Economics
D-Day For Greek Bailout
20 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Today, Euro zone finance ministers will meet to decide whether Greece has done enough to warrant a huge bailout loan of €130 billion. Greece needs the loan in order to avoid bankruptcy midway through March, when a massive repayment on its governmental debt must be completed.
Murray And Roberts Will Build Cape Town’s Tallest Building
16 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
Cape Town’s new tallest building is set to start taking shape as construction group Murray and Roberts have been awarded the R1,6 billion contract to build the Portside Project. It’s set to stand at 130 metres tall, comprising of 32 floors, and will house 52 000 square metres of office space for 3 000 people.
SAA: Please May We Have R6 Billion?
15 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
South African Airways has asked the government, sorry, the taxpayer that doesn’t get a say, for a recapitalisation of about R6 billion to fund operational costs, growth strategy and a fleet renewal for the coming future. Why? Because it would post a loss this financial year if this doesn’t happen, and growth is important.
Google’s Motorola Purchase Pretty Much Approved
14 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
American and European regulators have approved Google’s purchase of handset maker Motorola Mobility. The deal is worth a reported $12,5 billion and Google is said to be pleased at acquiring 17 000 new patents, and a further 7 500 patent applications as part of the deal.
Indian Politicians Caught Watching “Porn” During Parliamentary Debate
09 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Three Indian politicians, among them a women’s affairs minister, resigned after two of them were caught watching what was thought to be porn on a mobile phone belonging to another minister during a session of state parliament on Tuesday. They’re also members of one of the more morally conservative parties.
These Are Your Road Closures For The Opening Of Parliament
09 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Capetonians: it’s that time of the year again when the City of Cape Town closes many of its roads for the opening of Parliament. As part of the pompous affair and fashion extravaganza, President Jacob Zuma will also deliver his all-important State of the Nation Address.
The iPhone Is Bigger Than The Whole Of Microsoft
06 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
In the December business quarter, Apple’s iPhone business generated $24,4 billion of revenue. Microsoft’s whole company, from Windows to Office to servers to Xbox, generated just $20,9 billion.
Construction Will Begin On The Chapman’s Peak Office Block This Week
30 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Preparation at the site designated for the Chapman’s Peak four-lane toll plaza and office complex began last week, with official construction beginning this week. Estimates put completion of the complex to happen around Easter next year.
You’ll Be Able To Buy Facebook Shares Soon
30 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Facebook, the world’s largest social-networking service, could file for its initial public offering as early as Wednesday this week. It’s a move that has been on the cards for some time, but the rumour pot is now starting to boil more consistently.
South Africa Might Still Get A Warship
19 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
And guess who’s got a finger in that pie? None other than convicted fraudster, Tony Yengeni. Granted it probably won’t be a very big warship, if we can really even call it that, but it has the potential to cost even more than the four frigates we bought as part of the controversial 1999 R60 billion arms deal.
State Owned Enterprises Battle To Be Profitable
17 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The South African Institute of Race Relations is reporting that only five of the nine state owned enterprises reporting to the Department of Public Enterprises were profitable in the 2009 – 2010 financial year. The taxpayer makes up for the shortfalls.
British Banks Scrap Foreign Currency Debit Card Exchange Fees
20 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Banks know they make too much money, and South African banks could learn a thing or two from this. Five of the UK’s biggest banks, including Lloyds, Barclays and RBS, as well as other credit card companies, have agreed to scrap the charges associated with buying currency with a card while abroad.
Iconic Swedish Car Maker Saab Files For Bankruptcy
19 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Saab Automobile has spent the last two years fighting to salvage the iconic brand that manufactured cars for six decades, but today announced that it had filed for bankruptcy in a Swedish district court. General Motors, who still had control over technology licenses, had disapproved of negotiations with two Chinese firms that sought to save Saab.
Britain Goes It Alone: The “Billy-No-Mates” Of Europe
14 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
On 9 December 2011, British Prime Minister, David Cameron emerged from 10 hours of negotiations with European Union leaders, announcing his decision to reject new European Rules on behalf of Britain. It is a move that has set Britain up for a season of icy relations with its continental cousins that may last much longer than this year’s winter.
Hungary Have Outlawed Homeless People
01 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A new bit of legislation has just come into force in Hungary, in an attempt to deal with the large number of homeless people in Budapest. The regulation makes it a punishable offense to be homeless; the offense is punishable by a fine just under ZAR 5 000. Because, you know, that makes sense.
Rich New Yorkers Buying Pimped-Out Vans To Camouflage Wealth
21 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
There appears to be a growing trend among rich New Yorkers in response to the increased attention being paid to “the 1%”. They’ve taken to buying cargo vans that look plain on the outside, but are opulent on the inside, tricked out with massage chairs wi-fi and widescreen televisions. Some of these guys cost upwards of ZAR 4 million.
The Occupy Wall Street Protestors Are Being Violently Swept Out By NYPD [LIVE STREAM]
15 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
At 2am this morning the NYPD started violently clearing out Zuccoti Park, where the peaceful Occupy Wall Street protestors have been camped out. The cops are using pepper spray, they are using LRAD sound weapons, and they are actively preventing any official media from reporting on their violation of OWS members’ constitutional rights. Shit’s gotten real.
Mininum Wage Increase In China: Everything Is Going To Get More Expensive Next Year.
11 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
Effective January 1, 2012, the minimum wage is going to increase by as much as 20% in Guangdong, the industrial province in China where most of the stuff you’ve bought in the past decade was produced. Which means you’ve got yourself a significant rise in consumer good prices worldwide incoming.
Intelligence Report: China & Russia Hired Hackers To Steal US Secrets
07 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A report released by U.S. intelligence agencies claims that Chinese and Russian hackers, hired by their governments, have been stealing classified data from American government organizations. Assumptions like this have been made before, but this is the first time such a report to Congress has pointed the finger squarely at China and Russia.
Greek Referendum On Bailout Threatens New Euro Zone Crisis
01 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
George Papandreou’s shock announcement that he will put Greece’s bailout to a referendum helped the FTSE open nearly three per cent down this morning. It was interesting listening to Lindsay Williams on 2oceanVibe Radio a little earlier too. He remarked that there are more Porsche Cayennes registered in Greece than taxpayers declaring an income of 50 000 euros or more. Clearly Greeks aren’t fans of paying tax.
Greece Is Very, Very Lucky
28 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
European leaders are secretly all doing little victory dances. The Eurozone crisis has never looked better. Leaders have agreed new deals that slash Greek debt and increase the main bailout fund to around €1 trillion. They’re basically printing money. Athens will get a new €100 billion bailout early in the new year, and existing bond debt will be cut by 50%.
Gordhan Relaxes Local Listing Rules – JSE To Gain
26 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
In a move that’s widely expected to attract further, and much needed investment diversification, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan yesterday announced that the Treasury will allow local investors to trade in foreign-domiciled companies, especially throughout Africa. The move will no doubt heighten the attractiveness and status of the local exchange.
103-Year-Old Stands For Spanish Senate Election
25 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Age really is just a number for 103-year-old Dr Moises Broggi, who is standing for a seat in Spain’s Senate on November 20. Dr Broggi is the main candidate in Barcelona for a coalition led by the Catalan Republican Left party. If the former field surgeon is elected, he will become the oldest Spanish senator ever.
RIM Offers Free Apps To Apologize For That Whole BlackBerry Crash Thing
17 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
While Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of RIM, has already publicly apologized for last week’s three-day BlackBerry outage, the PR guys figured that that probably wasn’t enough. Which is why they’ve announced that they’re offering BlackBerry customers a bunch of free “premium apps,” in the hopes of winning back some love. Check the app list after the jump.
Greece To Come To A Standstill Ahead Of Crucial Vote
17 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
It promises to be one of the largest strikes since the resurgence of the catastrophic violence two years ago, and will touch virtually every industry of the deeply troubled state. At least half of the four million-strong workforce is expected to partake as parliamentarians vote on a package of austerity measures demanded by international lenders.
Major British Banks Downgraded Amid Deepening EU Crisis
13 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Just before lunchtime, a rumour began to do the rounds, courtesy of Sky News, that credit ratings agency Fitch was going to bring more bad news for Britain’s banks. A credit rating downgrade of major banks was possible later in the day. Sky changed their tune and withdrew the statement on TV, but the blog post remained, and now the downgrade has happened.
Italy: The Next European Accident Waiting To Happen
13 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The Italian debt crisis has the potential to make the Greek crisis seem small. It must be reiterated that Italian debt makes Greek debt look laughable. It currently stands at some €1,8 trillion. That’s excluding the purported €175 billion the Italians need to keep their country running until the end of the year.
The Occupy Revolution Has Hit South Africa
07 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 8 Comments
It looks like the tides that swept up the Occupy Wall Street protest campaign – ongoing after three weeks – have broken national boundaries; ‘Operation Ubuntu’ has been set up to launch a simultaneous protests on the 15th of October in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Grahamstown, as part of the global Occupy Revolution campaign.
SABMiller Shares Climb On Takeover Report
07 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
After having recently bought Fosters, fresh rumours surfaced yesterday that SABMiller might itself face a takeover from Anheuser-Busch InBev, the biggest brewer in the world. SAB shares soared 7% to their highest gain in almost three years as a result.
Disney Realises People Will Probably Pay To See Other Old Movies Too
05 Oct 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Disney’s 3D The Lion King reissue has been topping the box offices for the past two weeks, and netted them a cool $22,1 million over a weekend. So it’s not surprising that somebody in the studio realised that, hey, they have a bunch of other well-loved movies that they could probably re-release and make money with too.
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