Themes of the Week: The Obama administration unveils sweeping proposals for regulating the opaque over-the-counter derivatives market; a Hollywood media mogul eyes up buying the New York Times; Sri Lankan government forces strangle the Tamil Tigers; and Westminster MPs suffers their worst week since 1641 (with apologies to the Daily Telegraph…)
And if you missed the Financial Times or ft.com this week, you would have missed the following top ten gems:
Themes of the Week: Tim Geithner stress-tests the US banks, several of whom immediately raise billions of capital; the equity markets like what they see, but some analysts/players warn that of irrational exhuberance; Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne unveils plans to create a new global car company; Amazon launches a new version of the Kindle and the newspaper industry spies a new business model.
And if you missed the FT or ft.com this week, you would have missed out on the following unique items and scoops.
Introduction: Stock markets stage a big (bear market?) rally; Chrysler files for bankruptcy; swine flu shuts down Mexico city and spreads around the world; Citigroup scrambles to raise capital; Gordon Brown stumbles in the face of the Gurkhas; and one of India’s billionaire twins is the target of a dastardly murder plot.
And if you missed the Financial Times or ft.com this past week, you would have missed the following top ten stand-outs…
The UK budget, the banking crisis, and a surprise move by VW in its tortuous relationship with Porsche have been among the highlights of this week’s coverage.
The Budget is one of the key events of the year in the UK, and one that has many people turning to the FT for news and analysis. So we are always on the lookout to do something new.
Last year it was the Budget podcast, which was a mixture of news and analysis, ready to be listened to on the afternoon of the Budget – ideal for that tube journey home. It will run again this year, available from 4pm on the day.
This year we are going to run a live blog in the style of Alphaville’s Markets Live during Alistair Darling’s speech. Three of our most lively writers, Robert Shrimsley, Jamie Chisholm and Matthew Vincent will be providing the commentary, available on our Budget blog.
We will also be providing video analysis, the latest news from our industry specialists, and later in the day a Budget calculator.
Everything you’ll need will be at www.ft.com/budget
Introduction: President Obama cautiously calls bottom to the recession, but Wall Street’s finest worry about pending stress tests for the banks; anti-tax tea party protests break out in the US heartland; Thailand erupts into red-shirt versus yellow-shirt violence; and Westminister is convulsed by an internet smear campaign mounted by a top aide to Gordon Brown.
In addition, we had some serious scoops and much fine writing from around the world this past week. Here is a sample:
Themes of the Week: Larry Summers says the US economy has stopped falling off a cliff; Bob Gates at the Pentagon takes an axe to the military-industrial complex; Japan unveils (another) stimulus package; tensions erupt in the former Soviet borderlands in Moldova and Georgia; Royal Bank of Scotland announces 9,000 job losses in one day; and Britain’s top anti-terrorist cop resigns over a schoolboy error.
And if you missed the Financial Times or ft.com this Easter week, you would have missed the following unique items.
Themes of the Week: Gordon Brown produces a (slightly mangy) rabbit out of the hat at the G20 summit; Barack Obama charms his hosts in Britain, France and Germany, while turfing out Rick Wagoner at General Motors; mark-to-market accounting takes a blow; equity markets stage a bear rally; and Gillian Tett is voted Journalist of the Year in the British press awards (Sam Jones winning a highly commended citation for his ground-breaking Moody’s coverage).
And if you missed the FT or ft.com this week, you would have missed the following gems…
Themes of the Week: The US unveils fresh toxic asset clean-up plan, Mervyn King warns Gordon Brown against further deficit spending, a UK gilt auction fails for the first time in seven years, populist outrage against corporate bonuses spreads across Europe, the FT secures an exclusive interview with President Obama – and President Lula of Brazil blames white, blue-eyed people for the financial crisis.
A brief note on the G20 summit: thanks to our news coverage and ground-breaking Future of Capitalism series, the FT now occupies the high ground. The Obama scoop comes on top of other news-making exclusive interviews with Angela Merkel of Germany, Felipe Calderon of Mexico plus visits and interviews at the FT this week from many other world leaders. Now for the big test of covering the summit.
And if you had not been reading the FT or ft.com over the past seven days, you would have missed…
Introduction: The Federal Reserve introduces quantitative easing to revive the US economy; the House of Representatives passes a punitive law on bankers’ bonuses; Lord Turner calls time on light-touch regulation; Switzerland buckles on banking secrecy; President Obama extends the hand to the Islamic republic of Iran; and an Ivory Coaster takes over the reins at the Pru, the first black CEO in the FTSE.
And if you failed to read or view the FT or ft.com this week, you would have missed the following unique items…
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Insight into the content and production of the Financial Times, written by the decision makers.
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