FT Alphaville " The 6am Cut London China's official PMI figures for April came in at 53.3, compared to 53.1 in March and a median forecast of 53.6 from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It was the highest number in a year, and the fifth straight month of expansion, says the FT. Heathrow owner BAA may charge airlines higher landing fees to help sort out Britain's border chaos, reports the FT. The company is studying the plan, which is backed by David Cameron. Bank of America is planning to cut about 2,000 jobs in its investment banking, commercial banking and non-US wealth-management units, says the WSJ, citing people familiar with the situation. The cuts come on top of a plan announced last year to cut 30,000 jobs over three years from its consumer banking divisions. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut official interest rates by 50bps to 3.75%. The country's house prices fell for the fifth straight quarter, reports Bloomberg. Guy Hands has completed his last deal for the foreseeable future, with his fund Terra Firma's acquisition of Four Seasons, says the FT. A flurry of deals in recent weeks has left the high profile private equity investor with no firepower for the first time in a decade. Sir Martin Sorrell's total remuneration rose 60% to £6.8m in 2011 from £4.2m in 2010, WPP's annual report revealed, the FT reports. Meanwhile there is scrutiny of Andrew Moss" pay as the Aviva CEO draws near to a self-imposed deadline to double the insurer's earnings per share, also in the FT. Mitsubishi and Mitsui & Co agreed to buy a 14.7% stake in Woodside Petroleum's proposed Browse LNG project in Australia for $2bn, reports Bloomberg. Occupy Wall Street is planning May Day marches around the world today. Bloomberg Here's that video of Paul Krugman vs Ron Paul. There's no real alternative to austerity for Europe, says Gideon Rachman. Financial Times Tic-toc: What went wrong with the SFO's mistake-ridden investigation of the Tchenguiz brothers? Shadow banking: both destructive and benign, says Lex. It's time Britain's state-owned banks ditched the stiff upper lip, says Patrick Jenkins. US Interior Department is considering a "frack first, disclose later" rule concerning chemicals used to mine gas. Bo Xilai's son, Jon Huntsman's daughters, the WSJ and the red Ferrari that maybe wasn't. New York Times Frustrated with China, GE expects more revenue this year from Australia. Wall Street Journal This entry was posted by Kate Mackenzie on Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 at 5:36 and is filed under Uncategorised. Tagged with briefings. Edit this entry.