Russian premier Vladimir Putin has ordered a halt to all exports of wheat and other grains from August 15, raising the stakes dramatically in the crisis over wheat supplies.

STANDARD LIFE'S HARRY NIMMO

EXPLORING LATIN AMERICA

US banks with Wall Street operations are bracing for a slump in trading profits this year after the third quarter got off to a poor start, with global economic uncertainty and Europe's sovereign debt woes leading to a slowdown in market activity in July....

Barclays has posted profits of £3.95bn for the first half of 2010, up 44% on the same period last year.

Chris Burvill, manager of the Gartmore Cautious Managed fund, tells Julian Marr, editorial director of Marketing-hub.co.uk, how he plans to deal with a tricky environment for both equities and bonds

TIP OF THE WEEK

Peer group sees £8.5m outflow in May as three-year numbers disappoint, but average fund up 20.7% over one year

RLAM UK Special Sits manager's top-down high conviction approach gives top-quartile outperformance as portfolio celebrates third anniversary

"If I can buy four yachts from my investments, why should I care if my manager can buy one for himself?"