Best ETFs for an environment with rising interest rates August 19, 2022 On 4th August, the Bank of England raised interest rates by an outsize 0.50% – the largest single increase since 1995, taking the Bank Rate to 1.75%. This follows on from the Fed’s second 0.75% rate hike on 27th July, as Central Banks try to rein in inflation. Whether or not interest rate rises will [...]
Tube strike brings London to a standstill as Uber raises prices due to increased demand August 19, 2022 London has been paralysed by a strike from workers on the Underground, Overground and bus service, as private hire taxi services like Uber and Bolt raise prices due to increased demand. All London Underground lines are closed on Friday 19 August following a walk-out called by around 10,000 members of the RMT Union on the [...]
Dire economy drags UK consumer confidence down to lowest level ever August 19, 2022 “Exasperation” with the plight of the UK economy has eroded consumer confidence to the lowest level ever, reveals a closely watched survey published today. Households are being downtrodden by a string of bleak economic news, uncertainty over how they will cope with sky-high energy bills during the winter months and sharp fall in spending power. [...]
Letters: Who’s at the top of the NHS? August 19, 2022 [Re: Our healthcare leaders need financial acumen to start to fix the holes in the NHS, August 16] The people working in our healthcare system should be able to balance budgets, but they should also have more public accountability when they don’t. The governor of the Bank of England has been heavily criticised for failing to [...]
Ex-dividend shares tame FTSE gains as UK bond yields hit fresh 14-year high August 18, 2022 Traders ditching companies that have yet to announce the details of their next shareholder giveaway tamed London markets’ gains today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index jumped 0.35 per cent to 7,541.85 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.55 per cent higher [...]
Brits’ spending drops sharply as recession clouds gather August 18, 2022 Brits’ credit and debit card spending dropped dramatically over the past week, according to fresh data published by the Office for National Statistics. This data ranked at 97 per cent of its level in February 2020, the month prior to the country’s first Covid lockdown. The figures are based on Bank of England CHAPS interbank [...]
Liz Truss to launch ‘war on technocrats’ by merging City watchdogs August 18, 2022 Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss is planning an immediate shakeup of the City’s major regulators if she wins the race to become prime minister. Truss is planning to merge the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and Payments System Regulator (PSR) into a single, new body. The Conservative party MP’s plans comes [...]
Extinction Rebellion activists ejected from Lord’s Cricket Ground after J.P. Morgan protest August 18, 2022 Environmental activists were ejected from Lord’s Cricket Ground after unfurling a banner protesting its ties to J.P. Morgan. Doctors for Extinction Rebellion hung a poster from the top tier of a stand during the first day of the first Test between England and South Africa on Monday. The protest was against J.P. Morgan, which it [...]
Historic inflation surge to swell UK debt interest bill to over £200bn August 18, 2022 A historic inflation surge is set to swell the UK’s debt interest bill to over £200bn, top economists have warned today. Britain’s public purse is set to come under intense pressure over the next two years that may cause the government to miss their borrowing fiscal rule, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). [...]
Bank of England to launch another jumbo rate hike to tame over 10 per cent inflation August 17, 2022 The Bank of England is set to launch a series of jumbo rate hikes to tame inflation that is beginning to be driven by domestic factors, City economists warned today. Prices climbed 10.1 per cent annually in July, the fastest acceleration since February 1982 and much higher than the Bank and analysts’ forecasts, according to [...]