Bitcoin breaches $28k with little resistance March 20, 2023 Bitcoin is up 27% over the last week and is currently trading around $28,220, while Ethereum at $1,795 is up more than 12%.
Have Brits fallen out of love with DIY? B&Q and rival Wickes eye lower profits after costs soar and demand dwindles March 20, 2023 B&Q owner Kingfisher and rival Wickes are set to reveal falls in profits over the past year as surging costs dampen the outlook for the home improvements market. Kingfisher, which runs B&Q and Screwfix, has previously indicated its sales and profits have weakened over the past year, as it also saw DIY demand from locked-down [...]
Hong Kong and Tokyo: Why Asian markets declined after Credit Suisse’ takeover March 20, 2023 Asian stock markets fell on Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis. Ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes, markets in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney declined. While in Shanghai, stocks edged up. Oil prices also retreated. [...]
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 [...]
Analyst: Why Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has less headroom than he thinks on the public finances March 20, 2023 THE OFFICIAL Treasury watchdog may be repeating its mistake of over-estimating UK growth, Deutsche Bank analysts have warned, with the forecasting miss potentially wiping out Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spending power in years to come. In forecasts published by the Office for Budget Responsibility last week, the watchdog said it expected UK GDP groth to settle around 1.75 [...]
Fed set to hike rates by 25 basis points despite turmoil in US banking sector March 20, 2023 The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the ninth time in a row later this week despite widespread instability in the US banking sector. According to Fedwatch there is a 62 per cent chance that the Fed will opt for a 25 basis point hike and 38 per cent chance that it [...]
Gold hits record highs as investors scramble for safety in week of bank turmoil March 20, 2023 Gold prices reached record highs in the UK last week as investors scrambled for safety in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and an ensuing banking crisis on both sides of the atlantic.
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 [...]
Thousand Faces flying the Web3 flag for women as it heralds the arrival of NFT 2.0 March 17, 2023 Monty casts an eye over the work of Thousand Faces - an NFT investment club helping female entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses.