Boots are expected to join the one billion pounds club on Monday. Alliance Boots, who returned to private ownership in 2007, are expected to announce a trading profit over the one billion pound by exceeding the 11.6 percent growth in 2009, when their profit was £953 million. By passing the one billion pound profit barrier Alliance Boots will become only the third retailer to do so in the history of UK retailing.

The euro has plummeted against the US dollar, falling below $1.22 for the first time since April 2006. The eurozone’s single currency fell more than 1.7% in afternoon trading in New York, to $1.216, before rallying.

The decline came after Germany announced plans to ban naked short-selling of shares from midnight local time on Tuesday. The single currency dropped by more than 2% against the yen on the news. Forex traders fear that the austerity measures being put in place in many eurozone countries will hit growth.

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Tags: Alliance Boots, American Express, Bank, Banking, BBVA, Blackstone, British airways, British Economy, British Land, Clydesdale, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Currency, Economics, Economy, Eric Schmidt, Financial News, George Osborne, Google, Government, Land Securities, Money, Money Management, Mortgages, News Corp, Recession, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Vodafone, Willie Walsh

In the first statement coming out of Labour election headquarters, current U.K. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has put up an argument stating that the sitting government has the constitutional right for the “first go” in trying to remain in power when no party wins a majority in the House of Commons.

“The rules are, if it’s a hung parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has the first go, it’s the sitting government,” Mandelson said. “After three terms in office, of course many people have turned away from the Labour Party but they haven’t embraced the Conservatives.” He added

According to a recent survey, manufacturing output and exports in the UK expanded at their fastest rate in 15 years. These findings meant that whichever party eventually wins the right to govern in the UK, are liable to inherit an economy already showing signs of recovery with manufacturing output growing by as much as two percent in the past three months. A growth level that suggests the manufacturing sector will make a significant contribution to second-quarter gross domestic product growth in the UK.

Recent figures also show that the next government are set to inherit a jobs market that, while currently still looking a little weak, looks is poised for recovery but still fragile. Unemployment stands at 2.5 million, or eight percent of the work force, far below the three million-plus predicted last year.

Channel 4 announced the public service broadcaster would boost the budget of its film division by a fifth this year to 10 million pounds. The decision returns Film 4’s budget to its 2007 level before the recession, and partly reflects a cautious confidence at the group. Chief executive David Abraham said the Digital Economy Act had also influenced the decision to increase investment in Film 4. The Act formally stated that as part of its public service remit, Channel 4 should make "high quality films" for cinema release in the UK.

Alliance Boots has replaced Marks & Spencer at the top of an annual ranking of UK companies by the strength of their corporate reputation. Boots, which enters the Reputation Institute’s UK Pulse Report for the first time, ranks first in the survey that measures corporate reputation among the general public. Other companies in the top 10 include Cadbury, Morrisons and Rolls Royce, with John Lewis Partnership, Debenhams, Sainsbury’s and Tesco among the top 20 places. In broadcasting, the BBC came ahead of ITV and BSkyB, and HSBC has become the top-ranked bank. Companies are selected by the organization based on revenue and visibility among the general public, but can decide whether or not to be included. There is no fee for inclusion.

Followers of Google’s UK-based email will now be able to have @gmail.com addresses, rather than @googlemail.com. The news comes after the search engine marketing giant won an arduous trademark battle with a British research company that had applied for the "gmail" name prior to Google launching its email service. After finally reaching a settlement, Google are now able to offer users that registered after 2005, a change to the shorter address of @gmail.com Google went on to use the @googlemail.com address for those that had registered after this time.

A spokesman for Google stated that the company was satisfied with the conclusion of the proceedings, saying:”We know how important email accounts are to users and we wanted to provide the best user experience possible. We engineered the infrastructure to enable users to switch their accounts to @gmail.com accounts should they choose, as well as directing all new users to set up @gmail.com accounts in the UK.”

Power and oil firm Essar Energy were left wishing that they had timed their entry onto the FTSE a little better than this week, after suffering the worst debut of a big London flotation since the early noughties. The group’s shares plummeted 7.2 percent to 389.5 pence on its first day of trading. The fall from the UK’s largest stock market listing in more than two years is the worst seen since HMV, the music retailer, dropped 7.5 percent in May 2002. Essar’s listing came on a challenging day for the markets, with the FTSE 100 index closing down 2.5 percent on the day

The Euro remains under heavy pressure, falling to below 1.27 against the dollar. The pound strengthened took a late slump against the dollar to 1.463 and at 1.550 against the Euro.

International rating agencies continue to voice concerns over the crisis of confidence which is spreading across Europe, with countries such as Portugal, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Britain looking unstable, as the public and politicians in Athens attempt come to terms with the harsh economic conditions which have come with the EEC and IMF bail-out. The European Commission has said it expects the Greek economy to shrink by 3% this year, amid continued market jitters over the country’s debt crisis.

Banking systems still face "very real, common threats" if doubts were raised about their governments’ abilities to pay debts.

Fears of another round of instability meant another volatile session for the FTSE 100 index, which saw it shed 80.9 points to close in 5261 as the UK also went to the polls, with the prospects of a hung Parliament looking very much a reality.

US mortgage giant Freddie Mac announced a loss of $8 billion (£5.3 billion) for the first three months of 2010. Reports from the company hint that they are liable to ask for a further $10.6 billion in state aid. The firm has made a number of federal cash requests since it was taken over by regulators in September 2008, whilst stating that as the US housing market has not yet fully recovered they would continue to be in need of continued government funding. If the latest request is granted, it will bring the total cost of the Freddie Mac rescue to $61.3 billion.

Stock exchange bosses and regulators were last night scrambling to explain the cause of a plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which took the index down by the largest number of points in its history, setting off a short term panic in an already fragile financial market.

A little over an hour before the close of trading in New York. The result was a period of unprecedented chaos that also dragged in currency and credit markets. At 2.20 pm, EPT the Dow stood at 10,460, already down 400 points, when it suddenly tumbled 600 points with the space of just seven minutes to 9,869, a drop of 9.2 per cent, the largest points fall ever.

The Dow snapped back but continued to swing wildly until the close of trading, when it settled at 10,520.32, down 347.80 points on the day, a fall of 3.2 per cent. The NASDAQ also closed down 82.65 points to 2319.64.

US productivity grew at a better-than -expected annual rate of 3.6% in the first quarter of 2010, while a separate report showed that applications for jobless benefits dropped for a third week in a row.

The US economy has been growing since last summer, but firms have been reluctant to take workers back on, instead pushing smaller workforces to produce more, which has increased productivity – measured as the amount of output per hour of work.

Carmaker BMW has reported a return to profit compared with a year earlier and given an upbeat forecast for sales in the coming year.

The group reported a net profit of €324 million (£277 million) for the first quarter of 2010, compared to a loss of €150 million for the comparative period last year. Turnover was up 8% to €12.4 billion with the company reporting a 100% increase in sales in China as it did a year earlier

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Tags: Alliance Boots, Banking, BBC, BMW, British Economy, British Pound, BskyB, Cadbury, Channel 4, Conservatives, Credit Crunch, Currency, David Abraham, Debenhams, Digital Economy Act, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, election, Employment, Essar Energy, Film 4, Financial News, Freddie Mac, FTSE, Google, Government, HMV, House of Commons, HSBC, ITV, John Lewis Partnership, Labour party, Marks & Spencer, Money, Money Markets, Morrisons, NASDAQ, Peter Mandelson, Recession, Retail, Rolls-Royce, Sainsburys, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, Tesco, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Unemployment

According to information from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) property prices in the UK are due to rise in 2010 driven by low borrowing costs and the shortage of homes. Property values are due to rise by five percent and mortgage costs will cheapen as the Bank of England retains a its record low 0.5 percent key interest rate. CEBR have reduced their property price forecast from 6 percent after the tax on home purchases rose and cold weather damped demand for property. Average mortgage interest rates are expected to drop by around one percent by the start of 2011.

US based billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has backed Bank of England Governor Mervyn Jones previous comments by stating that said he doesn’t envy the winner of the UK general election, who will be faced with the need to make "politically very unpopular" decisions to cut the deficit. Speaking after the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway before a crowd of 40,000 , Mr Buffett warned the next occupant of No 10 to fear the bond market, which could turn against the UK if public spending is not brought back into balance over the long term.

Buffet’s comments regarding the UK’s current financial plight echoes previous statements made about growing government debt across the Western world. The debt has been incurred as a result of the economic stimulus measures put in place to prevent a much worse recession after the financial panic of 2008.

It has been reported that the collective wealth of the UKs 1,000 richest people increased by 30 per cent in 2009, largely due to the efforts of London-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Claiming the top spot for the sixth consecutive year Mittal seen his fortune double from £10,800 million to £22,450 million in the wake of the recovery of the steel industry worldwide.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich remains second on the list, whilst adding a mere £400 million to his stack of £7,400 million.

The Duke of Westminster, retains his place as the wealthiest UK born member of the list saw his mainly property based fortune increase to £6,750 million.

According to a recent survey, most of the UK’s small companies feel that the current tax system it too complex, and would like to see it simplified,

Two thousand small and medium sized UK enterprises (SMEs) took part in the survey that found that 77% participating feel that the current system is preventing them from taking advantage of tax benefits and breaks, while

60% were found to be unaware what entitlements they may be suitable for.

While many experts see SMEs as the engine for economic recovery and a key battleground in the upcoming election, many small businesses find the complexity of the tax system frustrating, with almost three quarters with the impression that the tax system was actually acting as a barrier for start-ups.

An ambitious new UK company offering people the chance to rent their neighbours’ cars has had hundreds of drivers registering on the site just a week after launch. The company Whipcar, launched in mid-April, uses the internet to connect owners of underused cars with drivers looking for short-term rentals for a trip to the shops or the school run. But insurance limitations mean that Whipcar has had to turn away a surprisingly large number of sports car owners. Who wanted to become part of take advantage Whipcar’s system, which lets them set their own price before lending their pride and joy to fully insured and vetted neighbours. Whipcar is just one example of a business using the web as a marketplace to bridge the gap between car ownership and traditional rentals. Streetcar, which pioneered car clubs in the UK, was acquired last month for $50 million by Zipcar, an American competitor whose model it was based on.

The FTSE 100 joined stock markets globally in tumbling deep into the red as the Greek bailout failed to ease investor fears. The Footsie fell 2.6%, down 142.2 points to 5411.1,

US-based United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed a deal to merge, creating the world’s biggest carrier. The two companies, that both have made losses in recent years, have predicted that the merger, worth around two billion pounds, will allow the now company to cut around five hundred million pounds ($1 billion) a year.

The new company will be trade as United Airlines while using the current Continental colours. News of the deal sent both companies shares upwards of Wall Street.

Shares on Wall Street have fallen sharply as concerns about high levels of European government debt continue to reduce confidence.

The Dow Jones falling by 2%, and NASDAQ by 2.98 %. THE Dow Jones closed down 225 points to 10926.77 while NASDAQ dropped 74.49 points to close on 2924.25

Oil giant BP has acknowledged that they are to be held responsible for cleaning up the huge oil spill which occurred after an accident to one of its wells off the Gulf of Mexico on the US coast.

BP boss Tony Hayward predicted that the spill would need to be contained for two to three months. Since the BP Deepwater Horizon rig sank on 22 April Thousands of barrels of oil have been leaking into the ocean. Meanwhile BP shares hit a seven-month low on about the cost of cleaning up the massive oil spill. Shares in BP fell by 4.3%, (25 pence) to 551 pence in early trading, making for an overall fall of more than 15% since the explosion on the rig two weeks ago.

Despite of forecasts that car sales are not liable to peak again for five years, it has been reported that global car production increased by more than half in the first quarter of this year in comparison to 2009,. Data for 12 of the world’s biggest car markets, accounting for more than three-quarters of world automobile output, showed double-digit increases in the first quarter of 2010. In China, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and the UK, the year-on-year rise was up by almost 75%.

Reaction to the approval of an unprecedented bail-out package to rescue Greece’s embattled economy has been muted. The package, which will see Eurozone members and the IMF loan Greece €110 billion (£95 billion) over three years, had been widely anticipated, but came after the Greek government agreed to make severe budget cuts.

However several Eurozone member countries, with Germany’s voice being loudest heard, have questioned whether the rescue package and budget cuts combined will be sufficient to solve Greece’s deep-seated problems.

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Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Banking, BP, BP Deepwater Horizon, British Economy, CEBR, Centre for Economics and Business Research, Continental Airlines, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, Gordon Brown, Lakshmi Mittal, Mervyn Jones, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, Mortgages, NASDAQ, Property Prices, Recession, Retail, Roman Abramovich, Streetcar, Tony Hayward, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, United Airlines, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Whipcar, Zipcar

Financial analysts fear that Britain could be among the countries that could follow Greece into a financial crisis. The uncertainty comes after Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of economic "contagion" spreading across Europe.

The IMF urged politicians to finalise a bail-out for the debt-laden Mediterranean country, saying that every day lost in resolving the problems risked spreading the impact "far away".

Strauss-Kahn’s comments came amid growing evidence of Europe’s mounting fiscal problems after Spain’s debt was downgraded following in the footsteps of Portugal as well as Greece.

Late Thursday Germany was holding out for more economic reforms from Greece before agreeing to an unprecedented multi-billion euro bail-out plan.

UK house prices increased by 1% month-on-month in April, according to the latest house price index.

Property experts pointed out that April’s figures did receive an additional boost from the fact that April was one of the weaker months of 2009. However with property values beginning to increase from May last year, it will be difficult to maintain this rate of growth in the coming months.

On the commercial property front, it appears that the appeal of London’s robust shopping demand continues attract the leading for international retail chains to the city. A recent survey has revealed how 58 percent of international retail brands have opened outlets not just in London but throughout the UK, spurred by strong consumer demand.

Preliminary assessments have revealed that the European air transport sector swallowed as much as €2.5 billion in losses from disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption. The loss assessment conducted by the European Commission could well be the model that an industry bailout will be based on. Some of the airlines affected have argued that flawed computer models used by member states were partially responsible for grounding planes, even when the airlines insisted that was safe for them to resume their services. A spokesman for the UK Department for Transport stated that while the "UK cannot unilaterally provide new aid to affected companies it continues "to explore options" with the Commission. Meanwhile, budget airline EasyJet have cautioned that governments should be prevented from providing aid to "ailing national carriers" who might use the financial damage caused by the volcanic disruption as a pretext for a bailout.

Royal Dutch Shell today announced a 49% surge in first quarter profits as the energy giant joined rival BP in benefiting from higher oil prices.

The Anglo-Dutch group reported earnings of £3.2 billion ($4.9 billion) for the first three months of the year – a day after BP posted a profit of £3.6 billion for the same period. The company’s chief executive explained that rising energy prices and an improved operational performance meant Shell’s profits were sharply higher than the $1.18 billion in the final quarter of 2009.

Shell’s performance has lagged behind BP as it has been forced invest heavily in finding new sources of oil and gas at a time when refining margins are under pressure due to global overcapacity and economic weakness.

Today’s results are back to the levels of the first quarter of 2009, when crude prices averaged just over $41 dollars a barrel, while the figure today stands at an average of $76 dollars a barrel.

Imperial Tobacco has reported a 15 percent rise in profits for the first half of their financial year. The increase comes through an increase in demand in some of their key European markets for cheaper roll-your-own tobacco. From factory-made cigarettes Bristol-based Imperial Tobacco, whose brands include Lambert & Butler and Davidoff reported a pre-tax profit of £974 million for the six months to March 31, on turnover up eight percent at £13.4 billion.

Sterling continues to grow in strength against the dollar closing on $1.5351, whilst falling back slightly against the troubled Euro on €1.155

There was a positive mood on the stock exchange on Thursday, with U.K. stocks mostly on the up. Among the most active were Unilever, the world’s second-largest food and detergent company, whose shares advanced by 3.2 percent. After BSkyB the U.K.’s biggest pay-television provider reported an increase in third-quarter profit their shares rose by the most in more than a year. Also shares in AstraZeneca, the U.K.’s second-largest drug-maker, advanced by 2.3 percent.

The FTSE 100 rose 30.89 points to 5,617.8. The market appears to be rebounding from two days of losses prompted by the downgrading the credit ratings of Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Stateside, the Federal Reserve have conformed their pledge to keep interest rates low for an “extended period”, while offering a slightly more upbeat assessment of the US economy. The Fed’s open market committee reiterated that its main interest rate would remain at its target range of 0-0.25 per cent. The figure has stood at this level since December 2008.

Analysts point out that the financial recovery appears to be gathering steam in the US in recent months, with most economic indicators in line or ahead of previous expectations. However, pressure on policymakers to start raising interest rates has not risen accordingly, with inflation remaining in control.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones made a recovery from early week falls, closing up 122.05 points to 11167.32, while the NASDAQ rose 40.19 points to 2511.92

It appears that American consumers have re-discovered the joys of shopping, with retail sales stronger than forecast. The US housing market, meanwhile, has shown fresh signs of a rebound, with home prices increasing on an annual basis for the first time in three years in February,

In the computer hardware world, the news is that Palm, one of the leading pioneer in the smart phone business, are to acquired by US computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) for £657 million ($1 billion)

A spokesman for HP said that Palm’s webOS operating system would help its expansion in the fast-growing market for smart phones and connected mobile devices. Although HP is paying a premium to Palm’s closing share price on Wednesday of $4.63, it is well below the company’s 52-week high of $18.09.

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Tags: AstraZeneca, Bank, BP, British Economy, BskyB, Davidoff, Dominique Strauss-Kah, Dow Jones, EasyJet, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, House Prices, HP, Imperial Tobacco, International Monetary Fund, Lambert & Butler, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Palm, Recession, Retail, Royal Dutch Shell, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Department for Transport, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Unilever, volcanic eruption, Wall Street

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Financial Services Authority (FSA) – - Britain’s financial watchdog — to investigate Goldman Sachs after it was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators. Meanwhile, the UK Financial Services Authority did not make any comment on Brown’s speech on Sunday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged Wall Street investment giant Goldman Sachs with "defrauding investors" over subprime mortgage securities, which were largely blamed for the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The government agency, which is responsible for regulating the financial markets in the country, alleged that Goldman Sachs failed to disclose crucial information to investors of its securities that a major hedge fund had bet against the securities.

Royal Bank of Scotland, the part-nationalised UK bank that lost $840 million in an allegedly fraudulent investment created by Goldman Sachs, will await the outcome of US investigations before deciding whether to pursue its own legal action. RBS will see if the Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to be successful in the civil suit it has launched against Goldman. In the suit, it accuses the investment bank of securities fraud relating to a complex derivatives deal linked to subprime mortgages. RBS lost money on the deal through its ownership of ABN, the Dutch bank it bought at the height of the credit bubble in 2007, which had acted as a guarantor for ACA, the main counterparty in the deal.

City bankers saw near unprecedented income growth over the past decade, with the highest paid receiving nearly a third of the UK’s total wage bill, according to recent research. The study, which cited bankers’ bonuses and pay at the top end of financial services as a driving force behind Britain’s rising pay inequality, found financial services professionals took home an additional £12 billion a year by the end of the ten year period.

Bank dividends throughout Europe are at their lowest level on record as recovering financial institutions retain earnings to increase capital. According to city banking sources the average dividend yield among European banks is now 1.9 percent, with over a quarter of the continent’s top 50 banks paying no dividend. Regulators have been pressuring banks not to resume or increase payments while details of new capital requirements remain unclear. Some banks have cut dividends despite making a profit, with British bank Barclays cutting its dividend from 11.5 pence to 2.5 pence despite profits of £11.6 billion last year.

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland closed up 2.1 pence at 50.4 pence on Monday, 0.2 pence above the 50.2 pence average price paid when the Government invested £45.5 billion pounds. The current price represents a £180 million profit for British taxpayers. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group rose 0.72 pence to 65.42 pence, leaving the taxpayer £2.26 billion in the red on the Government’s 41 percent investment.

Some of the UK’s poorest northern and peripheral regions have seen a growth in business and investment, narrowing the gap with the south as an attractive place to do business, according to a recent survey. The survey showed that the highest increase in rankings since 1997 for the UK’s periphery. Northwest England was the star performer in the index, rising from eighth to fourth place among the UK’s 12 regions.

According to a quarterly report for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, (IPA) signs of improving business confidence among UK advertisers are beginning to show, and for the first time since 2007 The survey, regarded as a barometer for both the economy as well as the advertising industry, found some 21 percent of marketing directors had increased their advertising budget in the first quarter of 2010, while 36 percent signalled plans to raise their spending in the new financial year.

In the run up to the World Cup Bumper shipments of digital set-top boxes for televisions are set to buoy first-half sales at Pace. The football tournament, which will be broadcast in high definition and in 3D, has seen pay-TV operators ship set-top boxes to customers in time for the contest. A spokesman for the company said the World Cup would act as an advertisement for high-definition television, boosting sales after the competition has finished. Pace said trading in the first quarter of 2010 had been in line with management expectations. It has forecast double-digit revenue growth for the full year amid equally strong volume improvements. Pace is focusing on producing technology for the next generation of set-top boxes, which will combine internet connectivity, multimedia storage and digital television. Last month, it acquired Bewan, a French maker of modems and “gateway” boxes that combine the features of wireless modems, digital storage devices and internet telephony routers.

Supermarket chain Tesco are planning to recruit 1,000 new members of staff to sell electronics in its stores. Tesco’s announcement of its new scheme comes in response to the debut of the American electronics chain Best Buy in the UK next week. Best Buy specialises in offering expert advice to customers on its products, a model that Tesco is hoping to emulate with its own "tech team". Tesco is expected to become the third largest electrical retailer in the UK next year.

Sterling suffered as fears over a possible hung parliament after next month’s election weighed on the pound. An opinion poll showed the UK’s Liberal Democrats, the smallest of the country’s three main parties, had taken the lead. That was the first time the Lib Democrats have led the polls and came after a well-received performance by Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader, in last week’s televised debate between the UK’s three main political parties. The news heightened fears that an incoming government would lack the strength to get to grips with the UK’s record fiscal deficit. The pound was last seen sitting on $1.5353, and at €1.1440.

The FTSE 100 rose 40 points to 5783.60 at close of trading on Tuesday.

Wall Street banking giant Citigroup has reported a profit of $4.4 billion (£2.9 billion) for the first three months of the year.

The result represents a return to profit after the bank lost $7.6 billion in the last quarter of last year after repaying government loans.

Last week, rival bank JP Morgan reported better-than-expected first quarter profits of $3.3 billion while the Bank of America posted a $3.2 billion profit for the period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average made some profits early in the week, up, down 99 points to 11.117.06 while the NASDAQ Composite rose by 20 points to close on 2,500.31.

Japanese car maker Toyota has agreed to pay a record $16.4 million (£10.7 million) to US safety regulators following recent safety concerns.

Toyota was asked to pay the fine for failing to inform the US government of safety concerns surrounding faulty accelerator pedals.

Millions of Toyotas were recalled earlier this year amid reports that the pedals could become stuck.

The fine is the largest ever handed out by the US transportation department.

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Airports in the U.K. and northern Europe shut down as a cloud of volcanic ash swept south from an eruption in Iceland, disrupting travel for thousands of people booked on flights with British Airways Plc and other carriers. According to flight-control organization National Air Traffic Services, U.K. airspace will continue to be closed till the dust and ash disperses into the atmosphere. Norway and Sweden also shut airports and north-German terminals will also block departures and landings, as the ash threatens to stall jet engines and affect the quality of air in plane cabins. The problem comes after a volcano under Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull glacier erupted for the second time in four weeks, with certain people claiming it might not have been an accident.

A recent report has shown that in March UK Consumer Confidence fell by the highest level since July 2008. The fall in confidence was largely attributed to the upcoming general election set to take place on May 6, and its uncertain outcome with the possibility of a hung parliament looming.

Job vacancies in London’s financial services industry more than doubled in the first quarter from under 5,000 to more than 11,000, when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Research has forecast the recovery would continue its momentum this year with a 26 percent rise on vacancies from the previous year. The report also showed rising salaries for City job candidates secure with a shortage of suitable candidates pushing salaries up. The picture outside of London is less optimistic where the financial jobs market was reported as being "sluggish"

The future of Arsenal Football Club remains unclear after U.S. billionaire Stan Kroenke, the club’s largest stakeholder, reportedly made a surprise move to acquire the St Louis Rams, an American football team. It was expected earlier this week that it emerged that after Arsenal’s fourth largest shareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith had appointed Blackstone to find a buyer for her 15.9 percent share holding in Arsenal, Kroenke holds an almost 30% percent stake would make a move to take over the club. However, analysts have predicted that, at least for the time being, Kroenke is unlikely to make the bid as he will be short of the necessary capital to pursue both deals.

Telford Homes have announced that their performance for the year to April will be ahead of expectations. The Essex-focused residential property developer benefited from demand for housing close to the site of the London 2012 Olympics, with increased demand for homes in the Stratford area in particular. Sales have been boosted by foreign buyers with a company spokesman stating that the Games had "put Stratford on the map". The area around Stratford is undergoing multi-billion pound regeneration as well as the creation of a rail link to continental Europe.

Aim-listed technology company Bglobal, has won regulatory approval for its new Smart 1 product. The product will use mobile phone technology to convert traditional energy meters into "smart meters" without disrupting the power supply. A spokesman from Bglobal said the technology marked "a big step forward for smart meters", with the company also signing a marketing deal with mobile operator Orange. On the news, shares in Bglobal closed up two pence at 44.25 pence.

The three largest UK mobile phone operators — Vodafone, O2 and Orange have confirmed their appointments to market Apple’s iPad in Britain. However, they will have to put their marketing plans on hold as Apple has been forced to delay the worldwide launch due to unprecedented home demand. The three companies will offer competing monthly pricing plans for customers who want to surf the web using 3G mobile broadband services with both pre-pay and contract deals are expected to be offered.

Plans to create 3,500 jobs over the coming three years have been announced by the InterContinental Hotels Group. The jobs will be created as part of expansion plans, which will see the hotel company open 36 new hotels in the UK. Globally, expansion of the hotel company will see more than 100,000 jobs created during the same timeframe, as it opens 1,400 hotels. A spokesman for the InterContinental Hotels Group announced that a UK government commitment to support and promote the tourism industry would encourage InterContinental to create even more jobs.

After a performance that beat analysts’ full-year forecasts, high street retailer JD Sports Fashion have announced plans to increase their final dividend by 65 percent. A spokesman for JD Sports Fashion went on to announce that the company was considering further European acquisitions. Christmas trading helped to boost pre-tax profits 61 percent from £38.2 million to £61.4 million pounds, while turnover rose 15 percent to £769.8 million pounds. JD Sports increased its dividend from 8.9 pence to 14.7 pence. On the news, shares closed down 10.5 pence at 723 pence, coming after a rise of 13 percent in the last week.

The British Pound continued to rise higher after press reports that the Conservative Party have increased their chances of winning an outright majority in the upcoming general election, largely be promising to reduce the UK financial deficit.

The pound continues its slow recovery, closing at $1.5429, while rising e against the Euro at 1.1387.

The FTSE 100 continued its topsy turvey ride this week, rising 64 points to 5825.51

In the US, Ben Bernanke chairman of the US Federal Reserve has continued with his predictions that the US still faces "difficult choices" in cutting the country’s deficit, adding that weakness in the construction sector was still weighing on the economy. Bernanke’s cautious comments came despite data showing a 1.6% increase in March retail sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continues its rise, up 112 points to 11.144.57 while the NASDAQ Composite also rose a massive 50 points to close on 2,515.69

Larger than expected first quarter profits of $3.3 billion (£2.1 billion), for the first quarter have been reported by Wall Street banker, JP Morgan Chase. The Wall Street firm’s net income was up 55% compared with a year ago, and unchanged on the previous quarter.

JP Morgan is the first major bank to report first-quarter results. On the news, their shares rose 3.4% to $47.40

China’s economy grew at an annualised rate of 11.9% in the first quarter of the year, which experts predict could lead to a revaluation of the yuan.

The growth figure was slightly higher than expected, while consumer price inflation was surprisingly low at 2.2%.

Internet giant Google has reported a 37% rise in first-quarter net profit, beating analysts’ expectations.

Profit for the three months to March came in at $1.96 billion (£1.26 billion) compared with the $1.42 billion for the same period last year

Turnover for the period climbed 23% to $6.78 billion, driven by an increase in online spending by advertisers. Google also announced that they taken on nearly 800 employees in the quarter, its biggest increase in staff for two years. Google’s total number of employees worldwide currently stands at 20,621.

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Tags: Apple iPad, Arsenal Football Club, Banking, Ben Bernanke, Bglobal, British Airways Plc, British Economy, cloud of volcanic ash, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Eyjafjallajökull glacier, Financial News, FTSE, Google, InterContinental Hotels Group, JD Sports, JP Morgan Chase, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, London 2012 Olympics, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, National Air Traffic Services, O2, Orange, Recession, Retail, Smart 1, St Louis Rams, Stan Kroenke, Telford Homes, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Vodafone, Wall Street

According to a recent survey, some of the largest companies in the UK are in fear of the financial effects of a hung parliament would have on the economy. The survey which takes in 141 chief financial officers of leading UK companies, among them 40 whose companies are quoted on the FTSE 100, fear that such as situation will have a negative effect on their own businesses. Current opinion polls suggest that, while the Conservatives hold a relatively strong lead, there is a strong chance that no party will win an overall majority in the rapidly approaching elections

Meanwhile a survey recently conducted shows that business confidence has reached its highest level in four years, with output back to levels not seen since before the recession. The report does go on to warn that a "significant increase" in investment in the private sector is needed in order to sustain the recovery, whilst stressing that business optimism could be "short-lived" without the investment.

Increases of y only 0.05 percent in the total value of UK exports have been reported on final quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008 The figures came despite hopes that the weakness of sterling would be beneficial for the exports sector. According to government figures, the total number of companies exporting goods has fallen l by 3.4 percent to just less than fifty thousand. Both the UK government and the Bank of England have previously predicted that exports would help push the recovery.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union have met with Network Rail in an attempt to avoid strikes planned by thousands of rail workers. The dispute revolves around Network Rail plans to cut 1,500 jobs and alter rosters to allow more work to be carried out at evenings and weekends. The RMT executive is expected to agree to a timetable for fresh ballots after four days of planned strike action were called off last week when Network Rail launched a successful legal challenge.

BAE Systems (BAE) has topped a list of the world’s 100 largest arms manufacturers, marking the first time that the list has been topped by a company outside the U.S. Figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that BAE arms sales totaled $32.4 billion in 2008. The record performance was largely down to increased sales at BAE’s U.S. subsidiaries, with sales at the company’s Land and Armaments group in the U.S. rising from $7 billion to $12 billion.

Shares in the Home Retail Group Plc rose to a four-month high in London trading after reports that Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda may be interested in making an offer for the U.K. company. On the news, Home Retail’s shares gained as much as 5.6 percent and closed up 14.7 pence to 295.1 pence as, valuing the company at £2.59 billion pounds ($4 billion).

Home Retail, owner of the U.K.’s Argos catalog stores, had sales of just less than £6 billion pounds in the year ended Feb. 27. A spokesman for Home Retail, based in Milton Keynes, declined to comment on the report.

Liverpool Football Club’s U.S. owners have appointed Barclays Capital help find a buyer for the Premiership club. Current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks bought the club in 2007 for £219 million pounds. Gillett and Hicks have in the past hired Merrill Lynch and Rothschild to attract minority investors and their decision to appoint Barclays indicates they are now stepping up efforts to achieve an outright sale.

A study has suggested that a permanent rise in the price of oil would leave the UK economy in better shape than the other major importers, especially Japan, the U.S. and the Euro zone. Although all big oil-importing economies would suffer from a higher oil price, Japan and the U.S. would be hardest hit, while the UK would withstand the shock relatively well, with a $10 price rise contracting its economy by just 0.4 percent.

The pound continues to make some slow momentum, remaining above the $1.50 level at $1.5374, while falling back in value ever so slightly against the Euro at 1.1308.

The FTSE 100 stuttered on some insecure trading, falling 15.99 points to 5761.66.

The euro has jumped sharply against the dollar and the pound after the Eurozone agreed details of a multi-billion euro loan package to debt-ridden Greece.

The Euro rose by more than 2 cents, against the dollar, to close on $1.3672. While rising to 88.408 pence against the pound.

The rise came after the Eurozone member nations eventually agreed to provide loans of up to €30 billion (£27 billion) in the first year of a three-year package. Greece hopes it will not have to ask for the emergency loans and Instead the implementation of an extensive package of austerity measures will help to cut its debt levels and restore confidence in Greek government debt.

In the US it was announced that the trade deficit has widened to $39.7 billion (£20.8 billion) in February, as import growth continued to outpace exports.

According to figures issued by the US Department of Commerce, the overall trade deficit increased by $2.7 billion from January. It also announced that imports were up 20.5% to $182.9 billion from the same month in 2009 while exports were up only 14.3% to $143.2 billion.

The trade figures confirm the trend of resurgent imports outpacing the rebound in exports as the US economy recovers from recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to rise, crossing the 11,000 point barrier at 11.0032.46 while the NASDAQ Composite was 21 points higher at 2,4664.86

US chip maker Intel has announced net record incomes for the first quarter of $2.44 billion (£1.59 billion) compared with $629 million reported for the first quarter in 2009, making for almost a quadruple increase. Intel’s turnover was up 44% to $10.3 billion showing recovery from the global recession is well under way in the computer hardware department.

The social networking site Twitter has announced their plans to allow advertising on their site; a spokesperson for Twitter said that for the first time.

Advertisers would be able to buy "Promoted Tweets" that will appear on Twitter’s search results pages, whilst going on to point out that "Promoted Tweets" will differ from traditional adverts. Instead these Tweets must "resonate with users" and delivered in a conversational tone.

Twitter have reportedly already signed up number of big name organisations such as Sony Pictures, coffee chain Starbucks and US retailer Best Buy to tweet.

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Tags: Argos, ASDA, BAE Systems, Bank of England, Banking, Barclays Capital, Best Buy, British Economy, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Eurozone, Financial News, FTSE, Home Retail, Home Retail Group Plc, hung parliament, Liverpool Football Club, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Network Rail, Promoted Tweets, Recession, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Stocks and shares, twitter, UK Banks, UK business, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US Department of Commerce, Wal-Mart Stores Inc

Economists have warned that a rise in interest rates is likely before the end of the year in the event that the current spike in factory output prices continues. High petrol prices have caused manufacturers to absorb rising energy and raw materials prices, with the main being transferred to consumers, stoking fears of a rise in inflation. A five percent rise in year-on-year retail prices in March out-paced analyst expectations, causing them to refigure the probability that the Bank of England will raise rates earlier.

The Halifax Building Society, Group has released its house price index, showing that house prices rose by 1.1 percent in March, partially reversing the 1.6 percent decline in February. The average price for the first quarter of 2010 finished 0.6 percent higher than the same period in 2009. A spokesman for Halifax pointed out that the return of stamp duty on lower-priced homes as well at the severe weather had combined to create a negative effect on house prices in the first two months of the year.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed as increase in new car sales by 26.6 percent during March. March is typically a strong month for new car sales, regularly accounting for a fifth of annual sales in the UK due to the new registration plate. The SMMT predicts that the end of the government scrappage scheme will result in a nine per cent fall in total sales for the year. A spokesman for the SMMT, also pointed out that the UK motor industry has enjoyed a better than anticipated first quarter of 2010 while the coming months likely to remain challenging with registrations of new cars expected to dip. In a related statement, the SMMT recently revealed that the number of vehicles in the UK are at an all time low.

The remaining British motorists pulling will be helping to take part in another record breaking attempt from this week onwards, how much it costs too fill their tank. A spokesman for the AA has speculated that petrol prices are about to hit (and pass) the 120 pence a liter mark, with the previous high being 119.7 pence high seen in July 2008, when crude oil was coasting more than $147.00 a barrel..

Industry sources have rushed to point out that the increase is partly a result of soaring wholesale costs, with the price of oil hitting an 18-month high of $85 a barrel, a third less than it cost during the previous high, although the pound was much stronger them and the effects of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s latest duty rise in last month’s Budget of 1 pence a liter.

In April, 2009, petrol cost 92.44 pence a liter.

Postal operator UK Mail has announced that revenues of £388 million for the financial year up to March 31 despite a drop in demand for their services caused by the financial crisis. After the announcement UK Mail’s share price rose 21.5 pence to 333.5 pence, up 28 percent over the past year.

The number of passengers that flew with budget airline EasyJet has increased by 13.5% on a year-on-year basis. EasyJet flew 3.96 million passengers in March 2010, 13.5 percent more than the 3.49 million carried in March 2009 with rival budget airline Ryanair also reporting a 13 percent rise to 5.3 million for the same period. A spokesman for EasyJet projected that the company had benefited from the British Airways strike, as well recently increased its number of flights across Europe.

Marks & Spencer have reported a 5.1 percent fourth-quarter sales increase at the retailer, ahead of becoming non-executive chairman in May. The figures, reported by outgoing executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose, have surpassed analysts’ expectations with sales driven by strong performance in the group’s formalwear and knitwear divisions. Rose in a somewhat controversial final report called for "greater clarity on economic policy and how this will impact our customers individually" after the election.

Hamley’s, the UK historic toy retailer, took their first step in an ambitious drive into India, with the opening of their first store in Mumbai. The company’s £22 million expansion into Asia’s third-biggest economy will see 20 outlets open across the country in seven years. A spokesman for Hamley’s announced that India was a key part of Hamley’s effort to expand into emerging markets, as they were attracted to the growing population and the potential of a previously restricted retail sector.

Kraft Foods has thrown its support behind a national chain of Cadbury-branded cafés that will offer afternoon teas and a wide range if chocolate products service in a move to compete with the high street coffee shop chains.

Cadbury had been in discussions about the outlets long before Kraft made its hostile bid last September and signed off the deal at the end of January – just before the US company took control of the confectioner.

The US food-maker, who took over Cadburys this year, has now endorsed a 20-year licence to a group of retail entrepreneurs to set up and manage the high street chain, to be called Cadbury Cocoa House.

The group could open as many as 60 cafés in locations around the UK in the next three to five years, and has already begun to negotiate with landlords for the first sites in London, which could be running before the end of 2010.

Following a £13 million ($20 million) management buyout the British arm of Reader’s Digest was pulled out of bankruptcy on Friday, The news means that Reader’s Digest Association Ltd. will now continue to be published under its well-known name.

The U.K. subsidiary of Reader’s Digest took shelter in administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, on Feb. 17 because it had been unable to gain agreement on a plan to close a pension deficit. That decision paved the way for the U.S. parent company to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization.

Analysts have confirmed that since the start of 2007, the pound has dropped about 25 percent on a trade-weighted basis, making exporters’ goods less expensive overseas. Bank of England policy makers are counting on sterling’s weakness to aid the recovery and reduce domestic spending at a time when the nation faces a record budget deficit.

The pound continues to retain its level above $1.50, closing at $1.5372, while falling back in value ever so slightly against the Euro at 1,1403.

U.K. stocks rose again before the close on Friday, making for the benchmark FTSE 100 Index’s sixth straight weekly gain, the longest stretch of such gains since 2005. The gains were on increased confidence, as the European Union agreed to a contingency rescue package to help Greece cut its budget deficit.

The FTSE 100 advanced 58.28, to 5,770.98, extending this week’s gain to 0.5 percent.

US stock prices dramatically reversed Thursday’s negative start

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 70 points at 10,927.07 while the NASDAQ Composite was 18 points higher at 2,454.05.

Greek bonds have plunged this week on renewed concern that the country won’t succeed in cutting its budget deficit, the European Union’s largest. Leaders of the nations who share the euro last month endorsed a Franco-German proposal to help Greece with a mix of International Monetary Fund and bilateral loans at market interest rates that would be triggered only if Greece runs out of fund-raising options.

China on Saturday announced a rare deficit in its politically sensitive trade balance for March, the first in six years, bolstering Beijing’s argument that the value of its currency only has a limited impact on international trade flows.

News of the $7.2 billion deficit comes at a fortuitous time for Beijing, which is under pressure particularly from the US to allow the renminbi or the Chinese yuan to appreciate.

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Tags: Alistair Darling, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, Cadbury, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dow Jones, EasyJet, Economics, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, Halifax building society, Hamley's, Interest Rates, International Monetary Fund, Kraft Foods, Marks & Spencer, Money, NASDAQ, petrol prices, Reader's Digest, Recession, Ryanair, Sir Stuart Rose, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Stock Markets, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Mail, UK Recession

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported receiving five offers for their Williams & Glyn’s branch network. RBS were ordered to sell these branches as part of a European Commission state aid ruling in 2009, the business is valued at around £2 billion.

By Tuesday night’s deadline, speculations were that Santander, Virgin Money, National Australia Bank, BBVA and JC Flowers had all submitted bids, with Santander is widely believed to be the favourite bidder, with an offer potentially worth at least £2 billion. Santander recently completed the rebranding their UK operations under their own name

However, with Virgin now being backed by Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire, offering pledges on jobs their offer has to be taken seriously, with elections in a month’s time.

The UK government holds a 70 per cent equity stake in RBS, giving politicians and the public far greater influence over its fate.

The chief executive of U.S. telecommunications company Verizon Communications has said that there is "no compelling reason" for the U.S. Company to merge with British mobile network operator Vodafone. The two companies are continuing talks regarding their strategic options. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless with Verizon holding the remaining 55 percent. However, there has been some conflict recently; with Vodafone pressuring Verizon to resume paying dividends since the U.S. Company blocked payments in order to reduce its debt burden. Shares in Vodafone dropped 2 pence to 149.6 pence on the statement.

Recent figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the number of cars on the UK roads has decreased for the first time since records began in 1904. The country’s total car fleet has declined by 0.7 percent in 2009. According to the SMMT factors that had to be taken into account for decline are the recession, the government car scrappage scheme, and new Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regulations which remove the details of unlicensed vehicles from the database.

Kraft Foods came under attack in a report from a committee of U.K. lawmakers in a report critical of moves the American company made after its hostile $17.5 billion (£12 billion) takeover of Cadbury, the beloved British chocolate maker. The report by the U.K.’s Business Select Committee accuses Kraft of acting "irresponsibly and unwisely" after reneging on a promise to keep a Cadbury factory in Somerdale open, instead planning to move the plant’s production to Poland, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs. Meanwhile, British union leaders have called for a "Cadbury law" to protect British businesses from aggressive foreign takeovers.

ESPN, the Disney-owned sports television channel, has acquired the rights to deliver Premier League football highlights on UK mobile phones until 2013, supplanting British Sky Broadcasting, which has held the rights since 2007-08. The move strengthens ESPN’s position as a competitor to BSkyB and underlines the US broadcaster’s determination to expand its share of the UK sports market. For the three football seasons from August onwards, ESPN will deliver in-match, post-match and highlights from all 380 Barclays Premier League matches, Purchase of the mobile rights is the latest in a series of additions to ESPN’s sports portfolio.

Research conducted on behalf of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), representing an association of 33,500 small shopkeepers, indicates that 85 percent of the public oppose a liberalisation of trading laws that, if passed would allow large retail chains to open for longer on Sundays. The ACS stated that the current regulations assisted small retailers by encouraging local shopping in small stores. Large retailers including Topshop and House of Fraser have recently been lobbying the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson with requests to relax the existing laws.

The pound fell continues to recover if ever so slightly closing on $1.5273, whilst also gaining against the Euro to close on 1.1441

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index retreated from a 21-month high after a sell-off in commodity production shares .The benchmark Index lost 67.65 points to 5,712.7.

Former Federal Reserve governor Alan Greenspan has defended his record at a congressional hearing into the financial crisis. In a statement, Mr Greenspan denied that his policy of maintaining low interest rates had been a major factor in the crisis. Consistently low interest rates have been blamed for the expansion in the sub-prime mortgage market which led to the credit crunch. However, Greenspan voiced his opinion that the way the banks repackaged their loans was a major contributing factor to the crisis.

Stocks rallied yesterday after U.S. jobs increased by the most in three years, boosting optimism about the strength of a recovery in the world’s largest economy. Since March last year, the gauge has rebound more than 60 percent.

The Dow Jones closed up 45.87 points to 10943.39, while the NASDAQ index rose 9.15 points to close on 2440.31

As part of a global tie-up of the brands German carmaker Daimler announced that they are to give Renault and Nissan a 3.1% stake in its business, with Daimler taking a 3.1% stakes in both Renault and Nissan, in exchange. Renault and Nissan have held a trading alliance for more than a decade.

The deal will allow the companies to share technology and development costs while remain separate trading entities. According to a spokesman for Nissan, one of the key areas of co-operation will be in the development of electric cars and light commercial vehicles.

European financial markets continue to feel the pressures over the state of Greece’s debt-ridden economy. Banking stocks in particular, not only in Greece but in most of the other leading European countries, have seen sharp falls. Meanwhile it has been reported that the Greek government’s cost of borrowing has risen to record levels, reflecting investors’ concerns that Greece might not be pay back the loans due to the poor state of the country’s public finances.

The Athens Composite share index fell by 3.1%, with banks down 6.4% on average.

All major European markets also suffered, and banks in France and Germany were especially hit due to their exposure to Greece’s borrowing.

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Tags: Alan Greenspan, Association of Convenience Stores, Bank, Banking, Barclays, BBVA, British Economy, British Sky Broadcasting, BskyB, Cadbury, Credit Crunch, Daimler, Dow Jones, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Economics, Economy, Employment, ESPN, Financial News, FTSE, House of Fraser, JC Flowers, Kraft Foods, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, National Australia Bank, Nissan, Recession, Renault, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Stocks and shares, Topshop, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Verizon Communications, Virgin Money, Vodafone, Wilbur Ross, Williams and Glyn

Records from the Registry Trust show that the value of County Court Judgments (CCJs) against businesses in England and Wales increased five percent to nearly £ 900 million pounds last year. The number of judgments against businesses increased by nine percent on 2008 to a record 207,100, the fifth year-on-year increase in a row. A spokesman for the Registry Trust said the figures reflected the worsening economy.

U.S. food group Kraft Foods the new owner of confectioner Cadbury, has told 3,600 Cadbury staff that they face a three-year pay freeze unless they leave the company’s final salary pension scheme. Kraft has discovered a clause in Cadbury’s pension trust deed preventing it from changing members’ benefits in any way deemed "unfair or materially detrimental". Kraft is not forbidden from closing the scheme, but if they decided to do so would have to pay the full costs involved. Cadbury’s pension deficit was reported to be around £258 million.

U.K. owner of train tracks and stations Network Rail Ltd have won a court order preventing four days of strikes that would have disrupted journeys for millions of travelers returning from their Easter break. A High Court judge ruled against the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). Network Rail’s lawyer argued that the RMT hadn’t polled its members accurately, with some workplaces returning more votes than the number of registered members. The union announced their intentions to hold another ballot. Network Rail, the state-owned operator of the U.K.’s rail infrastructure, carries about three and a half million passengers every day. Britain was facing its first national shutdown since 1994 after the RMT voted last month to strike in a dispute over job cuts and working terms after negotiations broke down. The strike was planned due to begin on the 6th of April.

Recent data released by one of the UK’s leading credit card payment acceptance processors shows payments made on credit and debit cards were up 7.1% in February compared to the same month last year. The increase follows on recent figures that show credit and debit card spending was up 3.6% in January 2010 in comparison the same month last year, while February 2010 showed an increase over the previous year, on a month-by-month basis, spending on debit and credit cards declined slightly by 2.5% from January, in line with expectations. The index is based on spending on all credit and debit cards across a wide range of retail sectors.

Marks & Spencer have posted another quarter of sales growth since the turn of the year. M&S’s statement showed a like-for-like sales increase that far outshone the previous quarter’s 0.8% rise with a 1.8% increase. Institutional and private investors have remained cautious on M&S due to economic uncertainty over the last few years, and while the previous quarter saw the first growth in two years, fear were that the Januarys snow may have hampered trading, although Marks and Spencer had managed to keep most of its stores open. M&S’s annual trading results due to be released in May are expected to show annual profits of £625 million, up from £604.4 million the previous year.

The children’s clothing and equipment retailer Mothercare grew total sales by 3.3 per cent in its fourth quarter, but did suffer a decline in UK like-for-like sales because of extreme weather conditions during January. Mothercare, which operates in 1,115 stores, announced in a recent trading update that the adverse weather in the 11 weeks to March 27 forced it to extend its winter sale, while managing to reverse some of the loss of turnover, through implement tight cost controls. Total UK sales in the quarter fell 0.9 per cent and like-for-like sales – sales in stores trading for at least a year, as well as sales in its online divisions – were down 1.6 per cent, weaker than analyst had anticipated.

The UK’s largest mobile phone companies may be forced to cut the price of their calls following new proposals unveiled by Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator. The watchdog is proposing deep cuts in termination rates on the 02, Orange/T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3UK networks as it works to set the rules on mobile termination rates. By doing so, Ofcom stepped back from an initial proposal last year that could have seen consumers face higher monthly bills if telecoms companies had to cut or scrap charges for connecting calls to their networks. Mobile termination rates are the fees are paid by fixed-line and mobile operators when their customers make calls to people on other networks. The reform is a highly contentious issue among the bigger mobile operators, mainly because they earn more than £2 billion a year from the fees. Ofcom have set a price ceiling on the wholesale fees that mobile operators can levy on each other, as well as fixed-line phone companies led by BT Group

Recent data shows a rise to 57.2 in the UK’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index in March. This positive figure confirms that the sector is continuing to expand and is an improvement on previous forecasts, which had called for a more modest increase February’s reading of 56.6, with expectations that it would be around the 56.8 mark. This improvement in the UK manufacturing sector follows both Germany and the Eurozone’s stronger reading in their March readings. All three economies posted their best numbers since the beginning of the recession. Expansion in the sector comes after a rebound in both consumer demand and export sales.

On the money markets, before the Easter break set in, the pound was beginning to show signs of benefitting from this positive data, despite hitting resistance levels against both the Euro and the US dollar, while the continuing uncertainty over European support for its weakest link pushed the euro as low as $1.3502 on Friday, its weakest level in over two weeks.

The pound fell back slightly, while remaining above the $1.50 mark at $1.5187, whilst and gaining against the Euro to close on 1.1269.

The FTSE was closed for the holiday weekend.

The US government did announce on Friday that the recovering economy had created 162,000 jobs in March last month, whilst the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7 per cent. Temporary hiring by the US government for the public sector only accounted for some 48,000 new jobs in March, meaning the private sector has begun to create new job openings.

China has offered to accelerate free trade agreement talks with India in a bid to balance a burgeoning trade relationship between two of Asia’s largest economies that is heavily skewed in Beijing’s favour. Chinese officials expect trade between the two to rise to $60 billion, (£39.5 billion) in 2010, as the world’s two fast-growing large economies surge forward in their recovery from the global financial crisis. Indian officials described the trade deficit that last year was about $16 billion in Beijing’s favour as “politically unsustainable”, and continue to identify it as a point of friction in a relationship key to Asia’s peace and stability.

Commodities prices ended the week at the highest level since late 2008, with oil hitting $85 a barrel, bolstered by signs of strong manufacturing growth particularly in China and India

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