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Aug 24, 2010

Going cocoa down in armajaro

I’ve had a lot of calls from around the world since being quoted on Radio Four’s Today program regarding one Mr. Anthony Ward, or chocfinger as he’s now nicknamed. This is because the media love a good story and this one’s a doozy. It’s all about a man who knows his chocolate, and he’s no…

Aug 23, 2010

Who are the movers and shakers in finance?

A press release landed on my desk the other day with the headline: “Identify the movers and shakers in the financial services industry”. It had been released by a new company called PeerIndex. Who or what is PeerIndex? They describe themselves as: “the first company to provide a realistic individual ranking of social authority across…

Aug 16, 2010

Broke Brittania: the Musical

Friend of the Club and Business Correspondent with the Economist, David Shirreff, has recently written the words to a comedic romp around the financial crisis called "Broke Britannia: the Musical". It gets its world premiere tomorrow night in Barnes, before magically transporting itself to Edinburgh next week for the Fringe Festival. Details below: Broke Britannia!…

Aug 12, 2010

The origins of today’s global exchanges

Trading goes back to Ancient Sumeria, but today's trading on the world's stock markets can probably be attributed to a particular place in London. OK, as a Brit I would say that but, as I walk around London, I'm constantly amazed by the things you see. For example, was this road sign the inspiration for…

Aug 9, 2010

Ten reasons why there won’t be a double dip

Sorry about that. Really depressed meself with all that doom and gloom about double dip recessions and, for regular blog readers, you know that I like to take both extremes in an argument so here are 10 reasons why the double dip won’t happen: 1 Double dip implies a global second recessionary wave, but this…

Aug 4, 2010

BBVA: Bank 2.0 minus 1

I blogged a while ago about the discovery of BBVA's wonderful Tu Cuentas (You Count!) service. The reason I loved it, is that it is the first bank to really push the boundaries of mobile internet with customisable budgeting tools and alerts … MINT-style comparision of usage, so that you could be advised of financial…

Aug 2, 2010

Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor: July 2010

We are pleased to provide our seventh month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR). Market Share based upon Euro Value July 2010 June 2010 Source: Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter Market Share based upon Volume of Trading July 2010 June 2010…

Jul 30, 2010

Barclays sponsor Boris

I know Barclays have some imaginative marketing ideas – for example, the excellent game 56 Sage Street, where teenagers are encouraged to play a game to earn money, rewards and responsibilities … … but did they really have to sponsor London Mayor, Boris Johnston? p.s. they're actually sponsoring the London Cycle Hire Service, which…

Jul 29, 2010

Metro Bank launches today

I popped down to the launch party for Metro Bank last night, as the bank opens its doors for business this morning. Having previously blogged about the bank a bit and their challenges, to get off the ground is impressive. The bank was under wraps on arrival … … but, as the Chairman and Chief…

Jul 28, 2010

Yes, this is the 21st Century

Here’s a shocker. I blog all the time about social media. We all love Facebook, with 500 million people in their community. We love to twitter via tweetdecks 24*7 on our iPhones and Androids. We Google, Amazon and PayPal. The internet is pervasive. It is so pervasive that the country is going to ban paper,…