Why it may be time to reduce investment exposure to UK September 3, 2008 Two trends have dominated financial markets in recent months: global growth has continued to weaken, while inflationary pressure has eased. The main cloud on the horizon now is the renewed upward spike in US mortgage spreads; this prevents the average American house-buyer from benefiting from looser monetary policy and lower bond yields. More positively, energy [...]
Business hit by wave of receiverships September 2, 2008 Business failures in Britain are set to soar to 17,000 this year. Government statistics for the first six months of 2008 show them rising by a staggering third over last year’s total of 12,507. And some of Britain’s most well-established companies are among the earliest victims. Those going into receivership, having traded for at least [...]
Chelsea hit back as Real point finger September 1, 2008 Chelsea last night hit back at criticism from Real Madrid over their pursuit of striker Robinho as the on-going transfer saga turned nasty. Real earlier lashed out at Chelsea’s behaviour over their public courting of the Brazilian, in particular the selling of replica shirts with Robinho’s name printed on the back. But while the Blues [...]
JP Morgan retains top broker title September 1, 2008 Investment bank JP Morgan Cazenove has been named the top City broker for the third year running, according to the latest adviser rankings from Hemscott. JP Morgan has led the table for 12 consecutive quarters. It gained five new clients in the three months to 11 August taking its client base to a total of [...]
Affluent women boosting growth in private banking September 1, 2008 NatWest will today reveal that there is a new profile of private banking customers in Britain, announcing an increase in young, affluent female customers. NatWest Private Banking’s customer demographic has evolved significantly over the past five years. Customers are now younger, with 87,344 18 to 30 year olds owning private banking accounts. Private banking is [...]
Woolies’ investor backs management September 1, 2008 Ardeshir Naghshineth, the largest shareholder in Woolworths, has backed the struggling retailer’s management team in rejecting a £50m takeover bid from Iceland founder Malcolm Walker. Iranian property investor Naghshineth, said to be worth an estimated £500m, has a 10.2 per cent stake in the firm and was yesterday reported to consider Walker’s bid as being [...]
Latest house price fall piles on the misery September 1, 2008 House prices slumped by 0.9 per cent in August, falling for the 11th successive month and adding to the gloom currently surrounding the market. According to the latest national housing market survey from Hometrack, average prices are down by 5.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis, the lowest level since the survey began in 2001. [...]
Running an old media company isn’t much fun right now August 29, 2008 The outlook for most of the media is as bleak as the August weather. Everywhere you look this week profits seem to be tumbling as cost cuts and job losses accelerate. Johnston Press chief executive Tim Bowdler could see little cause for hope for 18 months at the very least as he unveiled an advertising [...]
House price fall takes UK to the brink August 29, 2008 Economy on the verge of crisis as house prices fall at their sharpest rate for 18 years Fresh evidence that Britain’s economy is on the brink of crisis continues to emerge after August house prices fell at their sharpest annual rate in 18 years and retail sales slumped. House prices fell 1.9 per cent during [...]
Cash and bonds will help protect your investments from stagflation August 29, 2008 It’s time to re-balance your portfolio to cushion the blow of the bear market, says Bill Jamieson Investors have arrived at a critical inflection point on portfolio planning. Many believe that key sectors of the equity market such as banks and house builders are now undervalued, yet they choose to remain markedly underweight in these [...]
