Pension funds in the western world have made am almost one trillion pound ($1.5 trillion) recovery in the first half of 2009. Whilst commendable, this figure represents less than a third of what these funds have lost in market value last year. These figures were released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) who have been tracking the progress of pension funds since the outset of the global economic turndown. According to the OECD who is based in Paris, the recovery in pension fund performance has continued through September 30, 2009, on the back of strong equity returns. However it will take some time before the losses that occurred during 2008 are fully recouped. Most pension funds staged a partial recovery in the first half of 2009, generating investment returns of 3.5 percent in nominal terms. Membership of OECD is made up from mostly financially developed industrialized economies

The cost of car insurance appears to be dramatically on the rise, according to a recent survey from the Automobile Association (AA) in the third quarter of 2009, insuring a car rose at its fastest pace in 15 years, driven by a spate of rising personal injury claims and exacerbated by fraud. Statistics issued by the AA show that the average quoted premium for comprehensive motor cover rose 5.6 percent to £821 pounds during the three months to September 30, and by 14 percent from 2008.

As news filters through to the market that Virgin Money has applied for a banking license through the FSA (Financial Services Authority) it now appears more than likely that Virgin Money will make an offer for part or all of the Northern Rock business, with many analysts claiming that an informal agreement has already been struck with the UK government, and all that is required is tie up a few loose ends before the deal can be officially announced. Speculation in banking circles point to the fact that the UK government will need to request a high asking price for Northern Rock. Any sale at a "knock down" price is bound to infuriate taxpayers whose money was used to keep the Rock from sinking. On the other hand, Branson’s company is not liable to pay an inflated price for the bank. This could lead to an impasse that could see the operation stay with the UK government for the foreseeable future. Analysts state that selling Northern Rock would be in the best interests of both the government and UK taxpayers, but only in the medium to longer term. With an election looming, questions remain whether Gordon Brown’s government could allow themselves such a luxury.

Discount retailer, Matalan is reputed to be weighing up a £1.5 billion offer, after a number of companies expressed their interest in acquiring the business which remains privately owned. Among the parties interested are private equity group CVC. Matalan were taken private by John Hargreaves, their founder and controlling more than three years ago with indications having it that Hargreaves is neither interested in entering into an auction to sell his company or at any price.

The employee owned department store chain John Lewis, has seen online sales of its clothing range, take tremendous steps forwards since the company re- launched their updated website last month. With the launch came the release of a wide range of new fashion brands exclusive to the company. A leading executive from John Lewis Direct announced the company’s satisfaction with results achieved till now, that far surpassed their predictions. In general, sales of clothing online from the company were about three times higher than last year.

Mobile phone company Orange are due to begin marketing the iPhone to UK customers in Early November, a move that is bound to mark strong competition with O2 as the Xmas run up gets under way. Orange’s announcement last month that it had become the first UK network breaks O2’s exclusive hold on marketing the iPhone device, caused shock waves in the industry. The iPhone is expected to be launched by Orange on 10 November, just one day after O2’s two-year exclusive contract with Apple ends. Carphone Warehouse, which was the only independent retailer able to stock the iPhone when O2 had it to itself, is also expected to sell the phone on behalf of Orange. The iPhone is seen as the best touchscreen phone in the market, and has won a clutch of industry awards.

In the money markets, Sterling was back on a rise against the leading currencies with the notable exception of the Swiss franc.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6322
• Pound/Euro 1.10979
• Pound/Japanese Yen 150.2587
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6629

The FTSE 100 suffered a late reaction to the news that the UK economy was still in recession, falling 50.83 points to close on 5191.74 on Monday. The FTSE 250 was also down by 137.55 points to 9186.10.

The world’s largest construction equipment maker Caterpillar, has announced their intention to permanently cut 2,500 jobs in the US. The news was a contradiction to predictions that economic recovery was on its way for the construction industry in general and Caterpillar in particular, with the company undertaking to reinstate 550 workers that they had previously laid off. During the downturn, Caterpillar has cut about 34,000 jobs globally.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones also continued to decline, down a further 104.22 points to 9867.96. At the same time, the NASDAQ Composite index appeared to be on a never ending but steady decline, yesterday down a further 12.62 points to close on 2141.85

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Tags: AA, Automobile Association, Bank, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, car insurance, Caterpillar, Currency, CVC, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, FSA, FTSE, Gordon Brown, iPhone, John Hargreaves, John Lewis, Matalan, Mobile phone, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Northern Rock, O2, OECD, Orange, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pensions, Recession, Retail, Stock Markets, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Virgin Money, Wall Street

The Nationwide Building Society Nationwide have recently announced that they are to substantially increase the discount on offer for first-time home buyers that participate in the company’s mortgage reservation scheme with the offer applying to three-, four-, and five-year fixed-rate mortgages in the meantime. In addition, the Nationwide are offering a complementary combined reservation and legal fee option to borrowers who are planning to move home. These offers, as well as similar, have been designed to reduce the initial lay outs involved in acquiring a property. A spokesman for the Nationwide is the world’s largest building society and one of the largest mortgage lenders in the UK predicted that with these measures they have removed some of the barriers that may have prevented people from buying a property.

In a bid to satisfy European authorities, the Royal Bank of Scotland may have no option but to either close down or farm out 312 of its branches operating s in England and Wales under the RBS banner and serving more than one million small businesses. The EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes appears to be forcing the RBS ’hand as they EU looks for substantial disposals to compensate for billions of pounds of taxpayer support as well as to finance the bank’s involvement in the UK Treasury’s toxic asset insurance scheme. The bank’s proposals to the EU, which are not liable to involve the company’s NatWest branch network in England and Wales, are thought to be in a well advanced state of negotiation.

The Icelandic government have announced that they have reached a fresh agreement with the UK government over the reimbursing the 400,000 savers who lost money when Icesave owner Landsbanki collapsed, leaving debts of around £3 billion. The original ruling was rejected by the UK and Netherlands governments, meaning a new bill will go before Iceland’s parliament for final agreement some time today.

A number of UK based manufacturers are combining efforts to promote the ‘Buy British’ angle in their marketing campaigns. among them are amusement ride manufacturer Amusement Technical, who, among others, want to take full advantage of the low exchange rate between sterling and the Euro to increase their export activities. A spokesman for the company explained that the low value of Sterling created a considerable opportunity for UK manufacturers competing for business in the Eurozone. The obvious downturn is that products and raw materials imported from the same region will be considerably more expensive.

The pound continued to rise in a volatile week’s trading, climbing 0.4% against the euro and 0.2% versus the dollar.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6303
• Pound/Euro 1.10989
• Pound/Japanese Yen 148.2221
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6658

The FTSE 100 fell 32.71 points on 5190.24 on Friday’s trading. The FTSE 250 dropped also shed some of its gains before the weekend, down 58.97 points to close on 9,426.20.

Bank of America have reported net losses of £612 million ($1billion) for the three months from July to September, a figure much worse than analysts predicted. The figure compares with a net profit of $3.2 billion in the second quarter of 2009 and $1.2 billion for the same period of last year. Bank of America is the fourth major US bank to report their third quarter results which are the least impressive so far.

The Dow Jones index took a tumble on Friday’s trading, falling below the 10,000 points mark, achieved during the week’s trading. The index fell 67.03 points to 9995.91 while the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 16.49 points to 2,156.8

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Tags: Amusement Technical, Bank, Bank of America, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, Global Credit Crisis, Icelandic government, Icesave, Landsbanki, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, mortgage seekers, NASDAQ, Nationwide, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Netherlands government, RBS, Recession, Royal Bank of Scotland, Savings, UK Banks, UK government, UK Recession

Millions of members of the UK community of retirees are looking at the dim prospect of receiving a pension hike of less than ten pounds a month when the new rates kick-in in April 2010 The reason for the minimal increase is that UK inflation on which pension rises are calculated. Is considerably less than the minimum of 2.5%. government pledge to annually increase the state pension.

Instead, recently released figures from the Office for National Statistics show that UK retail prices index registered actually recorded a fall of 1.4% for the year ending September 2008. This means that both state and public sector pensions, both of which are calculated according to September inflation, will reach only the minimum figure of 2.5%.

A spokesman for the charity, Age Concern rushed to state that at £97.65 a week the basic state pension was seriously inadequate to guarantee the UK elderly a reasonable standard of living. Thy went on to insist that the current pension system is in need of urgent reform that will ensure older people can live off their pensions without having to apply for benefit top ups.

A monthly study has shown that living costs for pensioners are rising at a rate much higher than those for younger people, with the elderly spend a disproportionate amount on energy bills and food.

This daunting piece of news for UK retirees is only the latest in a line of unexpected pitfalls they will have to bear. Recent studies have shown that not only are many Britons are dramatically reshaping their retirement plans to match a new reality. A reality that depicts those who were due to retire in the near future, are putting off their retirement for as long as possible as the reality hits home that those who are retiring today will need to live off less than what represents half of the UK national average wage.

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Tags: Age Concern, British Economy, British Pound, Credit Crunch, Debt, Economy, Financial News, Government, Inflation, Interest Rates, Money, Money Management, Office for National Statistics, pensioners, Recession, Retail, retirees, Savings, state pensions, UK Economy, UK elderly, UK government, UK inflation

It seems such a short time ago that people who invested all of their money in the stock market were regarded as being "risqué," and those who kept their money in the bank in short and long term deposit accounts were described as being "sensible". Well that role has certainly been reversed over the last crazy year or so, when the financial world turned upside down for so many.

Nowadays people who still have money on deposit at the bank are regarded as being some form of masochists, and no less than the banks themselves. With interest rates seemingly stuck forever on 0.5%, money left in a bank account is not only gathering dust, it is also paying for the privilege. On the other hand, the FTSE can almost do no wrong. And it has been that way for more than half a year, when the first indications that the global economic downturn might not last forever began to look evident. Sufficient to say that, the FTSE 100 rose by 21% in the third quarter of 2009, and 45% since March the highest percentage rises since the exchange was created in 1983. At current interest levels, investors would have to leave their money in the bank for around 7 years to earn that kind of return on their investment.

Leading economists argue that by trying to jump start the economy, the UK government has damaged national growth for the foreseeable future, with the only way that the situation can be reversed is to put an end to the stimulus passage and increase interest rates. They go on to suggest that as soon as the government does increase interest rates, only then will the stock market boom begin to fizzle out. That will be the time for the smart investor to release their equity exposure and return most if not all their capital to their bank account and earn some reasonable interest. Like the good old days.

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Tags: Bank Account, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, Credit Crunch, Currency, Economic Downturn, Economics, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, Global Credit Crisis, Interest Rates, Investment, Money, Money Management, Recession, Savings, stimulus passage, stock market, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession

A new deadly computer virus is doing the rounds and this one, which goes by the name of Clampi, is proving to be a headache for literally thousands of on-line banking customers.

The Clampi virus is spreading quickly throughout both the UK and US, and has a particularly invidious way of effecting people’s computers.

The virus, what’s known in the jargon as a Trojan, has been created by hackers intent on stealing people’s personal banking details. It effects people’s computers after they visit certain websites and then sits quietly waiting its chance. Then, once the computer users accesses their personal banking website, it activates, and captures such vital information as login and password details.

Once harnessed, these details are then sent back to the waiting hackers, who using them to commit on-line fraud scams.

The Clampi virus courts some 5,000 financial websites; ones which include British and American banks, but also mortgage lenders, on-line shopping sites, casinos and email service providers.

And although the Clampi virus has been around since 2005, only now is it really beginning to make its presence felt. In the US for example, thousands of dollars of fraudulent transactions are already being blamed on the Trojan.

Computer security experts are warning that the Clampi virus represents a complex threat and one which people should take very seriously indeed. They warn that it is just beginning to seriously target UK banks and there is potential for wave after wave of attacks. But only now are the experts fully aware of its devastating potential.

With the US under attack from the Clampi virus, it is believed that over 1,000 computers in the UK have been penetrated. And those computers running Microsoft Windows based operating systems are especially vulnerable to the Clampi virus.

Computer security experts are urging everyone to be particularly careful of falling victim to the virus. They advise all computer users to be on their guard against links embedded within emails from people not known to them, or likewise unfamiliar emails with attachments; but, also be cautious of social networking sites, instant messages, blogs, or websites that they come across during a surf. Innocent appearing websites are one of the most popular ways that such Trojans are distributed around computer networks. The general rule is, say the boffins, never download anything from any site unless you can completely vouch for its credentials.

What’s more, the experts are warning everyone to not only run a good anti-virus software programme, but also keep it up to date.

For more information on this and other computer viruses, help protecting your computer and staying safe on the web visit http://www.computer-protection.co.uk/

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Tags: anti-virus software, Bank, Banking, Clampi, Clampi Virus, Computer Virus, Current Account, hackers, Microsoft Windows, Money, Money Management, on-line banking, on-line fraud, personal details, Trojan, UK Banks, UK Credit Cards

In times gone by, the self righteous members of the community were often heard to say "neither a lender nor a borrower be." Not a bad piece of advice it would transpire and one that should have been heeded more carefully a few years ago. However it must have been hard to take when handed out by your maiden Aunt who refused to lend you sixpence for your bus fare, which you had mistakenly spent on liquorice allsorts.

The last year has seen an all time low for both savers as well as those whose life style forces them to borrow just to survive. For savers it has been especially tough. According to statistics gathered by the Bank of England’s the average interest rate for savers has plunged from 4.49% to 0.41% in the last twelve months, as the BOE has cut interest rates to the bone to prop up the banks.

Interest rates for the average instant access account has plunged from 1.85% before tax (2.31% after tax) to 0.14% (0.17%), while the average price of fixed rate bonds has fallen from 4.53% (5.66%) to 2.42% (3.03%).

However the true picture for many savers is a lot less colourful than that, as these rates are only on offer frosh fresh deposits, while much of the money held in UK banks are on older long terms plans, where interest rates have plunged as low as 0.08% (0.1 %) interest, returning just 80 pence interest a year for every £1,000 saved.

For borrowers the picture is just as gloomy. Overdrafts are being cut and default interest rates being applied with a heavy hand. Those whose debt package is linked to their credit card have fared no better. Reports of rates hiking reduced borrowing limits or even having their credit cut off completely abound. And balance transfer deals and reward schemes are rapidly becoming part of banking history.

It may be a bitter pill for many to swallow, but Auntie might have been right!

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Tags: Bank of England, Banking, BOE, British Economy, British Pound, Credit, Credit Crunch, Current Account, Debt, Economy, Financial News, Interest Rates, Money, Money Management, Overdraft, Recession, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK Recession

Despite the fact that the UK has officially been in recession for more than six month, till now it has managed to retain her highly important triple-A credit rating. As a general election begins to loom increasing larger on the horizon, a growing political consensus has begun to emerge on the need to cut public spending in order to ensure that The country’s financial credibility remains unscathed as the economy recovers gains momentum.

The rating agency Moody’s predicted on Wednesday that a downgrade was unlikely despite the fact that Britain’s budget deficit will soon have risen to be the highest among the World’s advanced economies.

The Bank of England will this week refrain from expanding its £175 billion stimulus package, as signs that the economy is emerging from recession, continue to gain ground and may have stopped contracting during the third quarter.

Although the UK equities market continues to recover, it was reported that it is doing so at too slow a pace to make sufficient inroads the aggregate shortfall of UK pension schemes which is currently approaching the £200 billion. According to data released by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) from their 7800 Index, the total deficit of pension schemes with shortfalls stood at £194.6 billion at the end of August, up from £179 billion a month earlier. The PPF said that 85 per cent of all UK schemes were in deficit.

Boosted by higher production of cars and pharmaceuticals, U.K. manufacturing figures for July increased three times as much as had been forecasted, making for the highest increase in 18 months. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, production output rose 0.9 percent from the previous month, higher than the 0.3 percent increase that economists had predicted.

Shares in Sports Direct rose by 11.5 per cent to close on 129.85 pence after the company raised their full-year profit targets in the wake of a strong start to trading in the period. Sports Direct, controlled by Mike Ashley, owner of Newcastle United football club, said annual underlying earnings would be around £150 million, up from its previous forecasts of £140 million.

The unhealthy state of the UK construction was again in evidence with news that equipment hire company Ashtead’s underlying first-quarter pre-tax profit has fallen by 75 percent and would have been even worse as cost cutting efforts helped to maintain margins.

Ashtead, which rents industrial equipment from diggers to small tools in the UK as well as in the United States, softened the blow by stating that the company has typically made losses in the second half and that the board still expects full-year results to meet its previous expectations.

Underlying pre-tax profit for the fiscal first quarter ended July 31 fell to £8.8 million from £35.9 million in 2008, on rental revenue down 19 percent at £221.6 million. The company’s net debt fell to £873 million from £1.036 billion at the end of April.

Dow Jones & Co., have announced that they are to launch a new index that will cover small to medium sized U.K. companies designed to serve as a benchmark for their Newswires expanded small cap coverage.

Designed to measure the performance of small cap stocks, the Dow Jones U.K. Smaller Companies index will 188 companies listed in London. They will include stocks from the junior Alternative Investment Market and stocks listed in other indexes such as the FTSE 250 and FTSE Small Cap.

In a week of fairly frenzied takeover activity, the FTSE 100 index has risen above the 5,000 points mark, the highest it has been since October 2008.

The index closed up 57 points at 5004.30. Meanwhile the FTSE 250 continued its inexorable climb on Wednesday, up 101.72 points to close on 9,137.05.

The pound continued to rise against the dollar, whilst weakening further against the Euro and the Swiss Franc.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6547
• Pound/Euro 1.1373
• Pound/Japanese Yen 152.3058
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.7238

Oil prices have risen again as a weak US dollar made the commodity cheaper against the other leading currencies.

Light sweet crude for October delivery rose 41 cents to $71.51 a barrel as OPEC oil ministers prepared to meet for a summit in Vienna.

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Tags: Alternative Investment Market, Ashtead, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, credit rating, Currency, Dow Jones, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, general election, Money Markets, Newcastle United, Office for National Statistics, Pension Protection Fund, PPF, public spending, Recession, Sports Direct, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK pension, UK Recession

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has sent out a very strong signal that the few remaining privately owned banks in the UK will be disallowed from gaining control of state-owned Northern Rock. He went on to add that the taxpayer’s shares in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland will not be available for sale to members of the UK banking community.

Darling further expanded his stance on the subject by outlining that as the UK government begins to scale back its holdings in Northern Rock and eventually the other two banks, it will do so in a manner that will encourage new entrance into the UK banking community. .

The denationalisation of Northern Rock is expected to take place prior to the general election, anticipated to be as early as next spring. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as Chancellor Darling, is well aware that if the sale of Northern Rock goes well it will strengthen their chances of being re-elected, which at the moment are not strong. Their plan is for the private sector to pay around £20 billion for the Rock’s retail deposits, while the bank’s toxic assets will be retained by the UK government to be redeemed in stages.

Mr. Darling envisions and encourages the entry of high street retailers and similar bodies, in order to make their presence felt as high street banking entities. He apparently approves of their management capabilities to that of the banking community.

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Tags: Alistair Darling, Banking, British Economy, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Economy, Financial News, Gordon Brown, Lloyds, Lloyds Banking Group, Money, Northern Rock, Recession, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession

According to a series of reports, the number of people in the UK who spend their time scouring the internet for “discount vouchers” has grown by close to 50% within the last year. This seems to be part of a global trend with since l. Google reporting an increase of two thirds in searches “discount vouchers” in the year up to December 2008.

With the recession at its fiercest, consumers are embracing this internet based phenomenon, that experts expect will remain long after the economic recovery. The use of on-line discount vouchers to save money on retail, food and other purchases is here to stay.

Reports conform that about 70 per cent of middle class consumers are reported to have taken advantage of money-off vouchers during the last six months, which translates to around 20 million adults in the UK.

The number of websites catering to the discount voucher trend has mushroomed during the past year, with on-line retailers paying commission on sales through the coupons, generally a few per cent of the final sale price.

Most of the forward thinking companies, who have successfully marketed the internet voucher concept, are not so inclined to attribute their success to the financial downturn that has hit the UK especially hard in the last 12 to 18 months. They hasten to point out that during the last few months, when signs of a recovery have been growing fast; demands for vouchers have been growing as well as the rates of conversions to sales.

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Tags: British Economy, Credit Crunch, discount vouchers, Economy, Financial News, Google, internet, Money, Money Management, Online discount vouchers, Recession, UK Economy, UK Recession, vouchers, websites

Due to a combination of changing UK demographics and the dramatic financial downturn, it now appears that more than two-thirds of the baby boomers of the UK retirees are facing a future that will entail working past what was always the pre-determined retiral age (65 for men and 60 for women). And, the truth be told, no one is too unhappy about it. As the situation appears at the moment, many should-be retirees will either continue to work full or part-time and even some who have officially retired have decided to return to their workplace where, to their considerable surprise, they are being welcomed with open arms.

The reason for this shift is that UK employers are beginning to realize that the country is in the middle of an unprecedented demographic shift, with the numbers of young work age people dwindling, as the older people in the community are living longer and healthier lives and have gathered a life-time experience in the work place; experience which, for many years, might have been needlessly jettisoned. Nowadays, as Britain starts to see the beginning of its economic recovery, they might be sorely needed.

This fact has not gone unnoticed among those who were facing their retirement age with financial worries hanging over their heads, that of decreasing property values and decimated pension funds. The realization that people can now expect to live until at least 75 makes the idea of retiring at 65 seem a little premature. In the Britain of the 21st century people are marrying later and bringing children into the world in their thirties, which means that by the time their children become financially independent, retirement is already coming at them fairly fast, with no real time to accumulate the hundreds of thousands of pounds that they will need to supplement their state pension.

Currently the default retirement age (DRA) is becoming an increasing bone of much contention for workers and employees alike. As a result of pressure, the Government has brought forward to next year a review of the legislation which compels employers to forcibly retire people at the age of 65.

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Tags: baby boomers, British Economy, Credit Crunch, default retirement age, DRA, economic recovery, Economy, employees, Employment, Recession, retirement, UK Economy, UK employers, UK government, UK pensioners