Tag: economy
Difficult Choices – ISA or Pension Savings?
In the UK, we may be putting more savings into stocks and shares ISAs than into personal pensions. Reporting on savings trends in the 2010/2011 tax year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said savers put £14.3bn into personal pensions in that tax year, compared with £15.8bn into stocks and shares ISAs. This compares with [...]
Read moreApril Market Commentary
March was a month which began with headlines about the Greek debt crisis and the impending ‘final deadline.’ By the end of the month the focus – in Britain at least – had shifted to Granny Tax, Cornish Pasties and the shortage of petrol. On March 7th world stock markets suffered some of their worst [...]
Read moreMarket Commentary – February ’12
On Monday February 27th the German Bundestag approved the Greek bailout by 496 votes to 90. A few days earlier consent had finally been wrung from the Greek politicians, and the €130bn bailout now looks to be in place. Is the Greek debt crisis – the constant theme running through this monthly review – over [...]
Read moreImproving your chances of selling your home
What makes a house buyer choose to buy a particular house? What do they have in mind when they look at houses to buy? If, for whatever reason, you are determined to sell your property, you can’t dwell on the state of the house sales market, even if it is sluggish or saturated with unsold [...]
Read moreA bleak forecast: the UK in recession and base rates on hold until 2016
The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) indicated in a recent report that the UK economy is probably already in recession, with negative GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. The CEBR has also revised down its forecast for growth for 2012 as a whole, from 0.7% [...]
Read moreWhat does the Bank of England MPC do?
A very powerful voice in the world of UK business and finance, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets interest rates. In setting an interest rate, the MPC judges that the rate will enable the UK’s inflation target to be met. The Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, is made up of nine members – the Governor, Sir [...]
Read moreMarket Commentary – January ’12
January got off to a predictably slow start, at least in Europe and it was January 9th before Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy met for talks. Unsurprisingly, they were worried about the credit crunch and – no surprise here either – Greek debt. Other countries greeted 2012 less sluggishly and China and India reported a [...]
Read moreMarket Commentary – December ’11
December saw the death of North Korea’s ‘dear leader’ Kim Jong-il, with command of the country seemingly passing to his youngest son – the ‘great successor’ – Kim Jong-un. But with sundry generals peering over the younger Kim’s shoulder, tensions are likely to remain high, especially around the border with South Korea. 4,000 miles away [...]
Read moreMarket Commentary – November ’11
When you realise that the ‘Italian 10’ trending on Twitter refers not to Antonio Cassano’s goal against Northern Ireland but to the yield on the Italian 10 Year Bond, then you know the European debt crisis – and the consequent turmoil on the world stock markets – remains alive and well. November was the month [...]
Read moreChancellor’s Autumn Statement
Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement at lunchtime on Tuesday, November 29th against a backdrop of gloomy economic forecasts. The previous day, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had predicted that the UK would slip back into “a modest recession” early in 2012, with unemployment reaching 9%. The OECD blamed this on [...]
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