October’s mortgage approvals lowest since Feb November 29, 2010 THE number of mortgage approvals in Britain fell to its lowest in eight months in October, but mortgage lending rose twice as fast as expected, according to official data released today. The Bank of England said mortgage approvals numbered 47,185 in October, down from 47,369 in September. This is the lowest level since February 2010, [...]
Ireland’s bailout won’t halt contagion November 28, 2010 ONLY the naïve will believe that Ireland’s bailout will halt the Eurozone crisis. It is too late for that; the best that the EU/IMF/UK plan will achieve is to slightly delay contagion. The 6 per cent interest rate on the EU portion of the loans is far too high, especially given that Eire’s inflation rate [...]
Learn the lessons of financial history November 25, 2010 THERE is nothing more enlightening than financial history – yet perhaps the only real lesson of all kinds of history is that we never learn from it. Let me attempt, nevertheless, to draw a couple of key conclusions. The first lesson from market history is that slumps and market crashes can always be much, much [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIRLINE FINANCING RIFT DEEPENS Ryanair and Emirates have taken the unusual step of joining forces with eight other airlines as a multibillion-dollar row over aircraft financing starts to split the world’s largest airlines into two rival camps. The Irish budget airline and Dubai’s Emirates normally shun industry alliances. But yesterday they revealed they [...]
Nationwide profits up after cost cuts November 23, 2010 NATIONWIDE Building Society’s profits rose 26 per cent to £147m in the first half of 2010, from £117m the previous year, as it cut costs and reduced loan impairment charges. Pre-tax profits rose 83 per cent to £259m in the six months to 30 September 2010, from £143m in the same period in 2009. Impairment [...]
Nationwide says house price slump unlikely November 23, 2010 Nationwide Building Society, Britain’s second-biggest mortgage lender, reported a 26 per cent jump in first-half profit, and said it did not expect big house price falls despite signs of property market weakness. Nationwide, which publishes a closely watched monthly house price survey, said major price falls were unlikely in 2011 because continued low interest rates [...]
London boosts Winkworth November 22, 2010 LONDON estate agent Winkworth expects to beat its 2010 profit targets after growing revenues 20 per cent in the first nine months of the year, it announced yesterday. Its third quarter trading update said it saw “further strong performance” in the three months to September, despite relatively low transaction volumes and a weaker pricing environment. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 22, 2010 DIXONS Seymour Pierce rates the retailer “buy” with a target price of 37p. The broker is looking for progress in the Nordic countries and the UK in the firm’s results on Thursday, with a first-half loss of £8m. It forecasts 37 per cent growth in 2011 pre-tax profit as the firm’s new strategy takes effect [...]
Twenty per cent off property in paradise November 18, 2010 IT FEELS wrong to be delighted by the financial crisis, doesn’t it? But if you were reclining on a sun-lounger in 30°C heat with a sparkling ocean stretching out in front of you, it would be difficult not to. Especially if you had managed to buy a Caribbean dream home on the cheap. The numbers [...]
Investing your love in bricks and mortar November 18, 2010 1 BUDGET Before you start the fun stuff – househunting – make sure you have covered the boring stuff: finances. Work out how much you can afford to put towards mortgage repayments each month, based on your joint net income, and joint outgoings. If, like Kate and William, you are thoroughly modern and are already [...]