Entrepreneurs’ wish list for Wednesday’s Budget March 18, 2012 TAX MADSEN PIRIE CURBING public spending keeps down borrowing rates, but we need a growth agenda, too, and specifically we need encouragement for the entrepreneurs who will create the new wealth and the new jobs of Britain’s future. We don’t need a few more token sums available to approved borrowers; we need instead a shift [...]
UTILISE WHAT GOVERNMENT ALREADY GIVES March 18, 2012 EVEN the staunchest opponent of George Osborne would have to concede that there is no silver bullet to reduce the deficit and boost growth that can come out of Wednesday’s Budget. So, what do we expect? Clearly some quick, high level cost-cutting measures. The personal allowance is already pledged to increase to at least £8,105. [...]
Before introducing costly new schemes government should first do less harm March 18, 2012 LET’S face it. In asking for government favours entrepreneurs are a vested interest like all the rest. Because they aren’t collectivised in the same way as more experienced lobbyists, they don’t get the same hearing as big business. Yet what they lack in voice they make up for in value for money. Politicians are more [...]
Savour a Sipp, but fit it with your appetite March 18, 2012 THE popularity of self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) has risen impressively in recent years. They look like the perfect way to save for retirement – flexible, good value for money, and easy to access and control — and they fit comfortably with the growing view that we must engage with our pension and take responsibility for [...]
Diversification can limit rewards March 18, 2012 IT’S A truism of investment advice that an investor should be diversified. And for good reason – only a gambler would put all his money in a single equity in the hope of striking it rich. Yet it shouldn’t be forgotten that diversification comes at a cost – one that should be weighed principally against [...]
FTSE pulled down by poor showing from energy stocks March 15, 2012 Britain’s leading share index slipped yesterday, weighed down by weakness in heavyweight energy stocks after recent gains, with investors also looking ahead to futures and options expiries. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 4.71 points or 0.1 per cent at 5,940.72, having shed 0.2 per cent in the previous session following five [...]
S&P hits highest point since 2008 March 15, 2012 The S&P 500 closed above 1,400 for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis yesterday as stocks resumed the upward climb that has produced a steady stream of gains this year. The benchmark index is up for six of the past seven sessions and is on target for its best week since early February. [...]
Wall St sees end of 5-day winning run March 14, 2012 THE S&P 500 broke a five-day streak of gains yesterday as investors found little reason to extend a rally that took the benchmark index to four-year highs. Momentum continued in Apple, as its shares climbed 3.8 per cent to $589.58 following positive analyst comment. Morgan Stanley and Canaccord Genuity both lifted their price targets to [...]
Miners put end to FTSE’s positive run March 14, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index retreated yesterday, having flirted with the 6,000 level due to a more promising global economic outlook and robust earnings, with heavily weighted miners hit by concerns over Chinese demand. After five successive days of gains, the longest winning streak since last summer, the FTSE 100 ended down 10.48 points, or 0.2 [...]
Five investment myths dispelled March 14, 2012 Financial wisdom hasn’t been nullified by the latest crises 1 THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS WAS A BLACK SWAN This is perhaps the biggest myth about the crisis. By definition, a black swan is an unprecedented major catastrophic event. However, there were many previous such crises whose long history motivated the late Hyman Minsky – writing [...]
