Panic, just a little bit of panic, was enough to drive Credit Suisse off a cliff March 21, 2023 After the collapse of SVB, investors and the bank's customers were on high alert for signs of shakiness and Credit Suisse was an obvious target as fears mounted over a wider, 2008-style banking crisis, writes Comment & Features Editor Sascha O’Sullivan
OBR blames optimistic economic forecasts on ‘volatile’ environment March 20, 2023 Overly optimistic economic forecasts are down to the “very volatile” nature of the UK in recent years, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) chairman has said. The official Treasury watchdog was warned by Deutsche Bank analysts that it may have repeated its mistake of over-estimating growth figures and wiping out spending power. Speaking at a [...]
Strong performance on price of Bitcoin after stablecoins recover peg and staked Ether withdrawals near March 20, 2023 Data from CryptoCompare shows that the price of Bitcoin surged from around $22,000 at the beginning of last week to now change hands above the $28,000, with the cryptocurrency market having outperformed other assets over the last few days. Ethereum’s Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, moved similarly to BTC, jumping from around $1,580 [...]
Morrisons slashes prices AGAIN as supermarket attempts to woo Aldi and Lidl shoppers back to its aisles March 20, 2023 Morrisons is slashing prices for the third time in three months as it attempts to drag shoppers back from value retailers including Aldi and Lidl. The supermarket said it was cutting the prices of 460 items such as beef mince, cleaning products and fruit, in a move that followed on from a round of price [...]
Stagnant wages since 2008 financial crash means workers £11,000 worse off, BBC Panorama reveals March 20, 2023 Workers are £11,000 worse off per year due to 15 years of wage stagnation, according to the Resolution Foundation. In new figures shared with BBC Panorama, the think tank calculated that, had wages continued to grow at the pace seen before the 2008 financial crash, the average worker would make £11,000 more per year than [...]
American candy stores or retail hub? What might be next for Oxford Street March 19, 2023 It has been three years since the UK was plunged into its first-ever full scale lockdown – forcing the majority of stores in London’s West End to temporarily cease trading and arguably altering the state of physical retail forever. The pandemic forced once seemingly indestructible retailers such as Debenhams, Topshop, and Gap off Oxford Street, [...]
Explainer: Why are the SNP losing members? March 17, 2023 The Scottish National Party is losing members: this is the reality that the contenders to replace Nicola Sturgeon had to grapple with this week. The party said the current membership stands at 72,186. These will be the people who ultimately get to decide who becomes the new leader of the party. At the beginning of [...]
Pension pain: Savers who bought lifetime allowance ‘protection’ warned they may still find their tax-free lump sum capped March 17, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to scrap the pension lifetime allowance (LTA) in Wednesday’s Spring Budget, was heralded as an incentive for wealthier employees over 50 to stay in the workforce. But some pensions experts say for those who took out a form of LTA protection may still have to watch they do not go over [...]
Banks, bonds, inflation, recession and energy: Five lessons the markets taught us this week March 17, 2023 The third week of March proved to be a rollercoaster for the world’s investors, with a rout on banks and the spectre of inflation, recession and the growing cost of living making their presence felt. These themes may indeed play on in future, so here are the five lessons we’ve learned from the markets this [...]
Holidaymakers told to expect delays as passport office workers start FIVE WEEK strike March 17, 2023 Passport Office workers are to strike for five weeks in an escalation of a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions. More than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working in Passport Offices in England, Scotland and Wales will take part in the action from April 3 to May 5. Those working [...]