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 [...]
UK has fewer empty homes December 19, 2010 THE number of English homes left standing empty for six months or longer dropped for the first time in three years last year, in a sign that a stagnant housing market and high rental demand is pushing up occupancy levels. The number of long-term empty private houses dropped by more than 20,000, or six per [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT NEXT FOR THE PROPERTY MARKET? December 19, 2010 ALAN CLARKE | BNP PARIBAS “I think it will be a year of two halves – a modest decline in prices in the first half, ending about five per cent down by mid-year: not too terrible. The market will then have bottomed out and start to regain ground.” YOLANDE BARNES | SAVILLS “London has slowed [...]
The UK’s largest housebuilder says the road to recovery will be long December 19, 2010 PERSIMMON chief executive Mike Farley is not looking for a magic bullet. The boss of the country’s largest housebuilder is clear that the sector has endured its worst slump since World War Two and faces at least a two-year road to recovery. The industry tends to listen when Farley speaks. Not just because he runs [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS December 16, 2010 NEW SHARE BROKING FIRM LAUNCHED Rivington Street Holding yesterday launched its execution-only share broking service, promising to cut the cost of share dealing for private investors. Created by Barry Jenkins and Brian Gould, JPJshare.com will charge from £4.75 per trade for those making more than 15 trades a month and £5.75 for less frequent users. [...]
Inflation now a real problem for UK December 14, 2010 IN the long-term, we are all dead – or so claimed John Maynard Keynes. True, of course, but only in a meaningless kind of way, as yesterday’s dangerously high UK inflation figures demonstrate. For ages now, the Bank of England has been justifying its failure to meet its inflation target in the short-term by repeatedly [...]
Inflation hits highest level in six months December 14, 2010 ABOVE target inflation rose further in November, jumping higher than economists expected, official data showed yesterday. The news cast further doubt over the Bank of England’s loose policy and monetary stimulus. “Another round of quantitative easing was always a long shot and this will reduce the odds still further,” said economist Andrew Goodwin of the [...]