According to information from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) property prices in the UK are due to rise in 2010 driven by low borrowing costs and the shortage of homes. Property values are due to rise by five percent and mortgage costs will cheapen as the Bank of England retains a its record low 0.5 percent key interest rate. CEBR have reduced their property price forecast from 6 percent after the tax on home purchases rose and cold weather damped demand for property. Average mortgage interest rates are expected to drop by around one percent by the start of 2011.

US based billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has backed Bank of England Governor Mervyn Jones previous comments by stating that said he doesn’t envy the winner of the UK general election, who will be faced with the need to make "politically very unpopular" decisions to cut the deficit. Speaking after the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway before a crowd of 40,000 , Mr Buffett warned the next occupant of No 10 to fear the bond market, which could turn against the UK if public spending is not brought back into balance over the long term.

Buffet’s comments regarding the UK’s current financial plight echoes previous statements made about growing government debt across the Western world. The debt has been incurred as a result of the economic stimulus measures put in place to prevent a much worse recession after the financial panic of 2008.

It has been reported that the collective wealth of the UKs 1,000 richest people increased by 30 per cent in 2009, largely due to the efforts of London-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Claiming the top spot for the sixth consecutive year Mittal seen his fortune double from £10,800 million to £22,450 million in the wake of the recovery of the steel industry worldwide.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich remains second on the list, whilst adding a mere £400 million to his stack of £7,400 million.

The Duke of Westminster, retains his place as the wealthiest UK born member of the list saw his mainly property based fortune increase to £6,750 million.

According to a recent survey, most of the UK’s small companies feel that the current tax system it too complex, and would like to see it simplified,

Two thousand small and medium sized UK enterprises (SMEs) took part in the survey that found that 77% participating feel that the current system is preventing them from taking advantage of tax benefits and breaks, while

60% were found to be unaware what entitlements they may be suitable for.

While many experts see SMEs as the engine for economic recovery and a key battleground in the upcoming election, many small businesses find the complexity of the tax system frustrating, with almost three quarters with the impression that the tax system was actually acting as a barrier for start-ups.

An ambitious new UK company offering people the chance to rent their neighbours’ cars has had hundreds of drivers registering on the site just a week after launch. The company Whipcar, launched in mid-April, uses the internet to connect owners of underused cars with drivers looking for short-term rentals for a trip to the shops or the school run. But insurance limitations mean that Whipcar has had to turn away a surprisingly large number of sports car owners. Who wanted to become part of take advantage Whipcar’s system, which lets them set their own price before lending their pride and joy to fully insured and vetted neighbours. Whipcar is just one example of a business using the web as a marketplace to bridge the gap between car ownership and traditional rentals. Streetcar, which pioneered car clubs in the UK, was acquired last month for $50 million by Zipcar, an American competitor whose model it was based on.

The FTSE 100 joined stock markets globally in tumbling deep into the red as the Greek bailout failed to ease investor fears. The Footsie fell 2.6%, down 142.2 points to 5411.1,

US-based United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed a deal to merge, creating the world’s biggest carrier. The two companies, that both have made losses in recent years, have predicted that the merger, worth around two billion pounds, will allow the now company to cut around five hundred million pounds ($1 billion) a year.

The new company will be trade as United Airlines while using the current Continental colours. News of the deal sent both companies shares upwards of Wall Street.

Shares on Wall Street have fallen sharply as concerns about high levels of European government debt continue to reduce confidence.

The Dow Jones falling by 2%, and NASDAQ by 2.98 %. THE Dow Jones closed down 225 points to 10926.77 while NASDAQ dropped 74.49 points to close on 2924.25

Oil giant BP has acknowledged that they are to be held responsible for cleaning up the huge oil spill which occurred after an accident to one of its wells off the Gulf of Mexico on the US coast.

BP boss Tony Hayward predicted that the spill would need to be contained for two to three months. Since the BP Deepwater Horizon rig sank on 22 April Thousands of barrels of oil have been leaking into the ocean. Meanwhile BP shares hit a seven-month low on about the cost of cleaning up the massive oil spill. Shares in BP fell by 4.3%, (25 pence) to 551 pence in early trading, making for an overall fall of more than 15% since the explosion on the rig two weeks ago.

Despite of forecasts that car sales are not liable to peak again for five years, it has been reported that global car production increased by more than half in the first quarter of this year in comparison to 2009,. Data for 12 of the world’s biggest car markets, accounting for more than three-quarters of world automobile output, showed double-digit increases in the first quarter of 2010. In China, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and the UK, the year-on-year rise was up by almost 75%.

Reaction to the approval of an unprecedented bail-out package to rescue Greece’s embattled economy has been muted. The package, which will see Eurozone members and the IMF loan Greece €110 billion (£95 billion) over three years, had been widely anticipated, but came after the Greek government agreed to make severe budget cuts.

However several Eurozone member countries, with Germany’s voice being loudest heard, have questioned whether the rescue package and budget cuts combined will be sufficient to solve Greece’s deep-seated problems.

financial

• Lebron James, Wealth, and Taxes I have to admit that I didn't care what team...
• Understanding The Car Donation Tax Deduction Tis the season to be giving, but that doesn't mean...
• State of the Economy Most days, I try to avoid watching CNBC. I'm weird...

Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Banking, BP, BP Deepwater Horizon, British Economy, CEBR, Centre for Economics and Business Research, Continental Airlines, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, Gordon Brown, Lakshmi Mittal, Mervyn Jones, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, Mortgages, NASDAQ, Property Prices, Recession, Retail, Roman Abramovich, Streetcar, Tony Hayward, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, United Airlines, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Whipcar, Zipcar

The UK economy continues its recovery from recession, with the news that the UK gross domestic profit (GDP) rose by 0.2% in the first three months of 2010, according to information provided by the Office for National Statistics, The figure was lower than the 0.4% growth predicted by many economists, but like the last quarter of 2009 may still be revised. Initial figures for that period, when the UK moved out of recession were originally estimated at 0.1%, were later revised to 0.4%. The ONS estimated that bad weather at the beginning of the year may have had an impact on output, particularly in the retail and industrial sectors. Meanwhile it was reported that manufacturing output grew by 0.7% over the quarter, while the utilities sector output also rose by 2.5%.

It has been confirmed that UK Government borrowing hit a record high of £163.4 billion in 2009, whilst remaining lower than the £166.5 billion initially predicted by Chancellor Alistair Darling in his 2009 Budget.

Despite that fact the figure still makes for s the biggest annual borrowing figure for a UK Government in peacetime.

In March alone, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed total borrowing of £23.5 billion.

For the first time, bonus rates on save as you earn (SAYE) schemes are to be cut to zero percent next month. The news has fostered concerns that some employees could shun participation in SAYE plans because there will be less incentive to save.

A £1 billion profits boost looks to be on its way for the Lloyds Banking Group brought about a block in rises of the pensionable salary of its staff. This vital cost saving is expected to play a significant part in returning Lloyds to profit in 2010. The move will also increase the likelihood that the government will be in a position sell its 41 percent stake in the bank in the near future.

As part of their new chief executive Adam Crozier’s expansion plans, Broadcaster ITV is reported to be considering an acquisition of its rival Five Industry sources predict that Crozier will implement expansion plans as soon as possible, before the general consolidation in the sector. If the deal goes through it would give ITV a 53 percent share in the television advertising market.

Two of the UKs largest property investment trusts are to merge to create the sixth-biggest listed property company in the UK with a combined market capitalisation of more than £1.6 billion The F&C Commercial Property Trust (FCPT), are to be merged with the UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) that is owned by the Phoenix Group.

The new company will have a market capitalisation of about £1.6 billion and a property portfolio with net assets of £1.5 billion.

British newspaper and stationery retailer WH Smith has announced a four percent drop in like-for-like sales for the six months to the end of February. WH have spent £35 million in the first half of the year repurchasing shares in a buy-back scheme that has seen their share price rise by ten percent and pre-tax profit rise two percent to £62 million A spokesperson for the group announced that they have decided against extending the buy-back programme, choosing instead to invest in acquisitions and to return cash to shareholders at the end of year. On the news shares in WH Smith closed down 9.5 pence at 505 pence.

Lord Kirkham, founder and chairman of furniture retailer DFS stands to make in excess of £300 million pounds from the sale of his company to private equity firm Advent International, who have purchased the company for £500 million Kirkham will, he will hold on to DFS Properties, which owns approximately one third of the group’s store estate.

Homebuilders were among the biggest gainers in London after the US Commerce Department reported that new home sales in the United States were up by 27 percent in March, the biggest monthly percentage gain in almost half a century. Taylor Wimpey who sells around a third of its properties in the US showed close to a 10% gain on the stock exchange, Barratt Developments was up 4.52 percent, Persimmon 3.81 percent and Bovis Homes 3.45 percent.

The travel and leisure sector also finished the session and the week on a high. Travel returning to normal after the recent closures of airports and airspace in Europe due to ash in the air from the volcanic eruption in Iceland having its effects.

Cruise ship operator Carnival led gains in the sector as it added 5.87 percent, while shares in hotels operator InterContinental Hotels Group rose up by 4.37 percent. British Airways gained 3.86 percent as fears of a protracted grounding were put to the side.

The pound closed against the dollar down .030 on 1.5358 while the Euro closed up to 1.1488

U.K. stocks advanced the most in three weeks before the weekend. Despite a smaller-than-forecast increase in British gross domestic product, prospects for global economic growth remained strong the benchmark FTSE 100 Index rose 58.32 to 5,723.65 on Friday the highest rise since April 1. The increase pared this week’s retreat to 0.4 percent.

Overall The FTSE 100 remains 5.7 percent higher for 2010.

In his weekly radio and Web address, President Barack Obama said on Saturday taxpayer-funded bailouts of the auto industry that he approved had paid off, in what amounted to a rejection of conservative arguments against such government help.

President Obama continues to apply pressure for an overhaul of U.S. financial regulations, saying the promising news from the auto industry had not reduced the need for Wall Street changes.

Government bailouts of Wall Street continue to come under heavy criticism from conservatives who feel the government is spending too much money and that big firms should be allowed to fail.

General Motors Co and Chrysler both reported progress this week in their government-financed turnarounds. However the Obama administration still forecasts some loss on the taxpayer bailout of both companies to help them recover from the economic slump and a steep drop in auto sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed for the weekend up 70 points to 11,204.29 while the NASDAQ Composite was up 21 points on 2,530.10

Reports are that Greece’s talks with the IMF on emergency loans to finance its debt are going well. The Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou predicted that Greece would not face problems funding its debts. To tackle the crisis, which has undermined the Euro, Greece has called for emergency funding from the IMF as well as its Eurozone partners. The Eurozone nations are expected to provide emergency loans of up to €30 billion (£26 billion) in the first year, with a further €10 billion coming from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Greece will need some of the money as soon as the 19th May, when it needs to make a debt payment of $11.3 billion.

financial

• Bristol Mountain, Canandaigua, NY Bristol Mountain Resort is located in - Canandaigua, NY US...
• Saving (Lots of) Money on Phone Plans For the last few years, I've monitored my family's AT&T...
• Its Official: Hell Freezes Over Last week, hell froze. The Financial Times reports: In a...

Tags: 2009 Budget, Adam Crozier, Advent International, Alistair Darling, Bank, Banking, Barratt Developments, Bovis Homes, British airways, British Economy, Carnival, Chrysler, Credit Crunch, DFS, Economics, Economy, Eurozone, F&C Commercial Property Trust, Financial News, FTSE, General Motors, George Papaconstantinou, InterContinental Hotels Group, ITV, Lloyds Banking Group, Lord Kirkham, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, NASDAQ, Office for National Statistics, Phoenix Group, SAYE, Stock Markets, Taylor Wimpey, UK Banks, UK Commercial Property Trust, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Wall Street, WH Smith

UK airlines are expected lose at least £130 million ($200 million) a day in revenues as a result of the volcanic ash-linked disruption, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA, the industry’s governing body has said. Said its members would also lose further money as a result of having to augment expensive contingency plans.

All UK flights in England and Wales were grounded on Friday Those airspace restrictions will remain in place until further notice, with widespread restrictions now in place across Europe.

Research the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has disclosed that almost three quarters of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) have suffered from late payments in the past year, leaving them burdened with £63 billion pounds in unpaid debt. The average amount of bad debt being written off by SMEs doubled in 2009 to £2,529 pounds.

According to a recent report by the UK Institute of Directors, At least £500 billion will need to be invested on infrastructure in the next decade in order for the UK to remain competitive, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD).

The IoD said that despite the fiscal deficit, public spending on energy, transport, and water and should be implemented as it is vital to economic growth.

The group of company bosses suggested that the proceeds from re-privatising the banks, which could be over £50 billion, should be spent on new infrastructure. In 2009 just £7.8 billion was invested on infrastructure. The IoD said that at least £130 billion should be spent on transport projects and that £300 billion will be needed for energy infrastructure, including investments in energy efficiency measures for housing.

Global credit checking group Experian has said UK banks are lagging behind their U.S. counterparts in terms of their willingness to lend to consumers in the six months to the end of March. Experian blamed lack of credit and consolidation in the financial sector for a seven percent fall in organic revenue at its main credit services operations in the UK and Ireland. Shares in the FTSE 100 listed company fell 18.5 pence to 616.5 pence, after it said that its main business of performing credit checks in developed economies had put a lid on revenue improvement

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco will reveal record profits of around £3.3 billion pounds this week, on global turnover that will breach the £65 billion pound mark. This figure, which will represent an increase of 12 percent on 2009, and double the combined profits of competitors Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that sales grew 10% in the week to 10 April, compared with the same period a year ago. The renowned employee-owned department store said customers are still spending despite the uncertainty over next months’ election. The firm has been outperforming its rivals this year and said it is optimistic that strong sales will continue. However, sales at its Waitrose supermarket chain fell 16.7% to £80 million in 2009. However, compared to the same period last year, sales surged 10.7%, highlighting Waitrose’s current position as one of the UK’s fastest growing supermarket.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s UK supermarket arm Asda Group Ltd have announced their aim to become the U.K.’s number one non-food retailer in five years, Asda set out plans for a huge expansion of its standalone general merchandise stores, with plans to increase the number of its ‘Asda Living’ with an average size of 28,000 square feet stores six-fold,, to 150 in five years time, up from 25.

Leading UK Energy provider Eon UK has predicted that European Union regulations are liable to expose Britain to energy shortfalls. The energy firm, which is part of German utility E.ON, has said that EU rules are forcing its oil-fired power station at Grain in southeast England to shut down. The announcement comes as the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) suggested Britain would need to increase its generating capacity by more than 40,000 megawatts to maintain power supply when output from renewable sources recedes. The BCSE said Britain is planning to install 8,000 offshore wind turbines over the coming decade.

Mobile phone operator Orange, have announced the signing of a deal with BT intended to provide an improved high-speed Internet service to its customers by abandoning its fixed-line network. The company will now compete directly with market leaders Virgin Media and TalkTalk, in a move that could lower charges. The deal with BT will place Orange in the same position as Vodafone who currently offer their customers broadband services using BT’s network.

Dreams, the bed and mattress retailer, have announced an increase in operating profits of 36 percent to £18.4 million pounds for 2009. Latest figures released by the company show sales rose by 23 percent to £280 million pounds. The 240-store chain has plans to open up to 450 stores in the coming years.

On the FTSE Royal Bank of Scotland added 5.11 percent to their shares, making for the best performance of the session. The increase came as a result of positive broker comment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Competing UK banks did less well, with Barclays Bank dropping 2.56 percent on the news that the SEC has accused Goldman Sachs of civil fraud in relation to activities revolving around mortgage investments.

The U.K.’s second-largest software company Autonomy saw their shares drop to their lowest level for two months after issuing a pessimistic trading

Shares in British Airways understandably dropped 1.9 percent under a cloud of dust and ash.

The pound continues its slow recovery, despite closing down at $1.5396 before the weekend, while closing slightly up against the Euro at 1.140.

U.K. stocks retreated from a 22- month high before the weekend, falling 81.05 points to 5743.96 after having swung between gains and losses at least eight times on Friday. The FTSE 100 is heading for a seventh consecutive week of gains, the longest winning streak since July,

Bank of America (BoA) has returned to profit, reporting a net income of $3.2 billion (£2.1 billion) for the first quarter of 2010, compared with a $194 million loss in the previous quarter. However figures show a drop in profits of 24% than f the same period a year ago. The US bank said record sales and trading activity at its capital markets arm – including acquisition Merrill Lynch – had driven the latest results.

BoA also announced that they were also setting aside less money to cover anticipated losses on bad loans.

As was to be expected the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a step back on Friday, down 123 points to 11.018.66 while the NASDAQ Composite also lost some ground, down 34.43 points to close on 2,481.26.

Goldman Sachs has been accused of misleading their investors about subprime mortgage products before the US housing market collapsed.

The accusations came from the US Securities and Exchange Commission who charged the bank with failing to disclose crucial information about a synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) product that it structured, which was closely linked to the performance of the residential mortgage-backed securities market. The regulator said that Goldman allowed Paulson & Co, a hedge fund, to influence the portfolio selection process while hedging investment against the CDO.

financial

• California Scheming I've always liked the Mamas and Papas song "California Dreamin."...
• Save Money in Aruba [Note: While this article is focused Aruba, there's a lot...
• All About Bank Card Balance Transfer Credit card debt consolidation may save a considerable amount of...

Tags: ASDA, Ash, Autonomy, Bank, Bank of America, Banking, Barclays Bank, British airways, British Economy, Credit Crunch, Dow Jones, Dreams, Economics, Economy, Eon UK, Experian, Financial News, FTSE, Goldman Sachs, International Air Transport Association, John Lewis Partnership, Money, Money Markets, Morrisons, Mortgage, Mortgages, NASDAQ, Orange, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sainsbury, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, subprime, TalkTalk, Tesco, UK airlines, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Institute of Directors, UK Recession, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Waitrose, Wal-Mart Stores Inc

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has publicly set a national election for May 6 which looks like being one of Britain’s toughest to call for many years, as well as Brown’s first as leader of the Labour Party. Brown made this long anticipated announcement after meeting with Queen Elizabeth II. The Labour Party is expected to face a tough election battle against the Conservative Party led by David Cameron, who enjoys a lead in opinion polls. The Labour Party has been in power since Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997.

In the meantime the show must go on, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has done so holding successful negotiations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the issue of setting a "global responsibility levy" on banks. Brown confirmed that Britain, France and Germany were broadly all in agreement on the need for a levy, which could cost the financial sector billions of pounds a year. They are now seeking U.S. support for the proposed new tax on banks. Gordon Brown did stop short of revealing how much the tax they expected to raise from British banks, while Merkel was not so reticent. The German Chancellor predicted that her government would raise around one billion pounds from German banks, while going on to conceded that the ongoing problems in the banking sector had yet to be fully resolved.

According to one of the UK’s largest employment agencies, demand for new workers fell last month, leading to concerns over a rise in unemployment. A spokesman for the agency did point our however that demand for qualified accountants and strategic consultants is now at its highest level since d last year. Unemployment has been stable in recent months, at around 2.45 million. Economists have warned that the figure could peak at 2.8 million this year.

European house price values apparently fell on average in 2009 for the first time in over a decade. The FT Europe Index, which covers the 23 countries on the European mainland, reported a 2.8 percent decline in value for the years, while statistics issued in the FT Eurozone Index, which covers 16 nations Eurozone member group showed a 4.6 percent fall. House prices fell on average more than seven percent in the larger, more developed countries such as British, Spain, France and Germany. However recent data covering the last quarter of 2009 suggests that the big four European countries may be past the worst of the property value decline, registering marginal growth in the fourth quarter compared with the third.

As cabin crew staged two four-day strikes last month, seven key British Airways executives were walking away with share options with a combined value of almost three million pounds. The awards were for shares worth £2.50 pounds each. The executives will be allowed to exercise their options only if pre-agreed performance targets are met.

American billionaire Wilbur Ross has reportedly acquired a stake in Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Money. With the announcement coming just days ahead of its bid for a national branch network being sold by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The US tycoon, known for his corporate td investments in steel, oil, banking and utilities, paid about £ 100 million for 21 per cent of Virgin Money, designed to bolster the company’s ambitions to create a national high street chain of banks.

Tesco, who already offer a wide range of financial products to their existing customers, are reported to be having their eye on capturing around 10 percent of the financial services market in the UK, with current accounts and mortgages expected to be available over the next year. If Tesco’s plans bear fruit, it could make them similar in size to Abbey, owned by Santander.

A recent annual audit of UK retail and leisure parks has revealed that twenty percent of the retailers who agreed to pay rent in excess of £100 pounds per square foot are either in administration or tied into company voluntary arrangements. The findings come despite evidence that the retail sector increased floor space requirements by 0.4 percent last year.

On the money markets, due to ever increasing optimism, the US dollar was up almost a cent against the euro, with a dollar worth 74.8 eurocents. The dollar was also up almost half a penny against the pound, at 65.7 pence.

The pound continued to remain above the $1.50 mark at $1.5247, whilst gaining slightly against the Euro to close on 1.401

The FTSE 100 returned from the holiday weekend in semi-buoyant mood up 35.46 points to close on 5780.35

On the first day of its launch in the US, computer hardware giants Apple announced that they had it sold more than 300,000 of its latest baby, the iPad tablet computer. The figures for Saturday’s bookings included pre-orders of the device, as well as sales at Apple stores across the country. The news of the successful launch set Apple Inc shares up 1.1% to a record closing high of $238.49 on Monday. The iPad is expected to be on sale in parts of Europe, Canada and Australia by the end of this month, and will retail in the US at between $499 $829 (£328 to £545), dependant on specifications, with European prices yet to be announced. According to an objective survey, the vast majority of the iPad’s 300,000 launch-day sales went to current Apple product owners.

Wall Street returned after the holidays a little groggy, with Dow Jones down, but just by 3.56 points to 10969.99. The NASDAQ rose a little, 7.28 points to 2436.81.

Meanwhile, the US transport department has confirmed that they will be demanding a record fine of $16.4 million (£10.7 million) from auto maker Toyota for withholding information about problems they had been having with faulty accelerator pedals. The department says the company failed to notify it about the flaws "in a timely way" with the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said documents provided by Toyota showed the carmaker knew about the defect in September. Reports of problems with the pedals prompted a massive recall in January. Toyota was given two weeks to appeal against this penalty.

Possibly as a result of problems in the Japanese car industry, German car exports were reported to have risen by more than fifty percent in March compared with a year earlier. However official figures have shown that domestic car sales fell by a quarter in the month, compared to 2009.

Germany exported 419,400 cars in March, while overseas orders for future deliveries were up by more than 28%. Domestic sales fell by 27% to 295,000 as demand fell due to the end of the country’s car scrappage scheme, which closed in September last year.

Oil prices have risen amid growing optimism that improved US job creation will boost economic recovery and lead to higher demand for crude. The price of oil reached a fresh 18-month high on Tuesday on growing hopes of a US-led global economic recovery. US light crude hit $86.84 a barrel in New York trading, while Brent crude peaked at $86.15.

financial

• Steps To Submit Your Articles Online Without Headaches Article marketing is a proven way to get targeted traffic...
• TransUnion Reveals National Credit Card Debt on the Rise TransUnion.com, one of the three major credit bureaus, released the...
• 'Tis the Season to be Saving The retailers are nervous about the final outcome of the...

Tags: Angela Merkel, Bank, Banking, British Economy, Credit Crunch, David Cameron, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FT Europe Index, FT Eurozone Index, FTSE, global responsibility levy, Gordon Brown, iPad, Money, Mortgage, NASDAQ, National Highways Traffic Safety Administration, Retail, Richard Branson, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Toyota, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK Election, UK government, UK Recession, Unemployment, Wilbur Ross

Retailers won the closely watched holiday skirmish with shoppers, who opened their wallets a little bit despite a still struggling economy, fewer discounts than last year and limited variety on store shelves, according to recently released data. A late boost from last minute shoppers and an extra day of shopping increased total retail sales by 3.6% over the year. According to estimates Shoppers in Britain spent over £130 million pounds online on Christmas Day alone, a 29 percent increase from a year earlier. The number of U.K. customers on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, also increased, by 19 percent. Retailers avoided last year’s pre-Christmas discounting by cutting inventory to “much healthier” levels, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. Prices, which were slashed by as much as 75 percent in 2008, were down by about 50 percent on London’s Oxford Street shopping district on Dec. 26 at retailers including the Zara clothing chain, House of Fraser Ltd, Bhs and Topshop clothing outlets.

Recent data has shown that demand from house buyers in the UK fell in December for the first time since January 2009, with the number of new buyers registering with agents down 2.2 per cent. The monthly survey showed a slight rise in prices for the month of 0.1 per cent and also noted that about half of all homeowners had no mortgage or owned less than 25 per cent of the value of their home. This is the sole sector of the community said to be behind the increased demand for new houses.

Britain’s recovery from recession has so far been sluggish compared with other developed nations but stronger growth in 2010 should help it narrow the gap. The UK economy is forecast to shrink 4.5 per cent this year and Consensus Economics says that the consensus forecast is for a rebound of 1.4 per cent in 2010. The UK looks set to lag behind the recovery in the US where the consensus forecast suggests growth of 2.7 per cent. The sharp fall in the value of the pound will help UK exporters and the manufacturing sector will see a projected growth of 2.1 per cent.

Recent research has revealed that only one-in-three British businesses believe that plans by Lord Mandelson to boost production industries will do any good. In the survey of 57 manufacturers, only 20 said that the business secretary’s programme of ‘industrial activism’ was likely to benefit UK manufacturers. The remaining 37 said the programme would not help the sector or were unconvinced about its outcomes. However, there was better news regarding manufacturers’ expectations of an industrial recovery, with almost two-thirds of those polled saying the sector was in line for an upturn in 2010.

A spokesman for the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus has said that Britain should shrug off worries about the huge government deficit and prepare to spend ‘tens of billions of pounds’ on infrastructure investment to push the economy out of recession. The spokesman went on to add that that the UK needed to draw up a ‘real industrial policy’ that would make the country more attractive to manufacturers. Lord Mandelson’s efforts to encourage ‘advanced manufacturing’ as a way of rebalancing the economy were worthy of praise, while stating that these initiatives did not go far enough, and that investment programmes should also railways, schools, roads, hospitals and other public amenities.

Virgin Money is reported to be in advanced talks to buy a small UK bank, which will provide an opening for the company to be granted a banking license, completing the Virgin’s long-standing ambition to provide a full range of financial products, including mortgages and current accounts to the British consumer.

The FTSE was closed on Friday as the market awarded itself a long weekend for the Festive Season.

Sterling remained below the $1.60 level on Fridays trading, although rising a little, whilst falling slightly s against the Euro

• Dollar 1.5962
• Euro 1.1089

A resurgent dollar is likely to power through to 2010 with its up-trend intact, as a steadily improving economy leads investors to believe U.S. interest rates will increase sooner than had been expected. The demand for riskier currencies has broken down as the year has come to an end, with the dollar now gaining on positive U.S. data. Analysts predict that the U.S. economy continues to show strength, the dollar stands to strengthen even more.

Wall Street was closed on Friday for the Christmas holiday.

In Japan early Monday the Nikkei average hit its highest close in four months on Monday as stronger-than-forecast output data boosted the manufacturing sector. Adding to the upbeat mood in the market, data before the start of trade showed Japan’s industrial output rose a better-than-expected 2.6 per cent in November, the strongest gain in six months as rising exports to Asia bode well for a recovering economy. The benchmark Nikkei climbed 1.3 per cent, or 139.52 points, to 10,634.23, its highest close since August 26.

financial

• 3 Things You Should Know about Old Coin Two and Three Cent Pieces When most Americans think about an old coin made by...
• Is Denmark our Window to an Obama New Economy? I was in Boston this weekend to visit my brother and to...
• China Buying Gold On The Sly! I just read this interesting article in the Financial Times....

Tags: Bank, Banking, Bhs, British Economy, British Pound, Christmas, Consensus Economics, Corus, Currency, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, House of Fraser Ltd, industrial activism, Lord Mandelson, Money, Money Markets, Morgan Stanley, Mortgage, Mortgages, Nikkei, Recession, Retail, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, Topshop, U.S. economy, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK export, UK government, UK manufacturers, UK Recession, Virgin Money, Wall Street, Xmas, Zara clothing chain

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has predicted that house prices are unlikely to rise by much more than one to two percent in 2010. The nation’s chief surveyors’ body did however raise the possibility that more properties would change hands in 2010. In their report, RICS pointed out that the housing market had come through the past year in better shape than many had predicted but said it believed several factors would limit price rises.

According to figures issued by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the UK economy shrank by 0.2% between July and September, which is less than the previous estimate of a 0.3% contraction. While the news confirms that the country is not yet out of the recession, it does add weight to predictions that fourth quarter figures will show the economy is finally returning to growth.

The UK recession, which began in the second quarter of 2008, has seen the UK economy contract by 6%. Meanwhile the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has forecast that in 2010 recovery for the UK economy will be at best ‘fragile’. The CBI confirmed that the UK economy was likely to come out of recession in the fourth quarter this year, driven by increased spending from consumers looking to buy before the January VAT increase. However, they went on to warn that economic growth would be weak, at around 0.3%, for the first two quarters of 2010, with wage freezes continuing into spring and job losses until the autumn

Lehman Brothers, one of the first major investment banks to collapse during the current financial downturn are back to their old ways, is hiring new staff on fat salary/bonus packages as well as paying generous bonuses in London to existing staff, to stop them from defecting. The bank is reportedly recruiting middle and back office staff in order that their administrators PwC can wade through the millions of transactions that must be reconciled with clients and trading partners to determine what is owed or can be claimed. Meanwhile the judge overseeing Lehman’s US bankruptcy in New York last week approved an extra $50 million (£30 million) in bonus pay-outs to some 230 derivatives traders working to help to untangle the dead bank’s $10 billion portfolio. The bonus pay-outs come as bankers face anger and derision over probable bonuses at the end of this year.

British Telecom (BT) are reported to by pushing forward the launch of its super fast broadband network to make sure that the infrastructure is completed in time for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Britain’s broadband speeds lag behind those of many industrialized countries and BT is under pressure to fix the problem. The company is planning to spend £1.5 billion on a new broadband network based on optical fiber, but it will run past only 40 per cent of homes, mainly in towns and cities. BT originally pronounced that it could take until March 2013 to build the urban-focused network, but, following successful trials, it now appears that the project will be completed by June 2012, with the Olympics beginning the following month. When it does get going, the new network is designed to increase broadband download speeds 10-fold, to about 40 megabits per second, to cope with the rise of bandwidth-hungry services such as high-definition video.

BAA has won its appeal against the Competition Commission but remains unsure whether the judgment means the company will have to sell airports in London and Scotland. In March of this year, the UK’s largest airport operator was ordered to sell three of its seven airports: Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh. The company won their appeal on a number of arguments, one of them that a decline in passenger numbers should have been considered in the decision

The Competition Commission (CC) has finally cleared the merger of ticket agent Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation. The UK regulator has confirmed that the merger would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market" in the UK.

CC’s decision marks a reversal from their provisional ruling, where they vetoed the merger, stating that they were concerned about its ramifications.

The US Justice Department is also investigating the proposed merger, which was originally closed in February.

According to a new poll by the Auto Trader magazine, the Ford Focus has been voted the UK’s most popular car of the decade. The small family car beat our sports cars, SUVs and city cars to take first place. Despite the company being rocked by financial issues in the past ten years, Ford has retained its place as an iconic motoring brand, with two of its other models, the Fiesta and Mondeo, ranking high in the list of most loved cars by the British public. The Auto Trader poll, designed to analyse the key motoring trends over the past ten years, also looked at categories including ‘greenest’ car and ‘best value for money’ car.

Sterling was seen to be weakening in mid week trading against the dollar and the Euro.

• Dollar 1.5956
• Euro 1.111922

On the FTSE house builders edged higher after analysts announced that the sector valuation was looking brighter after a period of under performance that left them trading below book value. Forecasts are that UK house prices are to fall by 5 to 10 per cent as unemployment peaks in the second quarter of 2010, and saw rising interest rates damping the recovery for the next two years. Despite the less than encouraging forecasts, Taylor Wimpey was up 4 percent to 35¾ pence while Barratt rose 1.7 per cent to 116 pence. However, Redrow fell 0.2 per cent to 131½ pence.

The FTSE 100 gained for a second day, adding 34.67 points to close on 5,328.66, just 54 points off its 2009 high.

Official figures show that the US economy grew by less than originally estimated in the third quarter, with the latest estimate showing an annual growth pace of 2.2%, the figure was down from the previous estimate of 2.8%. In any case, July- September was the first quarter in which the US economy returned to growth, after four quarters of decline.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 per cent to 10,414.14 while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.2 per cent higher at 2,237.66, a welcome recovery after losses last week as the dollar strengthened and concern grew over the prospect of a tighter monetary policy.

A report issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAOR) showed new home sales in the US rose 7.4% in November, apparently spurred on by government incentives. NAOR also announced that property sales rose in the month to an annual rate of 6.5 million, making for the highest level in more than two years.

On Tuesday the OPEC oil cartel provided its strongest indication yet that it aims to keep oil prices at $70-$80 a barrel next year as it tries to support the economic recovery. As a first step, the cartel, which controls more than 40 per cent of the world’s oil output, agreed to leave its production levels unchanged at least until the end of the first quarter of 2010.

financial

• Gators Outlast Mississippi with 29 to 19 The top ranked football team University of Florida went up...
• Breakwater Cove Marina Phone: 831.373.7857 Radio Frequency: The marina monitors both Channels 16...
• Water shortages threaten to hamper Chinese growth October 25, 2011 1:59 pm By Leslie Hook Water has...

Tags: 2012 Olympic Games, Auto Trader, BAA, Bank, Barrat, Barratt, Barratt Developments, BCC, British Chambers of Commerce, British Economy, British Pound, British Telecom, BT, CBI, Competition Commission, Confederation of British Industry, Currency, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, Gatwick, House Prices, Lehman Brothers, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, Mortgages, NASDAQ, National Association of Realtors, OPEC, Property Prices, Recession, Redrow, RICS, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Stansted, Taylor Wimpey, Ticketmaster, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US Justice Department, Wall Street

Despite threats from major banking groups that they will move key staff abroad, the signs are that Alistair Darling has no intention of watering down his plans to levy a 50 percent super tax on bank bonuses. Apparently the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has already spoken to several smaller banks telling them that they will have to curb bonus payments if they do not do enough to increase their capital holdings with the FSA’s squeeze on bonus payments extending beyond the partially-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland. A recent poll has shown that while the general public are in favour of taxing bonuses, a large percentage feel that the bankers will find a way out of their noose Many feel that the recently announced banking bonus tax is unlikely to raise any significant funds for the UK government and is being used as more of a political pawn coming up to the impending general election.

According to a recent survey from the Bank of England , British consumer spending looks likely to falter in the coming months, as around a quarter of UK households admit that they have switched their fiscal emphasis to saving more, because of growing uncertainty about the long term economic outlook for the country. In addition, the survey shows an increasing proportion of households who were having trouble keeping up to p date with bills and loan repayments has fallen slightly in 2009, in spite of the economic downturn

This little snippet of optimistic news was tempered by the announcement that the rate of inflation has risen to 1.9% in November from 1.5% in October, with the principal cause being the rising cost of petrol. Prices at the pumps rose by 2.9 pence to 108.3 pence a liter in November, compared with a record 9.3 pence fall to 95.2 pence this month last year.

The Office for National Statistics predicted that the consumer prices index (CPI), is expected to rise to 3% or more early next year when the temporary VAT cut is reversed and prices across the board will take a significant increase.

On the same somber note, predictions are that the recovery in the U.K. housing market recovery is liable to come to an end in 2010 as the supply of second hand homes on the market will increase.

Average asking prices are expected to, at best, stand still next year after rising about 2 percent in 2009. Property prices have fallen 2.2 percent this month alone to an average of £220,000 and look likely to drop again in January. What can keep property prices stable is that if the banks show “more forbearance” to consumers who are late on mortgage payments, which after the general election seems increasingly unlikely.

Strike threatened British Airways have announced that they are exploring "all options" to help it cope with the impact of the planned 12-day strike by cabin crew, to be held over the traditionally active Christmas period. Currently up to one million passengers are facing the real e prospect of having their journeys canceled as a result of the strike action by Unite members.

Cabin crew voted nine to one in favor of strikes from 22 December over job cuts and staffing level with BA insisting that they will not climb down on its decision to reduce cabin crew numbers, which is at the heart of the dispute.

Also showing that now is the season for warnings are US food giant Kraft Foods, who have warned Cadbury’s shareholders that they are "taking a risk" if they continue to support Cadbury as a standalone company. They have rushed to claim that their proposed takeover of Cadbury would deliver cost savings and deliver "substantially more value" to Cadbury’s shareholders.

Cadbury has consistently urged shareholders to reject Kraft’s hostile bid, tempting them with the prospect of rival bids, promised dividends and stronger growth. Roger Carr, Cadbury chairman has announced that both Hershey and Italy’s Ferrero had both indicated they were contemplating bids, adding serious negotiations would only start if a compelling and fully-financed offer emerged.

A seasonal rise in DIY sales has given B&Q a recent boost but not enough to prevent owner Kingfisher from issuing a warning that economic and political uncertainty will have an effect on the company in 2010.

Kingfisher shares were lifted by news its UK and Ireland sales were up 4.4% in sales in the third quarter, pushing retail profit up by almost 27%, with a 6.3% improvement in sales at B&Q. with sales of big-ticket items such as kitchens and electrical appliances jumping by 27%.

On the FTSE 100, it was reported that Advent International is offering to buy the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc s’ Global Merchant Services unit in a deal worth £3 billion pounds. The news caused their stock to rise 2.5 percent, to 30.56 pence.

The public transport company National Express Group Plc is to mount a £360 million pound rights issue after the Cosmen family agreed to the deal, the issue is designed to reduce company debt after a slump in rail revenue. Share values declined 1.1 percent, to 182.3 pence.

PartyGaming Plc, the online-gambling brand is reported to be in merger talks with Austria’s Bwin Interactive Gaming AG. On the news, their shares rose 2.1 percent to 256.5 pence.

Operators of the Premier Inn budget-hotel chain, Whitbread Plc are scheduled to publish a trading statement. In anticipation of positive news, shares in the company rose 3.1 percent, to close on 1,330 pence.

Vodafone Group Plc has announced plans to sell their 4.39 percent indirect holding in India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. Shares in the World’s largest mobile phone company rose 0.4 percent, to 141.55 pence.

Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that gets most of its profit in emerging markets, rallied 4.3 percent. London Stock Exchange Group Plc, whose largest shareholder is Borse Dubai Ltd., jumped 9.9 percent. Lonmin Plc, the world’s third-biggest platinum producer, led gains in mining shares.

Sterling gained ground against the dollar and Euro in sluggish mid week trading.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6259
• Pound/Euro 1.1188

The FTSE 100 Index rose 17.2 points to close on 5,261.57. The index has shown a 50 percent recovery since March and looks to be heading for its biggest annual gain since 1997.

U.K. stocks climbed, led by financial shares, after Abu Dhabi provided $10 billion to avert a default by Dubai’s Nakheel PJSC. The FTSE 100 Index rose 23.77 points to 5,285. 77

US President Barack Obama speaking after a meeting, described as "candid" with executives of some of America’s top banks, announced that he has told bankers to increase loans to small and medium-size businesses.

He went on to add that US banks had received extraordinary assistance and demanded they show extraordinary commitment to rebuild the US economy.

The meeting with executives from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, among others, came after the president said he had not run for office to help out "a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street".

On close of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped just nine points to 10,462.66 while the NASDAQ raised a little to close on 2,209.82.

US bank Well Fargo has announced that they are to re pay back £15 billion emergency funding it received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp). Following hot on the heels of a similar one by Citigroup, Wells Fargo are the last leading institution to repay Tarp funding, marking a key step towards recovery for the US financial system.

financial

• Playing the Empire Avenue Social Media Exchange Update: e(RINGLE) has incorporated my algorithm into his P3 for...
• "There is Always a Bull Market Somewhere" This slogan for my trading service -- Bull Market Alert --...
• My Bank Experiences Right now I have three banks, each of which serves...

Tags: Alastair Darling, B&Q, Bank, bank bonuses, Banking, Barack Obama, Bharti Airtel Ltd, British airways, British Economy, British Pound, Bwin Interactive Gaming AG, Cadburys, Citigroup, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, FTSE, Global Merchant Services, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Kingfisher, Kraft Foods, Lloyds Banking Group, London Stock Exchange Group Plc, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, NASDAQ, National Express Group Plc, Office for National Statistics, PartyGaming Plc, Premier Inn, Recession, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered Plc, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, Strike, Troubled Asset Relief Program, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, VAT, Vodafone Group Plc, Wall Street, Well Fargo, Whitbread Plc

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling now appears likely to give Lloyds the go ahead to test the seriousness of its ambitious £25 billion refinancing plan. Darling’s tacit agreement will be looked upon by city watchers as a definite indication that the chancellor could be prepared to release the bank from its obligations to the government’s toxic asset insurance scheme. It would appear that Darling has concluded that Lloyds’ plan to bring in more private capital is in the public interest. However it would appear that his final decision will only be positive when he is convinced that the market is ready for such a bold initiative. Darling is expected to announce his decision to the Lloyds at the early part of next week. The move will mean that the bank can then begin to appoint underwriters and test the market. Only then will Darling make the final decision and may even withdraw approval for the plan if he concludes the move carries to many risks for the already under siege UK taxpayer.

As expected, the European Union (EU) has approved plans for nationalized bank Northern Rock to be split into two parts, a move that is expected to pave the way for a partial sale of the bank.

One half of the bank, known as the "good" bank, would trade as retail bank holding deposits including some of the Rock’s existing mortgages, as well as lending money to consumers only.

The toxic side of the bank will remain in government hands, whose unenviable task it would be to attempt to salvage as much as the taxpayer’s money tied up there. The chancellor has ruled out the possibility of completing the sale of Northern Rock before the general election, in spite of winning approval from Brussels.

Meanwhile Spanish banking giants Santander continue to clean up on the UK high street. The bank announced that profits during the first nine months of the year for its UK banks have risen by more than a third.

Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley banks, owned by Santander announced a £1.2 billion profit, up 38% from the same period in 2008.

Debt laden bus and rail operator National Express has wound up their discussions with rival Stagecoach regarding a possible merger. Instead they will press ahead with their plans to mount a rights issue to re-finance the company. Yesterday’s announcement follows weeks of speculation over a possible tie-up between the groups that would have created a transport giant with an estimated worth of £1.7 billion.

Oil and gas supply group BG, announced on Wednesday that their post-tax profits for the third quarter had fallen 39 per cent to £474 million from last year’s £777 million. A spokesman for the company said that the fall in gas and oil prices had been partially offset by advance sales of liquefied natural gas at advantageous prices. Although natural gas has rallied since early September, it had not done as well as crude oil during continued signs of economic recovery.

Sterling continued to rise in value yesterday against the dollar, while rising slightly against the Euro.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6393
• Pound/Euro 1.1131
• Pound/Japanese Yen 148.0908
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6804

London’s FTSE 100 dropped 2.32% or 120.55 points to close on 5080.42. The FTSE 250 plummeted a further 3.19% percent yesterday, down 291.78 points to close on 8849.50

For the first time in half a year, sales of new homes in the US fell as buyers opted for bargains on existing and foreclosed houses. Unexpectedly new home sales fell by 3.6 per cent from August to September, defying economists’ expectations that they would increase. Compared with a year ago, sales of new homes were down by 7.8 per cent, according to commerce department figures

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.21% after news that the annual rate of US new home sales had fallen unexpectedly in September.

At close of trading Wednesday it had fallen 119.48 points to 9762.69. The NASDAQ Composite index also took a tumble down 56.48 points to 2059.61.

It was announced on Wednesday that new orders for durable goods rebounded in September after slumping the prior month, offering another sign that manufacturing activity is stirring in the US

European shares also fell fairly sharply yesterday, largely due to disappointing company results and negative US economic data.

Norway has become the first European country to raise its interest rates since the beginning of the global financial crisis. The country’s central bank raised the cost of borrowing from 1.25% to 1.5% in a move that was widely expected. A spokesman for the bank stated that the increase was necessary due to increases in inflation and recent unemployment figures that were considerably lower than previously projected.

Oil prices dropped by more than $2 a barrel on Wednesday, as the latest US weekly inventories data continued to show supply outstripping demand. All in all the expected recovery in the dollar weighed on investor sentiment towards the commodities market.

financial

• The Deflation Scam The media has been going on and on about deflation....
• Risk and the Status Quo Quite often I'll sit here for 20 minutes or so...
• Default Rate: It's Not Just If a Loan Defaults, But When I had a very interesting email exchange with RGF.  (I...

Tags: Abbey, Alastair Darling, Alliance & Leicester, Bank, Banking, BG, Bradford & Bingley, British Economy, British Pound, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Currency, Current Account, Darling, Dow Jones, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, gas, llo, Lloyds, Lloyds Banking Group, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, NASDAQ, National Express, Northern Rock, Oil, Recession, Retail, Santander, Savings, Stagecoach, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Unemployment, 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

financial

• The Uncle Sam All-Risk Insurance Company is Back in Action Our Best Wishes to the Good Folks in Galveston, Texas ...
• Strategies in Forex Trading Being a trader in the Forex market has its ups...
• Personal Finance and The NFL Draft There are a few big events coming up soon. We've...

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

The Financial Services Authority (FSI) recently announced that they will be taking a much closer look in the future at firms who provide financial services firms, In particular, they will be reviewing the methods used by these companies to market their payment protection insurance policies, (PPI) The FSI initiative is designed to curb continuing hard-sell tactics and miss-selling of the product.

PPI is designed to cover repayments on products bought on long term credit products, in the event that if the borrower is unable to do as a result of reduced earnings caused by accident, redundancy, sickness or to project the family in the event that the debtor passes away. Setting a precedent was the record £7 million pound imposed in October 2008 by the FSA on the Alliance & Leicester building society, for reported serious failings in procedures during recorded telephone conversations discussing PPI to prospective clients. .

The FSA are about to issue a series guidelines,- due to take effect by the end of the year that are designed to ensure that PPI sales will be handled properly and complaints will be at a minimum.

In addition, the FSA are liable to request that certain companies reassess 185,000 previously rejected customer complaints. The reason given is that the FSA complain that there are an excessively high number of complaints of rejected complaints by firms offering PPI. The average percentage level of rejected claims is around 60% with certain companies showing a reject rate of almost 100%.

Most PPI service providers, among them Lloyds Banking Group, the country’s biggest provider of PPI accounting for 40 percent of PPI contracts sold directly to borrowers have agreed to screen all such sales since July 2007.

financial

• Why It Is Best To Go With An SEO Company For Your Link Building Service Quicker or later all online entrepreneurs utilizing Web optimization for...
• Web Design And How To Make Money From It There is a lot of money to be made these...
• Avoid Relief Shortcuts or Face These 8 Bad Credit Consequences! While no one wants to be burdened under big piles...

Tags: Bank, Banking, British Economy, Economy, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, FSI, Lloyds Banking Group, Money, Money Management, Mortgage, payment protection insurance policies, PPI, Recession, UK Economy, UK Recession