Political limbo puts market in decline for five days May 9, 2010 A FIFTH straight day of declines is on the cards today for the FTSE, with UK shares expected to open down this morning, as the uncertainty surrounding an in limbo-government takes a further toll on investor confidence. European shares are actually headed higher after suffering their worst week in 18 months, on the back of [...]
FTSE falls for fourth day as fears over scale of Greek crisis continue to weigh May 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares fell for the fourth straight session yesterday, led by banks and miners weighed by uncertainty over euro zone debt concerns, as Britain’s electorate went to the polls. The FTSE 100 index closed down 80.94 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,260.99 just above a support level of 5,259 given by analysts. The [...]
Wall Street plunges as trading glitch suspected May 6, 2010 US stocks plunged nine per cent in the last two hours of trading yesterday before clawing back some of the losses as the escalating debt crisis in Europe stoked fears a new credit crunch was in the making. The Dow suffered its biggest ever intraday point drop, which may have been caused by an erroneous [...]
Choosing the most suitable card is not a zero-sum game May 6, 2010 WHEN Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank announced earlier this week their offer of 0 per cent interest on balance transfers for the first 16 months, it threw the cat among the pigeons. The two banks, both UK subsidiaries of National Australia Bank, leapt straight to the top of the best-buy comparison tables with the deal, [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS May 6, 2010 CHELSEA OFFERS FIRST ONLINE ACCOUNT Chelsea Building Society has launched its first ever online account, the e-Saver Reward. The account, which pays monthly interest of 2.57 per cent (2.60 per cent AER), is available to UK residents aged 16 and over and has a minimum deposit of £1. Withdrawals can be made online with only [...]
Venturing into the unknown May 6, 2010 ASKING entrepreneurs what they wanted to be when they were younger is always interesting. Did they have dreams of becoming an astronaut? A milkman? For Patrick Reeve, the founder of Albion Ventures, a venture capital firm, his first hankering was to become an archaeologist, but that idea was shelved early on in favour of business, [...]
SMEs looking for support at Westminster May 6, 2010 SMALL and medium-sized firms make up 99 per cent of all UK businesses, but although our nation relies on entrepreneurs to provide employment to millions of citizens, small firms have felt ignored by politicians during the election campaign and the economic downturn. A survey by accountancy firm Haines Watts, for which 650 business owners from [...]
UK should brace itself for austerity May 5, 2010 RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM OVER the next few months the British electorate will wake up to the reality of what it means to live in a country with a budget deficit of £163bn. The bleak truth is that few will be immune to the tax hikes and spending cuts that will inevitably hit over the next [...]
The gold price continues its march higher as risk falls off May 5, 2010 THE LAST two years have been good for gold. It’s been one of the only assets to march higher during the financial crisis, and is now getting a boost from the sovereign debt problems in Europe. Since Europe’s crisis, investors’ reactions have been to ditch risky assets in favour of perceived safe havens – gold [...]
Play the Greek chaos with limited downside May 5, 2010 SCENES of riots in Athens have filled our television screens and newspapers this week, heightening the sense of chaos that is gripping the country. Against this backdrop of unrest, even the €110bn bail-out package from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union agreed last weekend, has not been enough to calm the market’s fears [...]