Rate of repossessions rises as housing recovery slows December 15, 2009 ALMOST 14,000 Britons lost their homes in the third quarter of 2009 as mortgage lenders increased the rate of repossessions, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed yesterday. Repossessions rose 2.8 per cent on the same period of 2008, but the FSA pointed out that the 13,987 properties taken back by lenders was five per cent [...]
RISING YIELDS TO UPSET THE RECOVERY December 14, 2009 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT JUST over a week ago we had a non-farm payroll number which blew away all analysts’ expectations. The reaction in the financial markets was sharp, with the dollar, bond yields and equities all shooting higher. While this was a rational response to good numbers, it wasn’t the reaction we [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY December 14, 2009 MONDAY 14 DECEMBER UK Rightmove house prices (12am) Bank of England Bulletin (12am) Eurozone Third quarter employment (10am) October industrial production (10am) Japan October industrial production (4.30am) TUESDAY 15 DECEMBER UK November RICS house prices (12am) November CPI and RPI (9.30am) October DCLG house price balance Eurozone December ZEW survey (10am) November new car registrations [...]
Households are saving extra cash December 13, 2009 ONE in twenty British households are now in negative equity, following the dramatic slip in the housing market. The Bank of England’s Quarterly bulletin, published today, reveals the proportion of those in negative equity rose from one per cent in 2007, to five per cent this year. Though not as severe as the 11 per [...]
Killing the goose that lays Golden eggs December 7, 2009 HERE are a few facts that Chancellor Alistair Darling should bear in mind as he prepares to hit the financial services industry and high earners with even higher taxes on Wednesday. The top 10 per cent of earners are already set to pay 53.6 per cent of income tax in 2008-09; the top five per [...]
Brits are hungry again for a place in the sun December 3, 2009 MEET an overseas property agent these days and they’ll be chirpy, well slept and optimistic about the future – the exact opposite of how they would have been at the beginning of the year. The reason? After 18 months of its having no appeal whatsoever, the British love affair with buying a place in the [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY November 29, 2009 Monday 30 NovemberUK: November GfK Consumer Confidence (12am)November Hometrack Housing Survey (12am)CBI Service Sector Survey (12am)October Net Consumer Credit (9.30am)October Net Lending Secured on Dwellings (9.30am)October Mortgage Approvals (9.30am)October Final M4 Money Supply (9.30am)Eurozone: November CPI Estimate (10am)US:November Chicago PMI (2.45pm) Tuesday 1 DecemberUK:November PMI Manufacturing (9.30am)November Nationwide House Prices (7am)Eurozone:November PMI Manufacturing (9am)October Unemployment [...]
Looking out for Santa November 23, 2009 BY all accounts UK households are digging in for a frugal Christmas this year. Surveys from research groups like retail specialist Verdict predict that, with the threat of rising mortgage rates and tax increases in 2010, shoppers won’t be feeling too jolly this festive season, and spending will drop year-on-year for the first time on [...]
US state borrowing for nothing November 23, 2009 THE interest rate on US Treasury bills has dropped below zero in a scenario last seen in 1938, leaving investors in the bizarre position of paying the government for the privilege of lending it money. The collapse in short-term borrowing costs comes as stocks continue to shoot up, a deeply unusual combination last seen during [...]
THE NEW YORK REPORT November 23, 2009 US stocks snapped a three-day losing streak yesterday as stronger-than-expected home sales data fuelled optimism while a weaker dollar boosted commodity-linked stocks. Sales of previously owned US homes rose to their highest level in more than 2-1/2 years last month. That helped to ease concerns about the sector generated last week when another report showed [...]