The UK Economy

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted against further quantitative easing and to maintain an interest rate of 0.5%, which has been in place since March 2009. Known officially as the Bank Rate, interest is applicable to commercial bank reserves and has never been lower than 0.5% in the Bank’s 319-year history. Business […]

Camera store chain Jessops is appointing an administrator as it is effectively bust. What caused this privately owned firm to go under and who is next? As it happens I bought a camera from Jessops just before Christmas and as I did so I wondered why on earth this store existed in the first place. […]

Mining firm Anglo American names replacement for former chief executive Cynthia Carroll. The multinational mining giant and the world’s largest supplier of platinum Anglo American has named Mark Cutifani as their new Chief Executive. Once a trainee-miner Mr Cutifani, 54, resigned from his position as chief executive of the South African firm AngloGold to take […]

The UK’s service sector has contracted for the first time since December 2010. Research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, CIPS, and financial information supplier Markit concludes that the UK’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, PMI, figure fell from 50.2 in November to 48.9 in December in 2012. Any figure under 50.0 signifies negative […]

The Chinese service sector has grown at its fastest rate for four months indicating that the country is set for a period of sustained economic recovery. Newly released results for China’s National Bureau of Statistics shown that non-manufacturing purchasing manager’s index, known as PMI, increased to 56.1 in December from November’s 55.6, with any figure […]

From our Washington Correspondent: Following a series of protracted negotiations the US government reached an agreement to prevent the implementation of a series of tax rises and spending cuts, known as the “fiscal cliff”. Global markets responded positively to the news with the FTSE100 passing 6000 for the first time since July 2011 and Hong […]

– Breaking News – Following the apparent resolution of the US Fiscal Cliff saga, the FTSE is back above 6000 for the first time since the summer slump kicked off in July 2011. The breakthrough is not solely down to the Fiscal Cliff agreement, as 2012 saw a global rally in equities whilst central banks […]

I promise something for everyone in my 7 stock tips of the year 2013 selection and that brings me to Love. If you are in a Long Term relationship you may after 7 days cooped up with your nearest and dearest be wondering why homosexuals are so keen on the right to get married. Have […]

FTSE 100, a compilation of the biggest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange many of which are also the largest in the world, opened on a high today, after two days on break for the holidays. As 2012 nears its end to welcome the new year, with three trading days left (including today), some […]

Over the next seven days starting tomorrow I shall publish my seven share tips of the year for 2013. But before starting that exercise tomorrow I consider first my macro assumptions and predictions for 2013. There is no point making an oil stock a tip of the year if you think the crude price is heading […]