Fed rate hike decision: What’s expected to change, what it means, and how it will impact your investments December 16, 2015 The world is watching the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, as experts think it will finally raise interest rates from their record lows today.. The Federal Reserve’s main interest rate was cut to 0.25 per cent in December 2008, the depths of the financial crisis. It has stayed there since. It was an [...]
Bank of England: UK households can handle an interest rate hike December 15, 2015 British households are well placed to handle an increase in interest rates, the Bank of England said today. The Bank’s annual survey of 6,000 households compiled by NMG consulting found households were “in a slightly better position to cope with an increase in interest rates than they were a year ago”. The survey revealed that if interest [...]
Bank warns looming credit boom risks housing bubble December 8, 2015 The noughties were not humanity’s greatest decade. It brought us boot cut jeans, velour tracksuits and 50 Cent – and now a report has warned that we could be heading back there, thanks in part to the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC). According to BNP Paribas Real Estate, if the MPC shies away [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne’s speech transcript in full including stamp duty, business rates and corporation tax announcements November 25, 2015 Mr Speaker, this Spending Review delivers on the commitment we made to the British people that we would put security first. To protect our economic security, by taking the difficult decisions to live within our means and bring down our debt. To protect our national security, by defending our country’s interests abroad and keeping our [...]
Fintech Lookahead 2016: The disruptors you should be looking out for November 19, 2015 What can we expect to see from the fintech industry over the coming year? And what kinds of companies are leading the charge? In its 2015 Global Banking Annual Review, McKinsey said that “banks are under attack from new technology companies and others seeking to poach their customers. To date, banks’ losses to attackers have [...]
Easy does it: How to find value in the new normal November 10, 2015 October's relief rally in equity markets should have provided just that – relief. The trouble is that, with positions washed out, sentiment still fragile and macro data still mixed, few participated fully in the move and many simply didn’t believe in it. Many commentators – bullish and bearish alike – appear very happy to [...]
Remortgage lending figures surge in September over prospect of rate hike October 26, 2015 The number of people remortgaging their properties jumped in September as homeowners rushed to secure record-low rates ahead of a potential interest rate hike next year. The latest figures from property services group LMS reveal that remortgage loans reached 28,686 last month, up 12 per cent from 25,600 in August. This is also a four per cent [...]
Powder White’s co-founder Fraser Ewart-White on ski lifts, Khazakstan and the credit crunch October 4, 2015 When do the best business ideas come to you? For Fraser Ewart-White, it was while swinging on a chair-lift 1500m above sea level. Ewart-White had recently left his job as head of buying at the entertainment company Blockbuster, turning his back on his career to study for an MBA and, among other great ambitions, to [...]
Don’t fear a Fed hike: It’s unlikely to cause chaos September 16, 2015 Slow and steady rate rises mean that tightening policy probably won’t hurt your portfolio THE FOURTH of February 1994 is a day I remember well. Six months into my first job as a macro economist with an institutional fund manager, I got my first experience of how investors and markets react when they are surprised [...]
The National Living Wage could make eradicating the deficit a three Parliament problem September 10, 2015 Today we have upgraded our forecast for UK GDP growth to 2.6 per cent for this year and next. On the face of it, we should be content with such an outcome, particularly when looking at the economic problems facing the Eurozone and the recent slowdown in China that has reverberated across markets around the [...]