‘Topics’ – Media Round Up – week ending 12th January 2014
Welcome!
Welcome to our first “Weekly Round Up” of 2014 – our complimentary summary of this week’s financial news. This publication includes my own commentary and index of links to articles, allowing you to scan over and tune into what’s important to you.
We welcome feedback, and you can do this using the article comment feature on the website.
Also, check out latest (free) Monthly Topics newsletter on our new website.
Keep in touch.
Dermot.
Commentary
The first weekly ‘Topics’ of the year continues with mainly good news in terms of the Irish and Global economies. The feedback from most clients and the general business environment is one of optimism for 2014. The news of strong demand, at low yields (returns), for the first sale of 2014 of Irish government bonds is a sign that investors are also optimistic about Ireland and its ability to repay its borrowings. The main economies of the Euro zone also reported encouraging signs for the end of 2013 which indicates that hopefully we are over the worst of the recession and heading back to growth for 2014.
Irish Economy
- Manufacturing production up 13% in November. Read more
-
Services sector shows fastest pace of growth since 2007. Read more
Taxation
- Revenue ‘completely revamps’ audit checks. Read more
-
Pension audit yields almost double amount expected. Read more
- European court decision tees up VAT windfall for golf clubs. Read more
Banking / Credit
- Irish yields fall sharply as bond sale draws strong demand. Read more
Global Economy
-
Euro zone inflation drops unexpectedly in December. Read more
-
German, Spanish PMIs show growth; France fall. Read more
-
Euro zone companies enjoy strong finish to 2013. Read more
-
UK retail sales growth slows in December. Read more
- Euro zone economy shrank 0.3% year on year in third quarter. Read more
- Canada’s jobless rate rises to 7.2% in December. Read more
Stock Markets
- European stocks rise in first week of year. Read more