If homeowners could supply all the power they needed from a set of rechargeable batteries, it could transform the domestic energy market for good. Elon Musk, founder of electric car company Tesla, has just thrown his hat into the ring with the launch of a suite of low-cost solar batteries designed to capture and store energy for use in the home, claiming that the technology will help change ‘the entire energy infrastructure of the world’. Read more…
The Hound of HounslowIn a drama worthy of a movie script, a solo British trader has been arrested for his part in allegedly triggering a multi-billion-dollar US stock market crash from his parent’s west London house. Navinder Singh Sarao, alias ‘the Hound of Hounslow’ is currently being held at the request of US authorities investigating his involvement in the 2010 ‘flash crash’ which sent shockwaves through in the world’s biggest stock market. But how did it happen and why is the Department of Justice so keen to make an example of Sarao? Read more…
Rate rise ruled outSpeculation over an early rise in US interest rates has been quashed following a spring statement from the Federal Reserve. The Fed has indicated that significantly stronger economic performance would have to be demonstrated before it could agree an increase in borrowing costs, in the wake of news that growth has stalled in the first quarter of 2015. Pundits are now betting on rates staying low well into autumn, so what’s dragging the figures down? Read more…
Barclays has had to carve another £800m off the bank’s bottom line to pay its share of the international forex rigging scandal and to settle further compensation claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance to customers. The bank’s penalties will total around £2bn from regulators in the UK and US charged with investigating the manipulation of the £3.5tn-a-day forex markets. Read more…
