Commodity investors: how to hedge your US dollar exposure March 29, 2018 For quite some time now, low interest rates have prompted investors to look for investments with the potential to deliver decent levels of growth. If anything, this desire has intensified in the past year or so as inflation in the UK has picked up. Annual Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) – the measure of price growth [...]
Bank of England tells financial firms it’s business as usual during Brexit transition March 28, 2018 The Bank of England said today that financial firms should take a business as usual approach and assume they will be able to carry on operations as normal until the end of the Brexit implementation period. Last week, the EU’s chief negotiator confirmed an agreement had been reached on a Brexit transition deal, which will [...]
Businesses set to boost investment and expect price inflation to slow, as effect of sterling’s deprecation wanes – Bank of England March 28, 2018 Businesses surveyed by the Bank of England are expecting price inflation to slow, according to a business conditions summary published today. Input cost inflation, such as rises in the price of raw materials, had eased slightly and businesses regarded the inflationary impact of sterling’s drop in value to have peaked. Of the 308 businesses with [...]
Trump’s protectionism poses “significant risk” to global growth says Bank of England March 27, 2018 Policymakers at the Bank of England are concerned that protectionist economic policies pursued by US President Donald Trump could damage global growth, according to their latest assessment of the risks to the financial system. The Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) is concerned that “The potential for an increase in trade barriers represented a significant downside [...]
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is facing a fresh trial over alleged bribery March 24, 2018 Formula One's former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is set to face a fresh trial over bribery and corruption allegations, relating to the 2006 sale of the motor racing business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. London's High Court announced yesterday that Ecclestone will face trial on 1 October 2019, reviving a case which Ecclestone [...]
Artemis: Investing for income March 23, 2018 On Britain’s railways, a double yellow light is an instruction to exercise “preliminary caution”. On seeing it, a train driver should continue to move forward but be prepared to begin slowing at the next signal; there may be an obstruction ahead. These are the conditions under which investors seeking income currently operate. Financial assets in [...]
Hollywood’s Michael Sheen warned home credit crusade could force millions of Brits into the hands of illegal loan sharks March 22, 2018 Britain’s second-biggest sub-prime lender today hit back at Welsh Hollywood star Michael Sheen and his crusade to clamp down on the home credit sector. The End High Cost Credit Alliance, founded by the star of Alice in Wonderland and the Twilight Saga, is campaigning for “a fair, affordable credit product”. High cost credit is unfairly [...]
Bank of England policymakers split on rate hike: Here’s how the City reacted March 22, 2018 Sterling spiked in the aftermath of the Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates steady today, as two members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) dissented in favour of hiking rates immediately. The pound hit $1.422 just after midday, as the Committee hinted strongly that a rate hike would come in May. Here’s what [...]
The Bank of England is setting up its own fintech hub March 22, 2018 The Bank of England (BoE) will set up a fintech hub to monitor developments that could help boost the UK's weak productivity levels. "We have set up a new fintech hub that will sit at the heart of the Bank, to consider both how the Bank understands and how it applies fintech, relevant to its [...]
Pound rises as Bank of England policymakers vote 7-2 to hold interest rates, but hint at a May hike (GBP USD EUR) March 22, 2018 The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) has voted to hold interest rates at 0.5 per cent, but has hinted a hike may be on the horizon. Policymakers agreed 7-2 to keep rates steady, saying that Brexit developments and the reaction of households, businesses and asset prices to these developments “remain the most significant [...]