Savage buy-to-let remortgage lottery
FOR some, the words buy-to-let ‘landlord’ might drag us back to the feudal system from which it was derived, and give the meaning: ‘the bad man in top hat with lots of money’. For others, it’s the person doing their best to stay alive in an ever-problematic, heavily taxed and low interest rate environment. When […]
The cause of the mini crash
MR FERGUSON coined the phrase well with ‘noisy neighbours’ referring to Man City – a phrase his current successor has not bothered with articulating. Last week saw an example of that noise, and investors could easily have made a leap at the wrong time – in either way. Observing from the fence, each time there […]
Income tail wags investment dog
WITH current cash ISA rates paying at best 2.15 per cent, investors struggle to do what’s best for their personal financial security. Most will need the ‘interest’ as income, but of course with inflation at 3.9 per cent (RPI), your real capital is falling at a rate of knots. I recently mentioned the cost and […]
Are you a home-owner thinking of moving house?
IF you’re a home-owner thinking about moving house, upsizing or downsizing, and given the current state of the market, should you stay or go? Well, the answer very much depends on where your loyalties/needs are with your property. Having excellent tenants doesn’t always mean you will have excellent tenants, and as any business person will […]
Bitcoin bubble burst? Read between the lines!
BITCOIN bubble burst? Read between the lines! It was F Scott Fitzgerald who said: “The test of first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” In a world where the extraordinary choice of data on any subject can perfectly […]
Noisy trumpety Donald Trump
I KIND of hoped January 1 would have a new morning with new leaders in charge of this financial world. I’ve been in denial since. Instead, in a world where we try and make sense of information to make good financial decisions, the art of seeing through noise has never been so important. Noise can […]
Bitcoin valued at $20,000? What’s really going on?
HOW is Bitcoin valued to reach $20,000? It isn’t. No one can value it. It’s valued at what speculators push its value to. It isn’t ‘up’ at that price and it hasn’t ‘risen’ to that price. Someone has simply paid that for it. If you remember a column in 2008 where we showed you that […]
Make your financial resolutions this New Year
HAPPY New Year to you all and it’s time to make those New Year financial resolutions. The Roman God Janus ushered in new beginnings whilst placing past endings firmly behind. Good financial plan. So as 2018 arrives, here are a few potential financial resolutions I’ve used in the past for you to consider. Pick three […]
Bitcoin – where will it all end?
WE covered the Bitcoin issue three weeks ago, and despite me saying it could get to $20,000, I didn’t think it would be that quick (it was $7,200 at the time). Whilst Bitcoin could go further, you have to understand the basis on which you are buying it and how it’s valued, and I have […]
Selling winners and buying losers
SELLING winners and buying losers – there are many great mistakes made whilst investing money, either by the individual, or institutional investor. None are more obvious than the loss of a successful discipline. The pilot, who decides on that one day to ‘just have a go’ rather than apply all normal processes, will sell more […]
Passive investing and the risks
PASSIVE investing and the risks – If you are trying to maintain your wealth there is nothing worse than being pickpocketed. For many years, financial services was just that, in between expensive products and commission led product salesmen, but as industries become more sophisticated, so too, does the ability to pickpocket you. One of the […]
Irrational exuberance? What is it and what does it mean?
SOME weeks back we talked about how stock markets are born on pessimism, grow on scepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria. Unfortunately there are no bells chimed at any point in the process. And so, identifying the signs is fundamental. Many of the signs of euphoria become obvious as irrational exuberance arises. Irrational […]