Why it may be time to reduce investment exposure to UK September 3, 2008 Two trends have dominated financial markets in recent months: global growth has continued to weaken, while inflationary pressure has eased. The main cloud on the horizon now is the renewed upward spike in US mortgage spreads; this prevents the average American house-buyer from benefiting from looser monetary policy and lower bond yields. More positively, energy [...]
Taylor Wimpey profits hit by £1.5bn writedown August 28, 2008 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey’s first half profits fell sharply after writing down a massive £1.5bn loss on the value of its property assets. The new homes specialist, which earlier in the year warned it would breach its banking covenant over the full year, said yesterday that it was still in talks with its bankers about revising [...]
Credit crunch wipes out £600bn August 11, 2008 Around £600bn worth of wealth may have been wiped out in the UK because of the credit crunch, an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers has revealed. The study, conducted by PwC economists, focused on the impact of the credit crunch on the British economy over the twelve months to June 2008. The report estimates that the downturn [...]
Nationwide merger will suit all sides September 8, 2008 Nationwide’s merger with The Derbyshire Building Society and The Cheshire Building Society, which was confirmed yesterday, will see it stretch its lead at the top of the list of UK mortgage lenders. The tie-up will hand the building society an extra 95 branches to add to the 900 retail locations it already operates, reinforcing its [...]
DSG cautious after sales dip at PC World September 4, 2008 Nine months into the job, John Browett, chief executive of DSG International announced yesterday he was not foreseeing a “chance for recovery until 2010”, following a first quarter slump in the market. Like-for-like sales in the 16 weeks to 23 August fell seven per cent on the same period last year, led by 12 per [...]
Data fans slump fears September 2, 2008 Weak data with British mortgage approvals at their lowest level in 15 years and the manufacturing sector shrinking for its fourth straight month in August yesterday heightened fears that a UK recession was now inevitable. The Bank of England said that mortgage approvals, seen as an indicator of future movements in house prices, fell to [...]
British business must believe that recession is immanent September 1, 2008 Finally. a clean month ahead of us. And more importantly, the Labour Day weekend is over and done with. This, theoretically, should mean that there are no more excuses as to why we are not seeing “proper” market behaviour. The summer is coming to an end – no more erratic, light-volume trading weeks, and full [...]
Going short is not necessarily the answer September 2, 2008 A medium or long term approach may be wisest just now, says Katie Hope Its’ like a grim version of “when I were a lad…” working in the City at the moment. Everyone’s trying to out-do themselves in describing just how bad things have got. Going to school barefoot barely makes the grade in terms [...]
Pound slumps as recession fears mount August 27, 2008 Prospect of interest rate cuts pushes sterling and the euro down as the greenback surges Growing recession fears and expectations of interest rate cuts sent the pound tumbling to a two year low against the dollar yesterday. Markets are now pricing in a 75 basis point cut in interest rates over the next 12 months, [...]
Rates left on hold as MPC split looms September 5, 2008 Bets were rising yesterday that the Bank of England meeting to determine the direction of interest rates was one of the most fraught on record. In the end the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to leave rates on hold at five per cent, but with members Danny Blanchflower and Charlie Bean going head to head [...]