PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS
BP: ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY
At last, some good news for BP. Its stock has sunk so low – closing yesterday at 401.75p – that investors are jumping at the chance to snap up cheap stakes in the oil giant. Clients of Barclays Stockbrokers have been piling into the stock – a third of all purchases made on Tuesday were of BP. And Fidelity’s star fund manager Anthony Bolton said yesterday that BP represents a classic once in a lifetime opportunity for investors to buy the stock.
IFAS TIP EMERGING MARKETS, US STOCKS
Emerging markets, US equities and commodities are independent financial advisers’ (IFA) investing tips for this summer, according to research published earlier this week by Ignis Asset Management. Almost 80 per cent of IFAs believe emerging markets will be the best-performing asset class over the coming months. US equities were the second most popular asset class, with almost half of advisers saying they expected it to perform well and commodities came in third. Cash and gilts were the least favoured asset classes, with the overwhelming majority of advisers saying they expected them to perform poorly over the period.
BARNSLEY OFFERS 90PC MORTGAGE
First-time buyers will be cheering the launch of a new mortgage deal for people who need to borrow up to 90 per cent of the value of their home. Barnsley Building Society, which is now part of the Yorkshire Building Society group, earlier this week launched a two-year mortgage at a fixed rate of 6.35 per cent. A slightly less expensive rate is available if for a larger deposit. There is no product fee and remortgagors can also benefit from the deal.
BROADBAND SPEED STILL TOO SLOW
Despite the government’s plans to bring high-speed broadband to the whole of Britain, only a third of those paying for an 8Mb speed actually receive it, research from uSwitch shows. O2 customers are most satisfied with their speed, with Virgin Media and Sky just behind. AOL and Orange are the worst with just 63 per cent of customers satisfied with speed. A third of all bill-payers don’t know the speed advertised by their providers.