“Marks & Spencer reported a fall in full year profits this morning as legacy issues and difficult trading conditions have seen its general merchandise operation suffer. However, on a positive note investors will be pleased to see its food and international operations continued to perform well. Although it failed to offset the drag from general merchandise, like-for-like food sales rose by 1.7%.
 
“We continue to believe Marks & Spencer is tackling the problems in its womenswear and general merchandise operations. The changes to the board and the actions they are taking are being implemented but investors should be aware it will take some time to bed in. The share price has shown some strong gains in recent months on the back of anticipated future improvements and rumours around a potential takeover.
 
“For those investors who can see past some of these economic difficulties and take a contrarian view on cyclical stocks we continue to recommend Marks & Spencer as a ‘buy’. We believe there are positive changes to come from the group. It continues to look at ways to reduce costs whilst remaining competitive in these challenging conditions and expand its overseas operation, which should help balance its reliance on the UK consumer over time.”

Ian Livingston has been chief executive of BT since 2008 and has been with the company for 16 years.

Much of Livingston’s pay package was attribute to a rise in the value of BT shares.

News Source: Dailymail

At close on Wednesday, the index was just 90 points away from surpassing an all-time high of 6930 set in 1999.

However, today it suffered a huge fall after a shock tumble in Chinese manufacturing and fears that the Fed could ease on QE in the US negatively impacted the index.

Speaking to the Today programme, Cable said:

“These are good results and lot of that is down to the contribution made by the work force as well as good management.

“The big competitive threat to the Royal Mail is email. It’s a declining business, and in order for Royal Mail to survive they are going to have to invest heavily in the profitable bits of the business, which are basically parcels.”

The index is closing in on the all-time high of 6930.2 sat at the height of the ‘dotcom boom’

The network operator had to cut prices in Europe in order to retain customers, which contributed to an overall 4.4% fall in revenues to £44.4bn.

Despite the news, Vodafone’s share price remained relatively unchanged on Tuesday at 197.75p.

News Source: BBC

The state-owned delivery service benefited from the growing trend of online shopping and a brand revamp.

News Source: SkyNews

Today’s close of the FTSE 100, marked its fourth highest closing average in history.

Marks & Spencer shares rise by 6% despite a fall in annual profits.

Capita shares were also among the top FTSE 100 risers following news of a £1.2bn contract win with 02.

The respective research also threw out a number of interesting statistics such as 30% find ISA rules confusing and 32% do not know what ISA stands for:

“66% of ISA savers think, that if they could be increased, cash ISA limits should be brought into line with higher stocks and shares ISA limits for all savers, according to research by Nationwide Building Society, which also reveals that many people find the tax-free savings accounts complicated or confusing.
 
The findings show a majority of people may support Nationwide’s call to double the cash ISA limit from £5760 to £11,520, making it the same as the stocks and shares ISA limit.  The Society says that not only will higher cash ISA limits benefit savers such as first-time-buyers and pensioners, it will also make the whole ISA system simpler.
 
This is borne out by YouGov research carried out online on behalf of Nationwide. The research found:

30% find ISA rules confusing

31% find the differences between cash and stocks and shares ISAs confusing – more so than any other aspect

23% say the different rules which apply to different types of ISAs put them off saving into any ISA

In particular, 21% find the annual limits confusing, 24% are confused by the way limits change every tax year, whilst 22% are confused by the timings for when they could invest in an ISA

In fact, 32% don’t know what ‘ISA’ stands for
 
Nationwide believes that bringing parity to the ISA limits will make them more accessible and less confusing, thereby helping to encourage a more positive savings culture in the UK.  The research showed that people were particularly confused when it came to comparing stocks and shares ISAs with cash ISAs, so it is no wonder most people would prefer saving in cash over stocks and shares for an ISA (61% choose cash).
 
Nationwide’s research also revealed:

81% don’t know how much you could save into an stocks and shares ISA compared to a cash ISA

26% say it is unfair that you can save more in a stocks and shares ISA than you can in a cash ISA

22% of people say they would be more likely to save into an ISA if the limits were equalised
 
Richard Marriot, Nationwide’s head of savings, said: “ISAs are clearly popular and an extremely useful way of saving tax-free, but it seems a significant proportion of people are confused by the current rules.  This could mean individuals are less likely to use them to save.  Making the limits the same for both cash and stocks and shares ISAs would help to simplify them, giving savers more confidence about opening and getting the most out of their ISA.  Calling for parity on ISA limits and the ability to transfer from a stocks and shares ISA to a cash ISA is just one of the ways in which we are working to meet our target of empowering 1 million people to start saving by 2017″.

Ewing’s Fidelity UK Growth Fund has a 4% position in Ocado and noted: