Interest rates rise to 4.5 per cent
UK inflation is expected to fall slower than previously thought as food prices remain stubbornly high, the Bank of England has said, as it raised interest rates for the 12th time in a row. Seven members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to increase the base interest rate to 4.5% from 4.25%. Food prices have […]
What’s the risk to my money in banks?
THE last two weeks’ columns explained the issues with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Credit Suisse and Deutsche. I hope that was helpful. And now on to bank shares as a whole. Bank safety is vitally important to an economy, in that confidence in deposits provides our floor, both politically and economically. The issues in SVB […]
Are banks really in trouble – part two
WE covered the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week, and the perfect storm of risk that knocked it off its perch. For the record, there were several hundred venture capitalist firms who had signed a letter to keep their deposits there. Those venture capital firms with an interest in destabilising the dollar and banking system […]
Are the banks really in trouble?
HEADLINES, headlines, fear, and more fear. It can all become a little overwhelming indeed. You may remember this column covering ‘shock financial headlines that lose you a fortune’. Endless sensationally positive headlines in 1999 were followed by a 48 per cent fall in global markets over the next three years, in fact the FTSE100 was […]
Tracker Funds
Are tracker funds the most efficient solution to making money or is it just noise, noise, noise? Our financial industry seems to design its thousands of arguments to ensure you are either invested, or you are invested. It’s the same as the argument about using either shampoo for greasy hair, or using shampoo for dry […]
European Sovereign Debt Crisis
The European sovereign debt crisis is a bit like a complicated chess match, where the ending is necessarily very uncertain. Governments are discussing various options, e.g. at the next summit on 21 July, but the problem is they are still trying to address a short-term lack of liquidity, not the problem of insolvency (in some […]
The staggering hidden cost of holiday money transfer
With the holiday season upon us the thought of popping off to a temperature with double digits becomes more and more appealing. Taking money abroad has been outdated by travellers’ cheques and in turn by credit cards but how much are we really paying for the cost of that convenience? Travellers’ cheques were sold on […]
Are banks finally easing lending?
Do you believe that commercial banks are beginning to lend and do you think Project Merlin will force them to? Not really. It’s difficult to know exactly how banks will really be able to be forced to lend and in light of tightening criteria from regulation, it’s probable that lending might even remain tighter for […]
Potential for Catastrophic Losses
When something doesn’t make sense, it isn’t sensible. President Obama proudly announced he would ‘fight’ the banking institutions who were using our money to buy up investments in commodities making record profits at the same time. The natural reaction to this was that banks’ share prices took a tumble. Interestingly Mr Obama announced this on the 21st Jan ’10. What is perhaps worrying is how commodity prices have reacted.
Obama vs. Banks. What it means to you
If you fully understand what Obama is doing with the swashbuckling banks, you will note the financial world as we know it will never ever ever be the same. In May 2008, I wrote a column 1300 words long, which said that banks were at the heart of spikes in commodity prices such as oil, wheat, maize etc. That article was pretty much ignored by the investment companies who were making so much money off the back of it – until they weren’t. That was the day that oil plummeted and every other commodity with it.
Business People Bail out Banks
I was speaking to someone a moment ago who asked me what I did. ‘I am an independent financial adviser’. I said. ‘Ah, you are the cause of the problems in the economy then!’ He blubbered. I responded with ‘yep, every last bit of it, every last bit’.
Securing business finance to weather the financial storm
Business finance has never been in the news more than it is now and justifiably so.