Britain is set to cut nearly 10,000 jobs from its Ministry of Justice as part of a fresh round of budget cuts to battle the tough economic
climate, The Times newspaper said on Tuesday.
The report said the government planned to make 900 million pounds ($1.58 billion) of savings at the department, which was created just 18 months ago. The job losses represent around a tenth of the division's workforce.
The Ministry of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment.
Source: EconomicTimes
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Britain to cut 10,000 public sector jobs
Crisis creating huge opportunity for rich Americans
The financial crisis is creating a huge opportunity for rich Americans to transfer wealth to their heirs or others, industry executives said on Monday.
The wealthy use trusts to pass on stocks, mutual funds and physical assets such as real estate. The tax rates for such transfers are linked to interest rates, and the current low rates and deteriorating asset values generally allow more wealth to be transferred tax-free, the executives said.
"With depressed asset values and low interest rates, this is absolutely a wonderful time to consider gift-giving wealth-transfer strategies," Richard Kohan, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PWC) private company services practice, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit.
The North American wealth market is estimated to be the biggest in the world, with assets of $39.2 trillion as of 2007, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
Robert Elliott, senior managing director at New York asset manager Bessemer Trust, said many advisors were until recently telling clients to hold off on wealth transfers on expectations the taxes on such transfers may be repealed. That has changed amid the intensifying credit market turmoil.
Source: EconomicTimes
Gopinath plans offer to buy back Air Deccan
GR Gopinath, vice-chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, is believed to be considering an offer to buy back Air Deccan as he is reportedly unhappy over the alliance Kingfisher has struck with Jet Airways.
Some sources said he might even offer to buy Kingfisher itself at a meeting of the airline board on Wednesday. Some overseas investors are reportedly backing him in this effort.
That, however, is not easily possible. For starters, UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya has 65% share in Kingfisher, making it impossible for anyone to make a bid unless he is willing to sell out. He is not. “I spoke to Capt (Gopinath) out of courtesy about the alliance with Jet. He was in Andamans. He said he was happy with the arrangement (with Jet) and the synergistic benefits,” he said.
“I hold 65% stake in the airline. If there is a so-called bid, we will see it off when it is made,” Mr Mallya told ET. According to the latest stock exchange filings, Mr Gopinath has 5.58% stake, and may control about 9-10% shareholding along with his associates.
Source: EconomicTimes
Frontline stocks likely to lead rally when market rebounds
The market may not be out of the woods yet, but going by anecdotal evidence, this may be a good time to start bottom fishing in frontline stocks. Reason: attractive valuations apart, there is too much pessimism among market participants. Brokers feel that when the recovery starts, it would be the frontline stocks leading the rally.
Though most foreign equity analysts view the recent rebound in equities as unstable recovery, a section of market watchers back home, feel Indian market is very near to bottoming out.
“It is possible that the market may have bottomed out,” said Karvy Stock Broking vice-president Ambareesh Baliga. According to Mr Baliga, the ‘pain’ (referring to the bearish phase) will last for a long time. Though valuations are compelling, most investors are not convinced that now is the time to start lapping up shares, he added.
“We’re advising investors to start buying once the market attains some stability, even if it means key stocks appreciating 10% from current levels. For sure, this is the time to buy large-cap stocks; the rally will begin with large-cap stocks,” Mr Baliga said.
According to a recent Bajaj Capital report, the time is ripe for a strong recovery with Indian equities currently trading at period-low levels. “The way markets have fallen over the past two weeks clearly shows that panic has set in, as even fundamentally strong defensive stocks are being hammered. Even potentially good news or developments such as a CRR cut or removal restrictions on P-Note have been ignored by the markets. Historical evidence states that a bottom is very near when markets start ignoring good news and over-react to even slightly negative news,” the report added.
Analysts maintain that large-cap stocks (key index constituents) are the first to bounce back as most institutional investors prefer large-cap stocks in their portfolios. Large-cap stocks have given phenomenal returns at all times when the market has recovered after bottoming out.
Source: EconomicTimes
Monday, 13 October 2008
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