Number of US banking failures surges through the 100 mark October 25, 2009 THE number of US banks going bust has passed 100 this year, the highest rate of failure in 17 years. The subprime crisis continues to wreak havoc, with US regulators shutting seven more banks over the weekend. Three banks in Florida alone were wound up bringing the total of failed lenders to 106 in 2009, [...]
Play the Bank’s QE decision with a punt on gilts October 25, 2009 THIS year we have witnessed the Bank of England take the unprecedented step of buying billions of pounds worth of assets – mostly government bonds – in order to loosen monetary policy further than can be achieved through interest rate cuts alone. It goes without saying that this policy of quantitative easing (QE) has had [...]
Availability of credit improving but lending remains subdued October 22, 2009 THE flow of lending to UK businesses improved markedly in August but still remained in negative territory, the Bank of England said yesterday. Its monthly Trends in Lending report also showed that, following robust capital market issuance over recent months, net funds raised by UK businesses weakened in August. The report said repayments outstripped new [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 20, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GALLEONMOVINGASSETS INTO CASHBrokers to the Galleon Group – the hedge fund whose founder and president, Raj Rajaratnam, is at the centre of insider trading charges – report it is rapidly liquidating its investments in anticipation of a wave of investor redemptions. $12.9BN VALEPUSHTOENDDISPUTE Vale, the Brazilian mining group that is the world’s biggest [...]
Windfall taxes cannot be the answer October 18, 2009 IF TAX policy were determined by referenda, London’s financial institutions would be in even greater trouble than they already are. I was a guest on James Max’s LBC radio show yesterday and it was soon clear that the overwhelming majority of callers hate banks with a passion. My own position, which is that it would [...]
Era of cheap mortgages is gone forever October 11, 2009 WITH official interest rates stuck at rock-bottom levels, consumers could be forgiven for wondering why mortgage rates remain so high. The answer, I’m afraid, is that the era of excessively cheap mortgages is gone forever in the UK. Over time, this will be no bad thing but in the short term it will prove cripplingly [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 7, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESMICROSOFT NEARER TO EU DEALMicrosoft yesterday scored an important breakthrough in its long-running battle with European regulators, paving the way for an end to a highly charged dispute that has hung over the US?software company for much of this decade in one of its most important markets. The EU’s antitrust watchdog said that it [...]
Lack of stock propels house prices higher October 6, 2009 HOUSE prices in Britain experienced their first quarterly rise in two years in the three months to September, which saw the value of a UK home rise 2.8 per cent over the period, Halifax said yesterday in its monthly survey, citing increased demand and a shortage of properties for sale. Data from the mortgage lender [...]
The US is down, but it is far from out September 30, 2009 THERE is nothing better for the soul than a visit to New York. London is the greatest City on earth; but the Big Apple comes a close second. America has suffered even more badly than Britain from the crisis: a greater number of homes have been repossessed, millions have lost their jobs and vast wealth [...]
Consumers tighten belts as GDP slumps September 29, 2009 THE scale of Britons’ belt-tightening was laid bare by data showing record consumer credit repayments in August and a five-year high in households’ savings ratio in the second quarter. Official data confirmed Britain’s economy suffered its worst 12 months since modern records began in 1955, with output falling by 5.5 per cent year-on-year in the [...]