The Conference Board announced today that the leading index for the U.K increased 0.1 percent, and the coincident index increased 0.2 percent in November
In 2006 the monetary policy of the Central Bank has been tightened: The reference rate has been raised to 8.75%, the mandatory reserve requirement jumped to 20%/40% for RON/FX deposits respectively and new lending restrictions on banks, especially in case of FX-loans have been imposed.
About 60% of all the energy used in the world comes from burning oil and natural gas. Despite massive exploration programs, few large outfields have been found in recent years.
Gazprom announced its international cooperation plans for 2007. Gazprom's main challenge is to continue developing as a world class global energy concern capable of making a substantial contribution in the global energy market sustainability and predictability.
Worldwide PC shipments grew by 8.7% in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. While Europe, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Canada, and Latin America continued to grow at a healthy clip, shipments in the United States and Japan continued to decline.
Technological innovations are rapidly redrawing the Chinese telco landscape. Operators are compelled to diversify in order to thrive in the competitive environment. The November 2006 announcement of Jiangsu Telecom’s network expansion effort to meet subscribers’ demand for IPTV, VOD, and other advanced IP services was just the latest in a similar series of moves to support multi-play service offerings.
The Chicago Board of Trade today announced that trading in its Agricultural options set a new daily volume record yesterday, climbing above 250,000 contracts for the first time. The new record of 252,217 contracts surpasses the previous record of 242,189 contracts set on October 13, 2006.
Mortgage rates increased for the sixth time in 7 weeks with the average 30-year fixed rate rising to 6.26 percent. This is the highest point in the past 10 weeks. According to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders, the 30-year fixed rate mortgages had an average of 0.32 discount and origination points.
The top economic growth and fiscal performances in 2007 are likely to be from countries outside the ranks of the most developed Western nations, according to a new set of sovereign risk forecasts from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.
