Episodes
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Western sanctions hit Russian economy, UK house prices jump and Waterstones buys Blackwell’s
This week: Western nations’ economic sanctions* on Russia continued to inflict severe pain on the country’s economy as its invasion of Ukraine intensified UK house prices rose by 12.6% in February, taking the average house price to over £260 000 for the first time And Waterstones, the UK’s…
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Germany halts Nord Stream 2, Rio Tinto pays out record dividend and UK Government lowers student loan repayment threshold
This week: Germany said that it would no longer approve the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a newly constructed route to supply Germany and other European nations with natural gas from Russia, over Russia’s actions in Ukraine Rio Tinto, a UK-Australian mining company, will pay out $16.8bn in…
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Russia spooks oil market, Ottawa blockade disrupts trade and UK chain store closure data released
This week: Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine caused oil prices to rise to almost $100 a barrel, the highest level since 2014 The blockade of Ottawa, Canada’s capital, by the anti-vaccine mandate ‘Freedom Convoy’ severely disrupted US-Canada trade And new data showed that more than 17 000...
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SoftBank scraps Arm sale, Frontier buys Spirit and Credit Suisse goes on trial
This week: SoftBank, a Japanese investment company*, agreed to scrap its $66bn sale of UK-based chip designer Arm to US chip designer Nvidia US budget airline Frontier agreed to buy rival airline Spirit for $6.6bn, making it the largest deal in the airline industry since the beginning of the...
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Meta ditches Diem, foreign investors dump India and BoE raises interest rates again
This week: Meta, the parent company* of US social media platform Facebook, ditched its attempt at it owns cryptocurrency*- Diem Foreign investors dumped their shares in Indian companies last month, selling off $4.5bn amid fears around the Ukraine crisis and rising interest interests And the Bank…
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Unilever cuts 1500 jobs, Tesla reports $2.3bn profits and France grows by highest level since 1969
This week: Unilever, a UK consumer goods company, announced that it will cut 1500 management roles in an attempt to perform better following its failed bid for UK pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health arm Tesla, a US electric car maker, reported that it made $2.3bn in profits...
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UK inflation hits 30-year high, China lowers interest rates and Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard
This week: UK inflation* reached 5.4% in December, the highest increase in 30 years The People's Bank of China- China's central bank*- lowered two of its main interest rates* And US tech giant Microsoft bought US gaming company Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn, its biggest purchase ever *inflation…
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Take-Two buys Zynga, Checkout.com reaches $40bn and Clifford Chance’s highest earner in 2021 takes home £3.2mn
This week: US computer game developer Take-Two bought rival Zynga for $12.7bn UK payments company Checkout.com reached a $40bn valuation* after raising $1bn in a funding round*, overtaking Revolut as the UK’s most valuable private tech company And UK commercial law firm Clifford Chance revealed...
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UK gets tough on foreign takeovers, Linklaters moves away from ‘lockstep’ pay structure and Warner Music buys David Bowie song rights
This week: The UK’s National Security and Investment Act 2021 came into effect, requiring foreign takeovers of UK companies in ‘sensitive sectors’ to be approved by the Government UK law firm Linklaters followed fellow London-based law firms Clifford Chance, Freshfields and Allen & Overy and New...
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An interesting end: BoE finally raises rates, Fed set to raise rates three times and Turkey cuts rates again
This week: The Bank of England- the UK’s central bank- raised the main interest rate from 0.1% to 0.25%, the first rise in three years The Federal Reserve- the US central bank- said that it now expects to raise the US interest rate three times next year and will also reduce its bond-buying...
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Nubank lists on NYSE, China plans to restrict inward foreign investment and coffee prices reach 10-year high
This week: Brazilian digital lender Nubank reached a valuation of almost $50bn after its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, making it the most valuable bank in Latin America China is planning to prevent certain companies from using ‘variable interest entities’ (VIEs), a...
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UK’s competition regulator tells Meta to sell Giphy, UK Government props up Bulb Energy and Didi leaves New York Stock Exchange
This week: The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) told Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to sell GIF database Giphy The UK Government gave £1.7bn to prop up Bulb Energy, which went bust last week And Chinese taxi app Didi left the New York Stock Exchange, choosing to list in Hong…
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Biden releases 50mn oil barrels, new COVID-19 variant rattles markets and Zoom has a bumpy week
This week: US President Joe Biden released 50mn barrels of US reserve oil in an attempt to lower rising petrol prices, but markets were unimpressed The formal recognition of a new variant of COVID-19, ‘Omicron’ (B.1.1.529), rattled financial markets around the world And Zoom, the US company whose...
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Royal Dutch Shell set to leave the Netherlands, HS2 Leeds line cancelled and the EU wins case against Google
This week: UK-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell announced that it will vote on moving its headquarters to the UK and rebrand as ‘Shell’, ending its 16-year joint structure between the Netherlands and the UK The UK Government confirmed that the eastern leg of the rail project HS2, heading to...
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General Electric breaks up, M&S reports profits boost and Rolls-Royce goes nuclear
This week: US conglomerate General Electric revealed plans to split into three separate companies UK supermarket M&S reported a jump in profits between April and October, with food sales increasing by over 10% post-lockdown And UK carmaker Rolls-Royce received £450mn in funding from private...
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Bank of England keeps interest rates on hold, Credit Suisse scales back and Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger in trouble
This week: The Bank of the England- the UK’s central bank- surprised investors by keeping interest rates on hold Swiss bank Credit Suisse said that it would mostly leave prime broking- the service offered to hedge funds- to focus on its wealth management division And the US Department of Justice...
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Budget 2021: Rishi Sunak attempts to be a small-state, big spender
Key measures in this year's Budget: an extra £150bn for government departments £1.7bn for 'levelling up' projects National Living Wage to rise by 6.6%, to £9.50 tax on business properties will be reduced by 50% alcohol will now be taxed based on its strength You can read my article about the…
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Qantas brings back workers and flights, Mastercard partners with Demica and Donald Trump announces his own social media platform
This week: Australian airline Qantas announced that all of its employees in Australia will return to work in December, six months earlier than planned US payments firm Mastercard partnered with UK financial technology firm Demica to offer 'supply chain finance' to its clients And Donald Trump...
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US banks’ profits beat expectations, Apple hit by semiconductor chip shortage and LinkedIn leaves China
This week: The biggest US banks- Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, reported higher-than-expected profits between July and September US tech giant Apple said that it will likely have to reduce production of its newest mobile phone- the iPhone 13- by up to…
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CD&R wins auction to buy Morrisons, Facebook services go down and Pandora Papers are leaked
This week: US private equity company CD&R won a bidding war to buy UK supermarket chain Morrisons US social media giant Facebook’s core apps- Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook itself- went down for 6 hours on Monday And investigative journalists released the ‘Pandora Papers’, exposing details of...
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UK experiences fuel shortages, Virgin Money closes branches and Ford goes electric
This week: The UK experienced fuel shortages at petrol stations due to the ongoing crisis in lorry driver recruitment UK bank Virgin Money announced that it will close 31 of its 162 branches, as more customers shift to digital banking And US car manufacturer Ford and South Korean battery company…
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European gas prices spike, Shell sells biggest US oilfield and the Federal Reserve signals interest rate rise in 2022
This week: Gas prices in Europe reached a record high, with the UK one of the most badly affected nations Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell sold its land in the Permian Basin- the largest oilfield in the US- to US rival ConocoPhillips for $9.5 bn And the Federal Reserve- the US central bank…
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Epic Games loses case against Apple, CMA CGM caps its prices and UK inflation soars
This week: The high-profile legal battle between US tech companies Epic Games and Apple ended in a half-victory for Apple CMA CGM, a huge French shipping container company, said that it would cap its shipping prices for 5 months And the UK inflation rate jumped to 3.2% in August, the highest...
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Bitcoin becomes legal tender in El Salvador, UK increases tax to fund social care and coronavirus insolvency protections set to be removed
This week: El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender, becoming the first country to do so The UK Government announced a tax increase from 2022 to fund social care support And the Government also said that insolvency protections introduced last year will be phased out from October You can follow The...
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South Korea tackles app stores, Evergrande admits troubles and UK shoppers return
This week: South Korea became the first country in the world to ban app stores from forcing developers to use their payment systems Chinese property developer Evergrande said that it was close to default, reporting a 29% drop in profits And the number of British consumers visiting shops in August...
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Afghanistan’s economy in crisis, Didi cancels European expansion and OnlyFans reverses porn ban
This week: Afghanistan’s economy is in crisis following the Taliban’s return to power Chinese taxi app Didi cancelled expansion plans in Europe And UK adult content subscription company OnlyFans reversed its decision to block pornography on its service You can follow The Pound in Your Pocket on...
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Japan beats expectations, BHP dumps oil and gas and Glencore invests in Britishvolt
This week: Japan’s economy grew by 1.3% between April and June, beating market expectations UK-Australian mining company BHP announced that it will sell off its oil and gas business And UK-Swiss mining company Glencore invested in UK battery start-up Britishvolt You can follow The Pound in Your...
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FCA loosens SPAC rules, SoftBank’s profits drop and oil prices fall
This week: The Financial Conduct Authority- the UK’s main financial regulator- loosened its rules on special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) Japanese investment group SoftBank reported a 39% drop in profits And oil prices fell below $70 per barrel, the lowest level since May You an follow…
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Square buys Afterpay, Tencent limits game time and BoE set to raise rates early
This week: US digital payments firm Square announced that it will buy Australian digital payments firm Afterpay for $29bn Chinese tech giant Tencent introduced restrictions on the number of hours children can play its video games in China following pressure from the Chinese government And the…
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Introducing The Pound in Your Pocket
Luke Brown introduces the weekly business and finance news briefing podcast for students.