House prices in US climb 5.6pc in the 12 months to November January 23, 2013 HOUSE prices in the US shot up by 5.6 per cent in the year to November, according to a widely-observed survey released yesterday. Prices of American homes climbed 0.6 per cent in November, compared to the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The FHFA compiles data from new mortgages owned or guaranteed [...]
Wall Street’s big banks roar again while cutting costs January 16, 2013 EVEN the most committed banker-basher should find something to like in the latest results from Wall Street. Huge rises in profits at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs from a year ago came alongside reductions in staff and salaries and a boost in lending to small businesses and homebuyers. JP Morgan announced it was cutting chief [...]
November saw accelerating house prices January 15, 2013 THE HOUSING market heated up in November, according to the most comprehensive official data, released yesterday. The Office for National Statistics’ house price index climbed 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to November 2012, up from the 1.5 per cent growth recorded in the year to October. This overall acceleration was driven by soaring London prices, [...]
Watchdog says stability rules will hit growth January 14, 2013 RAISING capital requirements for bank lending will promote financial stability but will also increase the cost of credit and hit the economy in the short run, the Bank of England acknowledged yesterday. Its policy document explaining how the Financial Policy Committee will try to identify and deal with financial bubbles also said the powers could [...]
Great value mortgages are making their way to market January 13, 2013 A BLEAK wider economic picture has made the mortgage market difficult in recent years. Nonetheless, mortgage lending is set to expand by 8.3 per cent in 2013, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). And since the Funding for Lending credit easing scheme was introduced last summer, there has been an increase in the [...]
Best of the Brokers January 9, 2013 JOHN WOOD GROUP Goldman Sachs upgraded the oil and gas services company to “buy” from “neutral” and raised the target price by 28p to 940p yesterday, following “recent underperformance”. According to the analyst, the company contains a lucrative combination of relatively low risk, growth and high cash flow. John Wood is likely to benefit from [...]
Banks hammered by $20bn mortgage bill January 7, 2013 US BANKS were hit with compensation payments and settlement costs of almost $20bn (£12.4bn) yesterday as regulators and the industry moved to end long-running rows over the toxic debt and aggressive repossessions of the credit crunch era. Ten banks will have to pay a total of $8.5bn in compensation and mortgage assistance to customers who [...]
Markets lap up easing of bank liquidity rules January 7, 2013 BANK shares jumped yesterday after regulators eased incoming liquidity rules, giving banks more time to build up their buffers as well as letting lenders use a wider range of instruments. The aim of the rules is to make sure banks have a buffer of liquid assets big enough to match outflows of cash in a [...]
US stocks drop on anticipated poor earnings January 7, 2013 US stocks lost ground yesterday, as investors drew back from recent gains that lifted the S&P 500 to a five-year high, in anticipation of sluggish growth in corporate profits. Shares of financial companies dipped after a group of major US banks agreed to pay a total of $8.5bn (£5.3bn) to end a government inquiry into [...]
We need an export-led revolution to save the UK economy January 3, 2013 HAPPY New Year, dear readers. Let me begin my first column of 2013 with a plea to economists, policy-makers, commentators, politicians, financiers, business folk and everyone else who wants more growth and jobs. Please, please, spend less of your time obsessing about fresh ways to subsidise mortgages, pump prime the economy with more quantitative easing [...]