S&P 500 hits fresh five year closing high January 22, 2013 US bank and commodity shares led the Standard & Poor’s 500 to a fresh five-year closing high yesterday on hopes that the global economy continues to mend. The Dow Jones industrial average also ended at a five-year high. The market also gained on signals that Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives aim today [...]
3i targets more sell-offs after £615m disposal February 12, 2013 BRITISH investment giant 3i yesterday sold its plastic equipment business Mold-Masters to US rival Milacron for C$975m (£615m), pleasing investors who want the business to pay down its debt pile. Proceeds from the deal will be around £219m – 2.6 times the initial £84m investment 3i made in October 2007. The company said there had [...]
Maybe it’s because you’re a Londoner: The capital is optimistic about prices September 9, 2012 Take a step back before deciding if your glass is half full or empty IT IS often hard to move for the number of property analysts discussing price movements in the housing market. But what do UK households think? The Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment index sets out to answer that question. Every month, we [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 23, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES GMG ends talks to sell Trader stake Guardian Media Group has called off talks with interested buyers over the sale of its half stake in the car classifieds company Trader Media Group following a failure to agree a price. Apax, its joint venture partner in Trader Media, was interested in buying out the [...]
Stamp duty deadline stimulates surge in March mortgage loans May 16, 2012 MORTGAGE lending soared throughout the housing market in March, industry data showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday fuelled an escalation in buying. First-time buyers were exempt from stamp duty on properties worth under £250,000 until the end of the month resulting in a 74 per cent monthly rise in the number of first time [...]
Coalition needs to do more to kick-start ailing property sector July 15, 2012 BRITAIN’S planning and property tax laws should be ripped up and banks should be forced to offer more mortgages in order to boost the country’s moribund real estate market, the country’s largest property services group argued yesterday. The number of house sales remains near historic lows, with figures from LSL suggesting June was the second [...]
Nationwide mortgage lending jumps by 44pc May 23, 2012 Nationwide, Britain’s biggest customer-owned financial services group, reported a 44 per cent increase in loans to home buyers in its last fiscal year, including a sharp rise in the number of mortgages provided to first-time home buyers. Gross residential mortgage lending rose to £18.4bn in the year to 4 April, up from £12.8bn the year [...]
Nationwide mortgage lending jumps by 44pc May 23, 2012 Nationwide, Britain’s biggest customer-owned financial services group, reported a 44 per cent increase in loans to home buyers in its last fiscal year, including a sharp rise in the number of mortgages provided to first-time home buyers. Gross residential mortgage lending rose to £18.4bn in the year to 4 April, up from £12.8bn the year [...]
This new Porsche sounds like a hit February 18, 2013 SOMEWHERE IN the latest Porsche Cayman are 12 loudspeakers. How they’ve squeezed them in is anyone’s guess. It’s “the fastest concert hall in the world,” according to Hans Jürgen Wöhler, chief of mid-engined cars at Porsche. Despite the fact no one is going to buy this car for its audio system, Wöhler can barely contain [...]
Top tips for investment first-timers September 2, 2012 IF YOU’RE lucky enough to find that you’ve got money left at the end of each month, the investment decisions you make now could make a big difference to the quality of the rest of your life. However, deciding how you invest isn’t easy. At a time of stock market volatility, negative real returns from [...]