Ancelotti and Bale blasted by Calderon

The ex-Real Madrid supremo has criticised the Welsh star and the trainer of the team, as he thinks they do not have the right ingredients to be successful at the club

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon does not believe that Gareth Bale or Carlo Ancelotti have strong enough personalities to cope with the pressure at the club.

Calderon feels Bale, a world-record signing from Tottenham, lacks the mental strength to deal with the expectations surrounding los Blancos like Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Bale seems to me like the opposite of what 'The Lion King' Ronaldo stands for," the 62-year-old toldTuttosport.

"Bale seems psychologically fragile to me, one who suffers. To play for Real, you must have nerves of steel. The pressure is bigger than at any other club in the world."

The ex-CEO also says Madrid's coach Ancelotti, who was brought in from Paris Saint-Germain as a replacement for Jose Mourinho, is not the right man for the job.

"It seems to me that Ancelotti does not have the personality and charisma to lead Real Madrid," he continued.

"The team have yet to play a defined, organised and homogeneous football, and they concede too many goals. 

"Among other things, I was surprised when they told me that in the summer he turned just 54. I saw him already close to retirement."

Ryanair cuts annual forecast again on lower fares prospect

Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair indicated Monday its annual profit was set to fall for the first time in five years as intense competition was pushing average fares down by about 10 percent over the winter months.

Just two months after issuing its first profit warning in a decade, the airline cut its forecast further for its financial year ending in March, saying earnings would amount to only 510 million euros ($688 million), down from the 570 million euros predicted earlier.

Ryanair made a point of stressing that net profit for the first half of the year increased slightly despite a challenging business environment, with traffic rising by 2 percent to 49 million passengers.

Volatile business environment

'We're pleased to report increased first-half profits, particularly against the backdrop of softer fares this summer,' Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in a statement.

CFO Howard Millar added on-board spending had been growing, but people had predominantly been booking discount fares which he took as a sign that recovery in Europe was still fragile.

'At the macro level in Europe, signals have gone green, but on the micro level things don't seem to be as strong as people think,' Millar commented.

In another move to raise its attractiveness, Ryanair said it would assign all seats on its planes, ending the often frenzied rush by passengers to secure the best seats and allowing families to sit together.

British business leaders want their country to stay in EU

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on Monday intensified its campaign to keep the UK in a reformed European Union, pointing out that continued membership was overwhelmingly in the country's interest.

At the start of its national conference in London, Britain's biggest employers' group estimated that membership was worth between 62 billion pounds ($99 billion, 73 billion euros) and 78 billion pounds, amounting to four to five percent of the nation's total output.

'We have looked beyond the political rhetoric to examine to pros and cons of EU membership and British business is unequivocal - the single market is fundamental to out future,' CBI Director General John Cridland argued.

Direct market access

The campaign comes as divided public opinion over Europe poses one of the biggest obstacles to Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured) winning a second term in 2015. He has pledged to win back some powers from Brussels and then put the new terms of Britain's membership to the public in an in-or-out referendum by the end of 2017.

The CBI emphasized 78 percent of the firms it surveyed favored staying in the EU, with 10 percent preferring to leave. The employers' group admitted a series of reforms were needed to convince euro skeptics, such as the removal of barriers to e-commerce and a revision of the bloc's working-time directive.

'We're better off in a reformed EU than outside with no influence,' Cridland remarked. The CBI stressed membership gave Britain unhampered access to a market of almost 500 million people and had consolidated the position of London as one of the world's top financial centers.

EBay eyes use of Bitcoins in online commerce

Under efforts to expand its PayPal payment system, eBay was also watching Bitcoins, the e-commerce platform's Chief Executive John Donahoe told British business daily Financial Times.

In an interview published Monday, Donahoe described digital currencies generally as a very powerful thing in future. Initially, however, eBay was focusing on incorporating reward points from retailers' loyalty schemes into its PayPal wallet, he noted.

'There is a limit to how many cards you will carry, or remembering what points you have or don't. But in a digital wallet, you can put 50 different loyalty cards,' Donahoe said.

The very same technology could accept digital currencies such as Bitcoins, he added.

Bitcoins, which started circulating in 2009, are a form ofelectronic moneythat is independent of the traditional banking system and central bank oversight. In recent years, Bitcoin has garnered attention from venture capital firms and investors who believe the virtual currency could become the future of online payments. However, Bitcoin has also gained a reputation for facilitating drug deals and money laundering.

Nevertheless, earlier this year Germany became the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as a private currency, and last week the first Bitcoin ATM was inaugurated in Vancouver, Canada.

EBay has in recent years sought to bring more large retailers on to its e-commerce platform, which started as an auction side for small traders. Therefore, the firm has formed partnerships with loyalty programs, allowing customers to collect points when they spend their money through eBay.

The platform's efforts may raise the possibility that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin may one day move beyond the niche role they currently have.

Late Zurich Insurance CFO not subjected to ‘undue pressure’

Former Zurich CFO Pierre Wauthier was found dead on August 26 at his home in Walchwil, Switzerland, in what police said was an apparent suicide. He left behind a typed note, blaming the insurer's then chairman Josef Ackermann for putting him under pressure and describing his strained relationship with the former head of Deutsche Bank.

As a consequence, Ackermann resigned while denying the allegations, saying it would not have been possible to carry out his duties with the required resolve under the given circumstances.

Two independent probes by auditing firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Zurich securities law company Homburger were unable to provide any proof of Ackermann's alleged improper behavior.

The two firms had conducted interviews and scoured scores of emails and other correspondence for evidence that Wauthier was placed under undue stress at work.

Looking ahead is the name of the game

'Two investigations directed by Swiss financial regulators found no indication that Pierre Wauthier was subjected to any undue or inappropriate pressure, and furthermore, the presentation of the financial figures was confirmed as appropriate,' Zurich Insurance said in a statement on Monday.

Ackermann had been reported to have clashed with Wauthier in the run-up to a second-quarter earnings report in mid-August. Ackermann had insisted on changes to the presentation, leading the insurer to signal a lack of progress on business targets.

Observers said Zurich had been eager to get the results of the probes out as quickly as possible in a bid to draw a line under the controversy before November 14 when it was due to report third-quarter results.

Vodafone shares surge on AT&T takeover rumors

At the London Stock Exchange, Vodafone shares surged more than 2 percent in early trading Friday, after Bloomberg reported that ATT was exploring strategies for a potential takeover of the British mobile operator.

Citing sources familiar with the situation, Bloomberg business news agency said Thursday the US-based phone company was intensifying work on which Vodafone assets it would retain after a deal, and who could buy others.

While the companies hadn't entered formal negotiations, ATT was already formulating a strategy for Vodafone's operations in Europe, where mobile broadband adoption was lagging behind the United States, Bloomberg quoted the unidentified sources as saying.

A takeover or a merger between ATT and Vodafone would create the world's largest telecommunications operator by sales with a market capitalization exceeding $250 billion (181 billion euros). With more than 500 million wireless subscribers worldwide, the company would be able to challenge Google and Apple when negotiating handset subsidies, Bloomberg noted.

ATT's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson already said last month that there was a huge opportunity in Europe to invest in mobile broadband. For Vodafone, a tie-up with ATT could create new chances, too, as its growth in Europe has stagnated in recent months due to saturated mobile markets and EU regulation imposing caps on wireless roaming charges.

The American firm was also examining UK mobile operator EE, which is a joint venture between France's Orange and Germany's Deutsche Telekom, as an alternative to a Vodafone takeover, the sources told Bloomberg.

Global factory output gaining

Purchasing Managers Indexes (PMI) published on Friday pointed to gradual gains in global economic activity among thousands of manufacturers. US output was fastest since April 2011. China's official PMI topped expectations.

New export orders in China, Japan, South Korea and India expanded simultaneously, a trend which economists said was due partly to a gradual improvement in Europe.

'Overall, the data is positive for global demand,' said Radhika Rao, a Singapore-based economist. There were reasons to be 'cautiously optimistic,' she said.

Zhang Liqun, an economist with the Chinese think-tank Development Research Center, said China's PMI of 51.4 for October indicated a 'preliminary stabilization in the economy.'

China's PMI in September had been 51.1. Anything over 50 signals expansion.

South Korea's PMI pointed to factory activity expanding in October – for the first time in five months. Taiwan, a key supplier for global technical chains, was at its fastest since early 2012.

US index surprises

The US purchasing managers index rose for a fifth straight month to 56.4 in October, up slightly from September and defying analysts' forecasts of an overall decline.

The US index's three components – new orders, production and employment - all remained moderately in growth territory.

Robert Kavciv, an economist with BMO Capital Markets, said the US manufacturing sector had staged a strong comeback, despite the shutdown 'drama' from October 1-16 as President Barack Obama was challenged by hard-line Republicans in Congress.

Britain's PMI for manufacturing stood at 56 in October, according to the data company Markit.

It was a further sign that important export markets were 'either growing or at least improving,' said Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg.

Manufacturing activity also picked up somewhat in Canada and slightly in Brazil