Saudi Arabia unveils $385bn spending plan

Saudi Arabia plans to build schools, hospitals, housing and other infrastructure projects as part of a five-year plan budgeted at $385bn, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has reported. Ageing King Abdullah is under pressure to create jobs and build housing as the population grows and unemployment rises, hitting 10.5 percent last year. Two-thirds of…

How to Invest in Private Money Real Estate Loans

Investors seeking alternatives to the stock and bond markets will find refuge in the world of private money loan investing.  If you are careful and diligent, you can earn solid returns while minimizing risk.The returns are better when investing in private money loans because it requires a little more knowledge, effort and patience, than just…

Morgan Sindall says construction recession not over

British construction group Morgan Sindall said growing demand for office buildings was helping to offset the impact of government spending cuts on its business, although the construction recession was not over yet. “The commercial side is growing, but let’s not over exaggerate – it’s growing a bit but not as quickly as governments are spending…

Astra pays $198m to settle US Seroquel claims

AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $198m to settle some 17,500 US personal injury claims related to its schizophrenia and bipolar disorder drug Seroquel, the company has announced. The top-selling medicine, which had worldwide sales of $4.9bn in 2009, accounting for 15 percent of group revenue, has been subject to long-running legal claims after being linked…

UK taxpayer moves into black on bank stakes

British taxpayers are sitting on a 3.5 billion pound ($5.6 billion) paper profit on its stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds after both swung back to profit, driving their shares higher.  Britain’s profit could be more than five times that amount — potentially bringing in much needed income for the cash-strapped UK government….

Hungary to struggle without IMF

Hungary hopes to emulate the few countries that have spurned IMF aid and emerge from crisis on their own, but it is much more likely to follow the example of other crisis-hit EU states and be forced back to austerity. It is no Malaysia or Turkey, the first of which rejected the International Monetary Fund’s…

How to get started with Forex

Foreign Exchange Trading – what is that? In fact the procedure is quite easy to understand: You change one currency against another, and profit from the exchange rate.Forex Trading is exiting as the market is always in move and the rates are always changing. You trade currency pairs, and a slight difference in the exchange…

Versace to get 2010 China sales boost

Italian fashion house Versace expects to post higher sales in 2010 on the back of its restructuring and China’s growing appetite for luxury goods, its chief executive said.  In an interview with Reuters, Gian Giacomo Ferraris said he remained confident about a return to profitability in 2011, thanks to a more efficient distribution network and…

Next says consumer slowdown will be modest

Consumer spending in Britain is likely to remain constrained for the foreseeable future, but any slowdown in demand is likely to be modest, the chief executive of fashion retailer Next told reporters. Simon Wolfson also said in a telephone interview that the group was stepping up spending on standalone homewares stores, where new shops are…