Autor: Jane Austen

English councils have been given new powers to charge huge council tax premiums on certain types of second homes – acceleratorhams/iStockphoto Times are getting tougher for many of those who own a second home, whether you use it as a holiday home, a holiday let, or you’re still working out quite what to do with it. English councils have already been given powers to charge a 100pc council tax premium on certain unoccupied second homes, with some homeowners seeing their bills hit £10,000 under the measures. For many, the question of how to avoid this looming tax bill is of…

Adam&eveDDB, Uncommon, VCCP and Mother were among the agencies celebrated at the Oystercatchers Awards 24 in a ceremony attended by Oystercatchers Club member agencies and a host of top CMOs. With more than 20 agencies shortlisted across 12 categories, it was Adam&EveDDB that scooped the top award for Best Agency Credentials for impressing the judges with its range of client relationships and body of work. The judges, which included Mark Brown, CMO at Hovis, Chelsea FC’s CMO Claire Cronin and Fiona Spooner, managing director of consumer revenue at the Financial Times, decided the winners after careful consideration of each agency’s…

BJ’s (BJRI): Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q3 Earnings? BJ’s 16.7% return over the past six months has outpaced the S&P 500 by 6.3%, and its stock price has climbed to $36.84 per share. This run-up might have investors contemplating their next move. Is there a buying opportunity in BJ’s, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Get the full breakdown from our expert analysts, it’s free. We’re glad investors have benefited from the price increase, but we’re cautious about BJ’s. Here are three reasons why there are better opportunities than BJRI and a stock we’d rather own.…

El Salvador is introducing reforms to the use of Bitcoin in its financial and industrial sectors. The Central American country has agreed on a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to receive a loan of $1.4 billion (roughly Rs. 12,130 crore). As part of the agreement between the IMF and El Salvador, the government will limit its engagement with the world’s most widely used cryptocurrency. To align with IMF’s condition, El Salvador has made BTC payments voluntary for local merchants in the private sector. A report by Reuters said that this decision was approved and finalised by the country’s…

(Bloomberg) — Philippine stocks fell for a fifth day, pushing the nation’s benchmark index into a bear market, amid concern over potential global headwinds and disappointing domestic economic data. Most Read from Bloomberg The nation’s benchmark equity gauge slid to the lowest level in more than two years as the prospect of higher US tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump damped the optimism of global equity investors. A government report published Thursday showed the local economy grew slower than analysts expected, hurt by sluggish investment, consumption and farm output. “The bout of continuing weakness is likely being underpinned by…

3 Reasons to Sell EXPD and 1 Stock to Buy Instead Over the past six months, Expeditors’s shares (currently trading at $113) have posted a disappointing 9.5% loss, well below the S&P 500’s 10.3% gain. This might have investors contemplating their next move. Is there a buying opportunity in Expeditors, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Check out our in-depth research report to see what our analysts have to say, it’s free. Even though the stock has become cheaper, we’re sitting this one out for now. Here are three reasons why we avoid EXPD and a stock…

Gemini in Google Sheets is getting a major upgrade that will allow the artificial intelligence (AI) tool to analyse and visualise user data. Announced on Wednesday, the new features are currently being rolled out to the Google Workspace subscribers and those subscribed to the Google One AI Premium plan. Interestingly, the update also lets Gemini convert complex prompts into Python code to perform multi-step analysis. Earlier, it could only convert user requests into formulas, which resulted in single-layer analysis.Gemini in Google Sheets Gets New FeaturesIn a blog post, the Mountain View-based tech giant announced that new capabilities were being added…

MUNICH (Reuters) – Influential shareholder adviser ISS wants Siemens to return to in-person annual general meetings and has recommended shareholders vote against allowing virtual meetings in the coming years, according to a proposal seen by Reuters. The U.S.-based proxy advisory firm’s advice comes ahead of the Munich-based technology group’s annual general meeting on Feb. 13, where the matter will be put to a vote. To continue holding virtual annual general meetings, as has been the practice since 2021, the Siemens management board requires a three-quarters majority vote, which is now uncertain in light of the opposition from Institutional Shareholder Services…

(Reuters) – Global equity funds witnessed a surge in investments in the week through Jan. 29, driven by a record rally in European shares, softened U.S. tariff expectations on China, and prospects of further rate cuts by major central banks. Investors pumped a robust $15.2 billion into global equity funds during the week, which was their largest weekly net purchase since Dec. 25, 2024, as per LSEG Lipper data. Investor appetite was boosted by a sharp rally in European shares, which remained strong despite a sell-off in major U.S. AI-linked stocks triggered by concerns over DeepSeek, a low-cost Chinese artificial…

Telegram is rolling out six new features which may enhance the gifting experience, the company announced on Thursday. As part of the changes, users can now display collectible gifts as emoji statues and transfer gifts to the blockchain and even auction them. Further, it also brings the ability to share collectible gifts via Telegram stories. Notably, this is the second major update of the year, following the January 1 patch which introduced an in-app QR code scanner, service message reactions, emojis in folder names, extra message search filters, and more features.New Features on TelegramAs per Telegram, users can now show…