House market enjoys some spring stability May 31, 2009 HOUSE prices remained stable for the first time in 20 months last month, according to the latest survey by Hometrack. House prices remained unchanged in May, compared to month on month declines since the housing slump. A combination of stronger sales volumes, continued buyer interest and a dwindling supply of property for sale has provided [...]
A bloated BBC could hamper a recovery in media May 28, 2009 THERE was a rare spot of good news for the media industry this week. Firstly, Goldman Sachs turned positive on the industry, upping its target price for Daily Mail and General Trust to 346p and for Trinity Mirror to 88p. It also added ITV to its conviction buy list, a move which Bank of America [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU AGREE WITH THE FSA’S DIRE ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS? May 28, 2009 MO MAYET INGRAM MAYET“I think their predictions are very gloomy – and that scaremongering like that isn’t going to help matters. I think the economy will remain stable for the next 12 months or so and then recover steadily, but I’m shocked by the FSA’s predictions.” MICHAEL PERISSINOTTO MIZUHO“I think these figures sound a lot [...]
Sterling’s long decline comes to an end May 27, 2009 IT may seem strange given the dire state of Britain’s public finances but sterling is starting to regain some of its strength, especially against the dollar. Yesterday the pound rose above $1.60 for the first time in seven months, boosted by better services sector sentiment and mortgage approvals. Sterling is now trading well above its [...]
Ashley wallet suffers due to relegation May 25, 2009 SPORTS Direct owner Mike Ashley’s fortune looks set for another battering after the football club he owns, Newcastle United, was relegated from the Premier League. Ashley’s club stands to lose at least £30m a season from a drop in TV revenue which will wipe millions off the value of the struggling north east outfit, in [...]
THE GLOOMY NEWS ISN’T ALL OVER YET May 25, 2009 THERE was a little corrective activity in the middle of last week, but the story this quarter for the S&P 500 has been positive: the index has notched up gains of over 11 per cent. But we shouldn’t start getting too excited just yet. The S&P’s gains sit uncomfortably with the gloomy rhetoric that is [...]
Q&A: SALES May 21, 2009 Q. Dear Russell, I’ve put an offer in on a property that I really like but so has another party. The vendor has said that he wants to do a contract race in order to decide. What does that mean?A. A contract race is very much first-past-the-post – basically the first party to have read [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 20, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESCANNES HIT BY CUTBACKS AND CAUTIONThere are still outward signs of glamour on the Croisette in Cannes, but economic reality has gripped the film market at this year’s 62nd film festival. Some of the biggest parties have been cancelled and, for the first time in years, it is easy to get a hotel room. [...]
Profits posted at Royal Mail despite slump May 14, 2009 ROYAL MAIL’S profits have almost doubled, the postal service said yesterday, as all four sections of the company entered the black for the first time in two decades. The whole group’s operating profit hit £321m for the year to the end of March, up from £162m last year, and showed its letter delivery arm and [...]
Q&A: BUYING May 14, 2009 Q. Dear Camilla, I’m looking to buy a property but have we reached the bottom of the market or do prices have further to fall? A. Prices have fallen between 15 and 20 percent since the peak of the market, which was March 2008 for London. At the beginning of this year most analysts were [...]