Christmas will be make or break for our retailers November 8, 2009 WHEN the Christmas lights on Regent Street were switched on last week, it marked the beginning of the most important period of the year for high-street retailers. Many can earn 60 per cent of their annual profits in the peak weeks of Christmas. After a dismal end to 2008 when it seemed like retail chains [...]
Pressure to raise QE after mixed data August 4, 2009 ANNUAL growth in broad money supply slowed to its weakest since 1999 in the second quarter, according to data released yesterday by the Bank of England, just two days before its monetary policy decision. The figures showed that broad money supply growth excluding intermediate other financial corporations such as pension funds, fell to 3.1 per [...]
Pressure to raise QE after mixed data August 4, 2009 ANNUAL growth in broad money supply slowed to its weakest since 1999 in the second quarter, according to data released yesterday by the Bank of England, just two days before its monetary policy decision. The figures showed that broad money supply growth excluding intermediate other financial corporations such as pension funds, fell to 3.1 per [...]
Take a punt on the market outlook for bricks and mortar September 13, 2009 A YEAR ago, many housing market observers were predicting doom. Prices would keep falling well into 2010, they said. The market could take years to pick up. But how wrong they were. Just as we have seen in the stock market, things have turned round much more quickly than almost anybody thought. Mortgage lender Halifax [...]
HSBC and Barclays popular for standing alone September 8, 2009 AYEAR ago this week we experienced “The End of the World as We Know It” as investment bank Lehman collapsed, amid fears of the whole financial system going into meltdown. In the subsequent months I took part in many gloomy debates about whether everything had changed forever, or whether it was just a larger-scale event [...]
If you’re getting a bonus, then bricks and mortar are still best October 8, 2009 IT MIGHT not be the most popular thing to say right now, but people are going to get bonuses this year. In the years preceding 2008, the bonus season meant one thing in London – a boost to the buy-to-let property market as bankers sunk their money into bricks and mortar. The world has changed [...]
If you’re getting a bonus, then bricks and mortar are still best October 8, 2009 IT MIGHT not be the most popular thing to say right now, but people are going to get bonuses this year. In the years preceding 2008, the bonus season meant one thing in London – a boost to the buy-to-let property market as bankers sunk their money into bricks and mortar. The world has changed [...]
House prices in Britain rise again in June June 30, 2009 HOUSE prices saw a monthly increase of 0.9 per cent in June, bringing the annual rate of decline to 9.3 per cent from 11.3 per cent in May, according to data published yesterday by Nationwide, which stoked optimism that the housing market has turned. The mortgage lender said that the three month rate of change, [...]
House prices in Britain rise again in June June 30, 2009 HOUSE prices saw a monthly increase of 0.9 per cent in June, bringing the annual rate of decline to 9.3 per cent from 11.3 per cent in May, according to data published yesterday by Nationwide, which stoked optimism that the housing market has turned. The mortgage lender said that the three month rate of change, [...]
UK consumer upbeat about rest of year July 7, 2009 BRITISH consumers are feeling increasingly positive and confidence levels are now close to those recorded last year, according the Nationwide consumer confidence index published today. The index rose to 58 from 54 in May, compared to a reading of 59 in June last year. Consumer expectations for the economic situation in six months time were [...]