British and Dutch investors turned to Iceland a few years ago, attracted by savings account deposit rates that were competitive with equity investment returns. It was an amazing situation, and the money just seemed too easy.

Then, Iceland got the sort of IMF loan that is normally reserved for countries like Somalia, and the Brits and Dutch worried that they'd never get their money back from an investment as supposedly safe as a savings account.

Continue reading Iceland Voters Resist Debt Repayment

Iceland Voters Resist Debt Repayment originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Recession or not, people can't walk around naked ... especially not in the United Kingdom. (Iceland in summer? Fair game.) Marks & Spencer Group Plc (London: MKS:UK), the largest clothing retailer in the country, just sustained its smallest drop in sales in nearly two years thanks to some savvy deals (offered to consumers) and warm weather. After making their dollars pounds stretch for so long, shoppers were finally ready for a bit of style.

Revenue declined a modest 1.4% for the year so far, much better than the 2.5% average estimate offered by 16 analysts. This was good enough to push M&S shares up 4%. If all goes well, same store sales may start to increase soon, which means that a full recovery will be right around the corner. Same store sales have fallen for the past seven quarters, and company cut its dividend for the first time in almost a decade.

The discounts that helped lead to the recent M&S sales performance are responsible for 18% of the company's food sales (which are down 0.5% on for same store) - much better than the 2.4% estimate. General merchandise fell only 2.4%, beating the 3.5% projection handily.

M&S celebrates not-so-bad result originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Early estimates of a contraction in the U.K. economy were not enough. First quarter 2009 estimates were revisited, showing a 2.4% fall in gross domestic product from the last quarter of 2008 to 2009. This downward revision made the first three months of the year the worst since people wore skinny ties, hated communism, and bore nicknames like "Buzz."

In the second quarter of 1958, U.K. GDP plummeted 2.6%, though the 2.4% threshold matches the depths hit in 1979. The original 2009 Q1 estimate was -1.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics in London.

Continue reading U.K. economy has worst quarter since 1958

U.K. economy has worst quarter since 1958 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Retail sales took an unexpected downward turn in May in the United Kingdom -- for first time in three months. Cautious banks appear to be the problem, as their rationing of credit is impeding broader economic recovery. Retail sales fell 0.6% from the previous month, while economists had predicted a 0.3% change in the other direction.

Year-over-year, retail sales were off 1.6%. Sales for the year are down 1.1%, the greatest decline since score-keeping began in 1988. Of course, there's plenty of fodder for rationalizing the results. The annual change was affected by an "unusually large" retail sales estimate for May 2008. Clothing, textile, and footwear retailers and department stores led the plunge, with nonfood store sales off 1.4%, compared to a 0.3% increase in food retail sales.

Continue reading Banks putting pressure on UK retail sales

Banks putting pressure on UK retail sales originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading JPMorgan Chase taps Tony Blair for advice

JPMorgan Chase taps Tony Blair for advice originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Her Majesty Britney: will Spears be Prince William's newest love? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.