CITY WHISPERS: Ben & Jerry’s freezes over Palestine conflict

City watchers will recall that consumer goods giant Unilever clashed with its ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s last year when it tried to stop sales of its products in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank.

The outcome of the crackdown on the Vermont-based company appears to have left its mark after the Hamas attack on Israel this month – despite Unilever’s attempts to burnish its own “woke” credentials.

Although Ben & Jerry’s had previously claimed that selling its ice cream in the West Bank would be “contrary to its values,” it has remained unusually quiet in light of recent events, with no mention of the attack on its website or social media channels was to be found.

Silence: Although Ben & Jerry’s previously claimed that selling its ice cream in the West Bank was “contrary to its values,” it remained quiet in light of recent events

Emails to the press team remained unanswered, while Unilever has so far refused to comment.

Given the ice cream brand and its owner’s stated focus on social justice and the “purpose” of its products, the silence is deafening.

Seraphim is “confident” despite investor concerns.

Seraphim, a London-listed investment fund focused on the space industry, this week published its results for the year to June, with boss Mark Boggett remaining “confident” about the prospects for the sector and its portfolio.

Investors appear less certain as the stock experienced a free fall of nearly 50 percent during the period.

Seraphim blamed this on “significant volatility” in global markets, but Houston, perhaps its stocks have a problem.

Gun owners have little to show for their support

Cambridge-based chipmaker Arm’s short history on the US technology market Nasdaq has proven difficult for investors, to say the least.

The price initially rose by up to 25 percent above the stock market price of $51 per share.

That rally has since fizzled out and is now changing hands around $48, leaving those who have stayed on board with little support to show so far.

And the misery is likely to continue, say Morningstar analysts, who last week set a target of $34 for the stock, a third less than its initial price.

The number crunchers said they were having “difficulty” justifying the current market cap and therefore described the shares as currently “overvalued.”

Maybe this US listing wasn’t better than the London one after all.

Chancellor chats with IFS boss

Last week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Paul Johnson, head of the UK’s leading economic think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), were spotted having breakfast.

Wednesday’s row came a day after the IFS released a report saying the government had no scope for unfunded tax cuts before the election and was in a “terrible budget crunch”.

Whispers understands that Hunt, who is busy preparing for his fall statement on November 22, had this date in his diary before the latest IFS release.

How Whispers would have liked to have been a fly on that wall that morning.