Car sales slip for first time this year August 19, 2010 CAR production in Britain dropped by 8.9 per cent in July as the end of the scrappage scheme hit demand, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday. Production for the year-to-date was still 41.7 per cent higher than in the same period in 2009, SMMT said. Last month’s drop – with 98,000 [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 19, 2010 LOYALTY DOESN’T ALWAYS PAY Shopping around for a cheaper quote for your car insurance really does pay off, according to research from Which?, the independent product-testing and consumer campaigning champion. It surveyed nearly 2,500 consumers and found that more than a third accepted their original car insurers’ renewal quotes because they “couldn’t be bothered to [...]
FOCUS ON: MORDEN, SURREY August 19, 2010 RIVERSIDE HOUSE, MORDEN ROAD £199,950 This two-bedroom apartment in a smart riverside development is ideal for the first-time buyer. It has an undercover reserved parking bay. Contact: Ellisons on 020 8543 1166, www.ellisons.uk.com MAIN HOUSE, THURLESTON AVENUE £499,950 A semi-detached five-bedroom property close to Morden Park, this family home has an extensive rear garden and [...]
China surges past Japan in symbolic shift August 16, 2010 CHINA’S per capita annual income is just $3,600 (£2,299) compared to Japan’s $37,800 but in the second quarter of this year the once impoverished communist state surged past Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy. The faltering Japanese economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the three months to June, an annualised pace of [...]
Mortgage lending jumps in June but volumes stay below pre-crisis levels August 11, 2010 HOME loan volumes picked up in June but still languished at about a third of their pre-financial crisis levels, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Banks and building societies extended £13.1bn of credit to housebuyers in June, an increase of 15 per cent on May’s figure and seven per cent up on the [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 5, 2010 MS LAUNCHES NEW GROWTH PLAN Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of its FTSE Gilt-Backed Growth Plan 4, which offers investors a fixed return equivalent to 8.5 per cent a year, paid on the first anniversary that the FTSE records flat or positive performance. If this does not happen, then investors still have some [...]
House price fall fuels fear of double-dip July 29, 2010 FEARS of a sustained double-dip in Britain’s property market intensified yesterday after mortgage lender Nationwide reported that house prices fell this month for the first time since February and the Bank of England revealed that mortgage approvals dropped to a four-month low in June. The latest figures from Nationwide showed that house prices fell by [...]
Grape escapes: make the vineyard dream come true July 29, 2010 I’D guess that at some point in your career in the City you’ve sat back and daydreamed about a life outdoors, working the land, relaxing at sunset on a terrace overlooking your vines and sipping the product of your labour. Vineyard properties are among the most magical, particularly those in the well-known grape regions of [...]
GM plots listing July 23, 2010 GENERAL Motors plans to file its registration for an initial public offering during the week of 16 August, just after the expected date for its second quarter results, according to US sources. A GM filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission would be the first step towards an IPO to reduce the US government’s [...]
GM plots IPO to reduce government stake July 23, 2010 GENERAL Motors plans to file its registration for an initial public offering during the week of 16 August, just after the expected date for its second quarter results, according to US sources. A GM filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission would be the first step towards an IPO to reduce the US government’s [...]