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Two of the three biggest Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer, are racing to sign up partners to secure their supply chains, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, as health systems around the world struggle to bring immunisation programmes up to speed. The companies have had their vaccines approved for use in either

The UK has drawn up plans that would allow patients to be given different coronavirus vaccines for the first and second doses under certain circumstances, a move that highlights a widening rift in public health policy between the UK and rest of the West. The government’s Green Book for vaccinations says “every effort” should be

The slang term “trading the cable” is used by forex traders to refer to an exchange between British pounds and U.S. dollars. The word cable may refer to the exchange rate between the pound and the dollar, and may also simply refer to the British pound. Key Takeaways When the currency pair is the British

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought against Mike Pence by Republican lawmakers who wanted the US vice-president to overturn the results of the November 3 election. The ruling is yet another blow to Donald Trump and his allies who continue to falsely insist that the election was rigged. US media on Friday night

This week 26 years ago, I started office life. Wearing a cheap suit and awkwardly knotted tie, I clicked through the security gate at One Southwark Bridge, London, the FT’s office from 1989 to 2019 — and a sick building if ever I saw one. At about 5pm that first day, the full horror of

The capital to expenditure (CAPEX) ratio is a measure used by investors to assess the future prospects of a company. The ratio shows how comfortably a compay can finance its capital expenditures after paying for its operating activity and paying dividends to shareholders. Key Takeaways: Understanding the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Ratio CAPEX can be used

US consumers are forecast to send back a record $115bn worth of unwanted goods purchased over the holiday season, handing yet more business to delivery companies but hitting retailer profit margins and intensifying concerns over the environmental impact. Retailers have been left facing millions of additional items to process as a result of a surge

Republicans in the Senate have broken overwhelmingly from Donald Trump, rebuffing the outgoing US president’s attempt to veto this year’s $740bn defence spending bill and adding to growing acrimony ahead of next week’s congressional meeting to confirm the outcome of the election. The motion to override Mr Trump’s presidential veto passed 81-13 with strong bipartisan

Developed market countries from around the world have been gaining overall with improving economic conditions. Japanese stock indexes have outperformed domestic benchmarks during certain years, and owning the Nikkei can be attractive for investors looking to diversify geographically. Improving corporate governance and increasing dividend rates from mature companies are two things helping equity investment momentum

Boris Johnson described the new year’s severing of ties with the EU as “an amazing moment” for Britain, but he faced warnings that Brexit could hasten the disintegration of his own country. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, intends to put Brexit at the centre of her campaign in May’s Holyrood elections, at which the Scottish

The UK government published more than 300 pages of updated advice setting out how the new trade border with the EU will operate just hours before it came into force, leading business groups to plead for leniency in enforcement in the coming months. The eleventh-hour document published on New Year’s Eve included 70 pages of

The feasibility of combinations in options trading allows profitable opportunities in varying scenarios. Be it the underlying stock prices going up, going down, or remaining stable, suitably selected option combinations offer apt profit potential.  This article goes over “strip options”, one of the market neutral trading strategies with profit potential on either side of the

Tech investor Gene Munster told CNBC on Thursday he sees a reasonable path for Apple to reach a $3 trillion market capitalization in the future. The iPhone maker became the first publicly traded U.S. company to reach a $2 trillion market cap in August — a milestone Munster foresaw in January, when he made the

The UK financial regulator has pursued only a handful of investigations under its flagship scheme for holding executives to account and is leaving City companies to make potentially unfair calls on employee misconduct, lawyers have warned. Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that the Financial Conduct Authority has opened only 37 investigations

Many of the world’s top law firms have capped a tumultuous year with big bonuses for junior lawyers and an end to austerity measures imposed during the height of the global pandemic.  US law firms have in recent weeks announced bonuses of up to $100,000 for junior staff, matching levels set last year. Those sums

Online buying and selling have become important parts of many people’s lives. Virtual stores allow people to shop from the comfort of their homes without the pressure of a salesperson. Online marketplaces provide a new and more convenient venue for exchanging virtually all types of goods and services. Both businesses and customers have embraced online

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Stocks exit 2020 with strong gains and are riding a tailwind, but already in the dawn of the new year, the market could face its first big challenge. The final outcome of the 2020 election plays out Tuesday, when voters in Georgia will

Alden Global Capital, a US hedge fund known for taking over distressed American newspapers, has unveiled a bid to acquire and take private the Chicago Tribune’s owner, valuing the publishing company at about $520m.  The hedge fund, which already owns about 32 per cent of Tribune Publishing, offered to buy the newspaper group for $14.25

US stocks finished 2020 with a gain of more than 16 per cent — well above the historical average — after a technology sector-led rally pulled Wall Street back from a brief bear market to set a record high in defiance of pandemic, recession and political upheaval. The Nasdaq Composite, dominated by tech giants such

Canada derives much of its wealth from its plentiful natural resources and, as a result, has some of the largest mining companies in the world. Investors seeking exposure to the Canadian mining sector may want to consider some of the options. The following is a rundown of the five largest Canadian mining companies by market

Another 787,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, down 19,000 from the week before and the lowest figure since November. The data represented the second consecutive drop in the number of initial jobless claims, but the rate remains historically elevated and some economists warned that the true number of Americans put out of work

The pound hit its highest level of the year against the dollar on the final day of 2020, as traders took heart from the UK parliament’s approval of Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal — a key formality in avoiding a more disruptive break from the EU’s single market. Sterling, which has been rallying since March’s market

You know a health savings account (HSA) helps pay for out-of-pocket medical costs, but it may surprise you to learn that this tax-advantaged account could be a superior retirement savings vehicle, too. It has become ingrained in us that we should max out our 401(k) or other workplace defined contribution plan as the best way

Australian authorities are scrambling to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has broken Melbourne’s 61-day run without local transmission and threatens one of the world’s most successful efforts to suppress the pandemic. Officials reported 15 total infections in Sydney and Melbourne on Thursday, pushing the total number of cases identified since an outbreak detected in Sydney on December

In February 2014, London’s Underground was partially shut down by a strike that forced many commuters to find new ways to get to work. The disruption lasted just 48 hours, but when three economists (Shaun Larcom, Ferdinand Rauch and Tim Willems) studied data from the city’s transport network, they discovered something interesting. Tens of thousands

Itemized tax deductions have given many American wage earners a chance to pocket more income, rather than hand over their hard-earned cash to the government. For those who keep good records, deductions have long meant more money for them and less for the Internal Revue Service (IRS). Key Takeaways If you don’t take the standard

The UK drugs watchdog on Wednesday approved the coronavirus vaccine made by Oxford university and AstraZeneca, boosting hopes that millions more Britons can be inoculated against the disease in the coming months as a new viral variant of Covid-19 takes hold. AstraZeneca said the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency had given the jab

The euro climbed to its high of the year on Wednesday, taking its gains in 2020 close to 10 per cent. The European single currency rose as much as 0.4 per cent against the dollar to a peak of $1.2309, its highest level since 2018, extending a rally that has endured since the summer. It

As another year draws to a close, taxpayers everywhere need to take stock of their income, deductions, and credits for the year and take the necessary steps to minimize their tax bills for 2020. Here is a list of things you can do before you ring in the New Year to reduce the amount you

UK house price growth reached a six-year high at the end of 2020 as people rushed to move to more spacious properties while government policy measures are still bolstering the market. House prices rose 0.8 per cent between November and December taking the annual growth rate up from 6.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent,