A rising dollar is positive for US small capitalisation shares May 21, 2018 The dollar has started to rise following a period of weakness. This is positive for dollar dividend payers and US smaller companies. Movements in the dollar can have a significant impact on your investments. This is especially true for investors based in the UK, as many of Britain’s largest companies are significant foreign currency earners [...]
Stripe is scrapping its support of bitcoin payments by April but says it remains “very optimistic about cryptocurrencies” January 24, 2018 Stripe has said it will no longer be supporting bitcoin payments by April, noting a decline in customers using it as a method of payment. The payment platform said it will gradually wind up support with the end date being 23 April. In a blog post, Stripe said it had “long been excited about the [...]
New stamp duty rules annihilated buy-to-let mortgage borrowing in January March 14, 2017 The amount borrowed by prospective landlords fell 16 per cent in the year to January, as strict new rules on buy-to-let homes took their toll. Figures by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed would-be landlords borrowed £800m to buy new homes in January, down from £1.4bn the year before, and £900m in December. The [...]
UK house prices grow at their slowest in four years – as Rightmove warns “overpriced properties won’t sell” February 20, 2017 UK house prices grew at their slowest four years in February, new data from Rightmove has shown – as it warned agents against setting properties' prices too high. Asking prices rose just 2.3 per cent in the year to February, according to the figures – down from 3.2 per cent in the year to January, [...]
Loans to home buyers fell in October December 14, 2016 Loans to home buyers fell by eight per cent in October, despite the amount borrowers are paying towards interest rates hitting a historic low. First-time buyers borrowed £4.5bn, a monthly decrease of eight per cent, and a year-on-year drop of two per cent, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Read more: [...]
Does earning £70,000 make you rich, as Labour’s John McDonnell suggests? April 19, 2017 The nation’s chattering classes were in uproar today after Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, suggested his party will shift the tax burden to “the rich” – which he defined as those earning “above £70,000 to £80,000 a year”. Does £70,000 really make you rich? Objectively, it isn’t a difficult question to answer: annual earnings of [...]
London house prices: Crossrail has made Hounslow Emoov’s top tip for first-time buyers who don’t want to break the bank – but would like a healthy return January 22, 2016 The UK property seesaw consists of two influential factors, with house prices at one end and the demand for said housing at the other. The changing face of the London property landscape means there is a tussle between boroughs, as the once desirable become unaffordable, and the not so desirable become the new hotspots – Brixton, for example. [...]
Focus On Catford: A ‘ripple effect’ from Lewisham’s regeneration has caused price rises in nearby Catford, say agents January 24, 2017 With each great regeneration comes an even greater ripple effect, so sayeth London’s estate agents. And so it is in Lewisham, where new developments and major infrastructure investment have already made the surrounding areas of Deptford and New Cross appealing to first time buyers. But now it’s the turn of Catford, where the Borough Council’s [...]
Melissa Morris wants to save the NHS one billion pounds a year | City A.M. April 20, 2018 Depending on who you ask, the UK’s National Health Service is one of two things. Either, it’s the pride of a nation and envy of the world, which must be protected at all costs. Or, it’s a bureaucratic relic, consistently lagging behind most comparable systems in terms of health outcome, desperate for reform. Since its [...]
UK M&A deals tail off as post-Brexit vote reality causes sentiment to weaken according to EY October 9, 2017 After a post-Brexit spike, the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the UK has begun to tail off as deal sentiment weakens. According to EY, the volume of M&A deals completed in the first nine months of this year slipped by 11 per cent compared to 2016 to 2,316. On the flip side, the [...]