Fears for the US economy and concern at the pace of interest rate cuts put markets in a spin yesterday with shares, oil and cryptocurrencies all experiencing a day of volatile trading. While service sector data in the US calmed the mood in mid-afternoon, investor nerves jangled again in the final hour of US trading.
Also in the US, a federal judge has ruled that Google spent billions of dollars on exclusive deals to maintain an illegal monopoly on search, in a landmark win for the US department of justice as it seeks to rein in Big Tech’s market power. Judge Amit Mehta called Google a “monopolist”, saying that payments for anticompetitive deals with wireless carriers, browser developers and device manufacturers totalled more than €23.7 billion in 2021 alone.
Poor quality green fuels are damaging hauliers’ truck engine and costing them thousands of euro for repairs while adding millions to their energy bills, the industry says. Barry O’Halloran explains why this appears to be a particularly Irish problem.
A €10 limits on bets and a €3,000 cap on winnings on gaming machines and casino tables in the Government’s Gambling Regulation Bill discriminates against casinos and, they says, ignores the reality that other forms of betting are more likely to give rise to the problem gambling that the limits are supposed to counter in the first place. Barry O’Halloran reports.
Temu, the US-based online marketplace that sells products manufactured in China, ran $790 million (€720 million) in income through an Irish company in its first 17 months of operation, new accounts show. Barry J Whyte has the details.
Another blow for Euronext Dublin stock exchange as clinical trials group Hvivo gave notice on Monday that it will give up its Dublin listing and focus on London. Colin Gleeson writes that the company says its primary operations, along with the majority of its employees and investor base, are based in the UK.
In her column, Laura Slattery takes issue with the BBC in the light of two major duty-of-care failures – the bullying of contestants on Strictly Come Dancing and the continued employment of star newsreader Huw Edwards after the corporation was apprised of the details of his arrest on child pornography charges. The broadcaster, she says, has questions to answer on how it manages crises.
In Personal Finance, Conor Pope takes readers through the 12 steps necessary to get mortgage ready in what is a challenging housing market.
And in Q&A, we hear from readers who are confused over whether they can claim tax relief for nursing home charges paid by their father and another who is concerned that inheriting the other half of his home from his dead sister could leave him with an inheritance tax bill he has no hope of paying.
Finally, in Me & My Money, the keeper of the national purse strings, Paschal Donohoe, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his personal likes and dislikes, good and bad memories when it comes to his own personal finances.
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