The announcement made before the weekend that that 121,000 Royal Mail staff had voted overwhelmingly for national strikes over jobs, pay and working conditions had UK business owners and managers in a sweat. Companies fear that national action, on top of the regional strikes that have been taking place over the past three months, will cause widespread disruption to postal deliveries and hinder their long awaited and much needed economic Christmas rush. The Communication Workers Union announced that their members had backed nationwide walkouts by a three to one ratio in protest at the “imposition” of changes to working practices as well as cuts in pay and job losses. Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the Postal Workers Union, said that representatives of the union were due to meet on Monday to agree its next step and would give the Royal Mail a “final opportunity” to resolve the dispute over the next week or so.

According to Britain’s business secretary, Lord Mandelson Britain is unlikely to accept Magna International’s plan for the takeover of Vauxhall/Opel unless certain “shortcomings” are addressed. In explaining Britain’s role in “signing off” on the deal, Lord Mandelson stated that an impact plan should be agreed even before talks on how much Britain will contribute to the ($3.1 billion ) €4.5 billion) of loan guarantees needed to restructure Opel can begin. While Germany is due to supply most of the loan guarantees, the British government is being called upon to supply €400 million in guarantees. In return Mandelson expects assurances on the fate of Vauxhall’s two UK plants, in Luton and Ellesmere Port, which employ about 5,000 workers between them, before giving the green light.

According to a report from a leading UK global ratings agency, The recent gains in house prices are likely to prove only a temporary respite before a further steep fall next year, The agency has forecast that they expect UK property prices to fall by about 30 per cent in total from their October 2007 peak, despite the fact that property prices have improved for the last three months leading to hopes of a sustained recovery. However prices still remain 13 per cent below their peak in 2007.

Carphone Warehouse, whilst raising their target for the number of residential broadband customers it hopes to capture in 2009/2010 have taken the opportunity to disclose that the number of subscribers that they had hoped to take on board during their recent acquisition of Tiscali UK, were considerably less than the figures quoted. No fewer than 160,000 than the 1.45 million that Tiscali boasted before the acquisition. On the discovery, Carphone Warehouse has announced that they will be renegotiating the £236 million price it agreed to pay for Tiscali UK.

JJB Sports have announced that they are planning to instigate a share placing and open offer that they hope will rise close to £100 million, more than the total market value of the sporting goods retailer. Shares in JJB, who narrowly avoided administration in April, are likely to be priced below 25 pence, a significant discount to Thursday’s close of 34½ pence. On the news, shares fell sharply on Friday’s trading, down 6.5 per cent to 32¼ pence. On the upside, demand for the new shares has been so high that the company expects to rise significantly more than its current market capitalisation of £86.5 million with analysts predicting that it could even reach more than double that amount. .

On the FTSE 100 Friday, Unilever was among the risers on Friday up 2.7 percent to 1816 pence after industry data showed sales of product lines such as ice-cream and deodorant has been very buoyant since July. Confectionary giant Cadbury fared worse on announcement that their sales had fallen sharply below company targets since July, despite that fact that that the company has increased the number of promotions running after they fell into an unwelcome spotlight after last month’s bid from Kraft. Cadbury closed flat at 785 pence. Shares in Whitbread the brewer added 1.6 per cent to 1269 pence in anticipation of positive results due to be issued on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 continued its steady rise, this time by 7.23 points to close on 5161.87. The index rose 3.5 per cent on the week, thanks largely to the falling US dollar.The FTSE 250 held its ground before closing for the weekend, up a mere 3.86 points to close for the day on 9,377.30

The pound lost some of its pace against the leading currencies, as well as again creeping below the $1.60 mark.

• Pound/US dollar 1.5843
• Pound/Euro 1.10757
• Pound/Japanese Yen 142.1499
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.634

According to figures issued by the Commerce Department, the US trade deficit shrank unexpectedly in August as the weak dollar boosted exports.

The deficit, representing the difference between US imports and exports, fell to $30.7 billion (£19.3 billion) from a revised estimate of $31.9 billion in July.

Exports rose slightly on the back of the weak dollar while imports fell.

The dollar has slipped recently, with traders moving into other currencies as the global economy begins to recover. The sharp fall in the US dollar is giving ammunition to the critics of the Obama administration and fuelling broader concerns about the erosion of America’s reserve currency status.

The Dow Jones index closed strongly for the weekend up 78.07 points to 9864.94. The NASDAQ index continued its consistent rise, up a further 15.35 points to close on 2139.28.

In an unexpected development, but one which is expected to positive implications to the US economy, it was announced on Friday that President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award has been granted for the President’s efforts to reduce the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons and working for world peace. The first African American to hold the country’s highest office, Obama has consistently called for disarmament and since taking office in January has been actively involved in attempting to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

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Tags: Banking, Barack Obama, British Economy, British Pound, Cadbury, Carphone Warehouse, Commerce Department, Communication Workers Union, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dave Ward, Dow Jones, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, GM, House Prices, JJB Sports, Kraft, Lord Mandelson, Magna International, Middle East peace process, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Nobel Peace Prize, Obama administration, Opel, postal strike, Postal Workers Union, Recession, Retail, Royal Mail, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, Tiscali UK, UK Banks, UK business, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US economy, Vauxhall, Whitbread

After an inquiry found they had taken unreasonably large rewards from the now bankrupt car maker MG Rover Group Ltd, UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson is seeking a ban on the investors involved in the collapse from running other companies

A recently released 800-page government-commissioned report into the demise of MG Rover, who went belly up in 2005 with debts amounting to £1.3 billion states that directors of Phoenix Venture Holdings, Peter Beale, John Edwards, Nick Stephenson, John Towers and Kevin Howe had drawn a combined 42 million pounds in pay and benefits over five years.

About 6,000 people lost their jobs when the car maker collapsed.

Lord Mandelson, business secretary, has also announced his confidence that following the sale of General Motors’ European business to Magna International, a Canadian car-parts supplier, and Russia’s Sberbank jobs were safe at Vauxhall’s plants in the UK. GM’s decision to sell Opel to the Canadian and Russian partnership ended months of uncertainty over the fate of the car maker.

Magna has already made a commitment to the German government not to shut any of its four factories there, however t there is still unease and uncertainty among Britain’s trade unions that either the Luton or Ellesmere Port plant, might be slated for closure by Magna. Without giving any specific reason why, Lord Mandelson, in a statement issued before the weekend. Said he was satisfied with the deal and that the immediate uncertainty about GM’s future in Europe has been removed.

The star of the show on the FTSE Friday was the rail maintenance group, Jarvis, whose shares jumped to their highest level in more than a year after the company reported an “extremely preliminary” takeover inquiry.

Their stock, which has been stuck below the 15 pence since a profits warning way back in November 2007 wiped 75 per cent off its value, has increased in value by close to 70 percent from 17 pence to 24 pence with two days of trading after the company released a statement to the markets on the approach

Analysts speculated that that any of the other companies involved the rail maintenance sector might be interested in the company, with others suggesting that an overseas buyer might also be a candidate.

The UK’s fourth-biggest supermarket group WM Morrison warned of lower sales growth on the back of more moderate rises in food prices, as it lifted profits and raised its interim dividend by 35 per cent.

Morrisons, who increased their underlying profits by 22 per cent, also announced that they are embarking on an expansion drive containing its fresh food shop within a shop concept, as it seeks expansion.

A spokesman for the company did warn that a natural reduction in comparative growth rates was liable to be caused by easing food price inflation, along with strong like-for-like sales growth. Shares in the group dropped by 0.8 pence to 283.7 pence.

As the market continued to digest news it was under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and Office of Fair Trading over allegations of anti-competitive business practices, shares in Sports Direct International dropped 0.9 per cent to 107.9 pence.

The FTSE 100 index made it back over the 5,000 points, rising. 23.79 points to close at 5,011.47

The FTSE 250 rose again on Friday, up 82.18 points to close for the weekend to close on 9,207.89

The pound rose against the dollar yet took a minor tumble against the Euro on Friday’s trading, as well as the other major currencies.

• Pound/US dollar 1.616
• Pound/Euro 1.1433
• Pound/Japanese Yen 150.5651
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.7281

According to a recent declaration by Treasury secretary Tim Geithner, the US is starting to pare back its emergency support for banks and financial markets, stating that the US financial system was no longer in need of extensive government prop-ups.

Almost a year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which triggered a financial panic that tipped the world into a deep recession, Geithner has announced that the time had come to ease the US economy from crisis to recovery mode.

Pointing to the evidence of a return to partial stability in global financial markets, Mr. Geithner announced that the US would allow their $2,500 billion guarantee for industry to expire as scheduled this month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average faltered by just a little on Friday down 12.07 points to 9695.44 while the NASDAQ Composite rose by 0.2 points to close on 2080.9.

Fast-falling corporate inventories meant Japanese gross domestic product grew more slowly in the second quarter of this year than was initially forecast, according to government data released on Friday, but analysts stated that the world’s second largest economy’s recovery remained on track.

In the three months to June, GDP expanded 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, revised data issued by the cabinet showed, down from the 0.9 per cent growth initially estimated last month.

Global oil consumption will contract less than previously feared this year and grow strongly in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) the developed countries’ energy watchdog, another of the signs of optimism for the economic welfare of the World popping up on a regular basis these days.

The IEA now expect global oil demand to drop 1. 9 million barrels a day for 2009, less than the 2.3 million forecasts as recently as last month, making for the third revision since May, when the organisation forecast a contraction of 2.6 million barrels per day. .

Gold reached $1,011.55 a troy ounce on Friday, just 1.9 per cent below the record $1,030.80 reached in March 2008.

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Tags: British Economy, British Pound, Dow Jones, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, GDP, General Motors, International Energy Agency, John Edwards, John Towers, Kevin Howe, Lehman Brothers, Lord Mandelson, Magna International, MG Rover, Money Markets, Morrisons, NASDAQ, Nick Stephenson, Office of Fair Trading, Peter Beale, Peter Mandelson, Phoenix Four, Phoenix Venture Holdings, Recession, Retail, Serious Fraud Office, Sports Direct, Stock Markets, Tim Geithner, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US economy, WM Morrison