Daft planning rules are pushing up the price of food in shops January 8, 2013 IF you travelled abroad over Christmas, you will have noticed that goods in shops are often cheaper than in the UK. A uSwitch survey cited by the Institute of Economic Affairs shows that a food basket costs roughly a fifth more in the UK than it does in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Once again, [...]
Daft planning rules are pushing up the price of food in shops January 7, 2013 IF you travelled abroad over Christmas, you will have noticed that goods in shops are often cheaper than in the UK. A uSwitch survey cited by the Institute of Economic Affairs shows that a food basket costs roughly a fifth more in the UK than it does in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Once again, [...]
The French bank chief fighting back against hostile politicians February 17, 2013 FRANCE has never been the friendliest country for bankers to work in. Its suspicion of capitalism and enduring official support for a short working week don’t make for a natural fit with the fast-paced world of high finance. Hence many of the country’s best and brightest have moved to more welcoming shores. But Société Générale’s [...]
Lords call for a battle to retain London as EU’s financial centre December 11, 2012 THE HOUSE of Lords’ EU Committee this morning called on the government to fight for the position of the City as Eurozone members consider a banking union. Without proper oversight, such a union could threaten the single market, the peers warned. “Tomorrow the government must go into battle at the critical European Summit to fight for the City [...]
FTSE rally tops fresh peaks yet UK banks slip January 29, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index hit new four and a half year peaks yesterday, with a strong rally in miners outweighing concerns about continuing problems in the banking sector. Data from the US offered fresh proof of improvement in the world’s biggest economy, with a strong pick-up in housing prices following above-forecast durable goods data the [...]
Steep dive for house prices in December lull December 16, 2012 ASKING PRICES suffered their biggest December drop on record this year, data from Rightmove revealed this morning. Asking prices collapsed 3.3 per cent in just a month across the UK, with London seeing a four per cent dive. The tumble is the steepest December decline since Rightmove began its survey a decade ago, outstripping the [...]
London houses withstand UK asking price collapse November 18, 2012 LONDON’S resilient housing market defied a UK-wide fall in asking prices going into November, data revealed this morning, driven by the top end of the market. The UK’s average property asking prices fell 2.6 per cent in just a month to hit £236,761, according to the Rightmove house price index, a sharp turnaround from the [...]
Know what to expect from major asset classes in 2013 December 16, 2012 UNCERTAINTY has been characteristic of investing in 2012. As headwinds continue to shake global investment markets, this will likely continue into 2013. But knowing what to broadly expect will help you to align your portfolio and identify opportunities so that, this time next year, you will have achieved decent investment returns. HEADWINDS The Eurozone crisis, [...]
Profits fall at B&Q owner November 29, 2012 Profits at DIY group Kingfisher fell by six per cent in the third quarter to £257m, due to a tough sales environment in the UK and France. The owner of the B&Q chain saw UK and Ireland sales fall by 3.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis. The firm is badly affected by the stagnating [...]
Figures to show the state of the UK economy as Davos meeting begins January 20, 2013 FIGURES this week from the Office for National Statistics will reveal whether the UK economy shrank in the fourth quarter of 2012 and over the year as a whole. “We expect the economy to have contracted by 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of last year which would limit year-on-year growth to 0.2 [...]