Halifax: Modest decline in house prices signals price stagnation for coming year January 10, 2011 HOUSE prices dropped slightly in the final three months of the year, according to a Halifax study released yesterday. “Prices were 0.9 per cent lower than in the previous quarter,” said Halifax economist Martin Ellis. “This rate of decline is significantly less than the quarterly falls of five to six per cent during the second [...]
The odds on volatility shorten January 10, 2011 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT AFTER a strong start to the New Year, equities began to flag at the end of last week. Wednesday’s blow-out ADP employment numbers were largely ignored as investors held off for Friday’s non-farm payrolls. These proved to be a disappointment, despite upward revisions to the two preceding months. Apart from the [...]
Fed turns record profits over to US Treasury January 10, 2011 THE US Federal Reserve has reported its earnings jumped by more than 50 per cent to a record $80.9bn (£52bn) on its massive holdings of securities in 2010 and it will turn the bulk of it over to the US Treasury. The $78.4bn the Fed is remitting is also a record, and is $31bn more [...]
Key dates to watch in 2011 January 6, 2011 JANUARY is traditionally a month of self-imposed austerity and resolutions to do better. Despite a recovering economy, in an environment of high unemployment, rapidly rising prices and a less generous state, keeping one’s finances under better control ought to be topping many 2011 resolution lists. While the VAT rise will be foremost in all of [...]
PROPERTY NEWS January 6, 2011 WHERE TO BUY IN 2011 Predictions for the property market may be uncertain, but independent homefinders network County Homesearch has named the areas it expects to be bucking the trend for sliding prices. These include perennial favourites like Alderley Edge in Cheshire, Exeter in Devon and East Hampshire, but it also names places such as [...]
Lenders expect stable credit conditions January 6, 2011 Lenders expect credit conditions to remain broadly steady in the first quarter of 2011 but are bracing for a further drop in mortgage demand and slightly higher losses from mortgage defaults, a survey by the Bank of England showed. The central bank’s quarterly credit conditions survey highlights the continued reluctance among banks to extend credit [...]
THE TIPSTER January 4, 2011 THE US dollar has risen for the second consecutive day against the yen thanks to increased optimism for the US recovery – factory orders are falling at a slower pace than expected and the labour market is also starting to show a glimmer of improvement. Following the latest fall in weekly jobless claims, analysts are [...]
The City is back but under new management December 21, 2010 BRITAIN’S financial landscape has been transformed since we last shone a light on the City’s most powerful figures two years ago. The City A.M./CityJet Power Hundred 2011 list ranks the most influential figures in UK finance as we head into the new year. It should be no surprise that it is very different from 2009. [...]
Mortgage lending slumps to lowest point for a decade December 20, 2010 MORTGAGE lending has sunk to its lowest level since 2000 for five consecutive months, it was revealed yesterday. In November lending dropped by five per cent to £11.1bn compared to the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). A huge 10 per cent drop from last year’s November figures is partly accounted [...]
CBI: Rate rise in spring 2011 December 19, 2010 BRITISH GDP will expand by two per cent next year before accelerating to 2.4 per cent growth in 2012, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said today. Rising inflation will force the Bank of England to increase rates as early as spring, the CBI predicts. “The persistent strength of energy and commodity prices is a [...]