Why buying property is no panacea September 8, 2011 ANYBODY interested in the housing market and in trying to preserve their wealth in these uncertain times should take a look at a fascinating new book. Safe as Houses: a Historical Analysis of Property Prices is full of useful facts – and a stark reminder that investing in residential property isn’t as sure a bet [...]
Wm Morrison sales up on record customer numbers September 8, 2011 Supermarket chain Wm Morrisons has shrugged off the retail sector gloom to post an almost nine per cent rise in its pre-tax profits in the first half as a record number of shoppers visited its stores. Morrisons attracted 11.5m customers on average each week, adding 2.2 per cent to its like for like sales excluding [...]
Greene King cautious as pub food boosts its sales September 6, 2011 BRITISH pubs and brewery group Greene King said higher demand for pub food helped it partly offset the impact of cost inflation and lower consumer morale in the 18 weeks to 4 September, and reported a rise in like-for-like sales. “The trading outlook remains uncertain as UK consumers are having to cope with rising costs, [...]
Energy hikes lead inflation rise in OECD September 6, 2011 SOARING energy and food prices are hitting consumers across the developed world, claim figures out today. Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show consumer price index (CPI) inflation increased to 3.1 per cent across all items in the 12 months to July. That is up slightly from three per cent the [...]
Why more QE would be wrong for UK September 2, 2011 IT is not looking good for the global economy, with manufacturing output slowing or contracting in most countries, including Britain. There is growing talk that the Bank of England could launch a fresh round of quantitative easing as early next week. If so, that would be a mistake. The British economy faces many challenges but [...]
Why more QE would be wrong for UK September 1, 2011 IT is not looking good for the global economy, with manufacturing output slowing or contracting in most countries, including Britain. There is growing talk that the Bank of England could launch a fresh round of quantitative easing as early next week. If so, that would be a mistake. The British economy faces many challenges but [...]
What Bernanke might dig up at Jackson Hole August 23, 2011 WHEN Ben Bernanke makes his speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, the markets will be hanging on his every word. Helicopter Bernanke picked up his nickname after referring to a Milton Friedman statement about using a helicopter drop of money to fight deflation, and market watchers will be listening for any sign that [...]
High inflation hits UK retail sales in July August 18, 2011 THE WEAKNESS of the UK’s consumer recovery was underscored yesterday, after official figures revealed retail sales rose by just 0.2 per cent in July. Clothing sales were particularly weak as cash-strapped households reined in their spending, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. Analysts had pencilled in a 0.3 per cent rise [...]
Family businesses see sales hike August 17, 2011 THE economy may be weighed down by high inflation and unemployment but family owned businesses appear to be weathering the storm. The top 10 family owned firms all increased their sales in the last year. Total sales for the UK’s biggest family-owned businesses rose 10.2 per cent to £35.5bn, driven by a strong performance from the [...]
US factory gate prices rose sharply in July August 17, 2011 Prices for core US manufactured goods in July rose at the fastest rate since January, new data shows. The US government’s index of farm and factory gate prices excluding food and energy rose by 0.4 per cent, the Labor Department said. The increase was double the expected 0.2 per cent rise. The core producer price [...]