News that banks are looking to further tighten their lending criteria and the ever reducing number of new mortgage approvals raises hopes that the Bank of England will cut interest rates. Read the rest of this entry »

The proposed $700m bail out of the US Economy and Wall Street put forward by George Bush is stalling as legislators are worried about the cost and the governments level of involvement in the financial sector. However Bush remains optimistic that plans will be passed as Congress have vowed to stay in session until a deal is done.

The stalling created nervousness on this side of the pond and sent the FTSE down 109 points (2%) to 5,088. The bad news was compounded by Banks announcing that mortgage rates were on the increase again as liquidity in the market remains non-existent.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received Government support yesterday and all seemed well with the banking world. What a difference a day makes….Lehman Brothers dipped 30% on the news that it may not be able to raise the required funding to cover its losses. The credit crunch has led the bank to raise $6bn to cover write-downs. Lehman’s shares are down more than 90% this year and is it’s the US’s fourth largest investment bank, it too cannot be allowed to fail.

Make the most of your savings with an award winning, high interest savings account from Icesave. Icesave launched in Britain in October 2006 and now consistently features at the top of best buy tables in the national press and on price comparison websites. As recently as 26 July 2008 Icesave was commended for ‘Best Savings Account’ by the readers of What Investment magazine. This is for the second year running.

Icesave’s 200,000 strong customer base continues to grow not only thanks to its commitment to offering savers high interest rates, but also its straightforward online application process which means you can sign up for an account in under ten minutes.  Read the rest of this entry »

The deputy chairman of Marks & Spencer, Sir David Michels has bought 37,734 shares, together with Michele Michels. This takes Sir David’s holding to 113,984 shares. Like any other retailer, M&S has been experiencing difficult trading conditions. However, the shares closed the week 10.25p up at 276p on the news of the share deal and sales growth witnessed by two other companies in the sector - John Lewis and H&M.

After recent price increases by Centrica and other gas suppliers, it is now the turn of the water companies to announce future price rises. They have approached Ofwat, the water industry regulator, with details of how much they want to increase prices from 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Schroders Fund Management profits fell by 27% as investors withdrew £700m worth of assets during the second quarter of 2008. Investors are unwilling to commit funds to the markets as economic uncertainties remain. A situation that is likely to remain until at least early 2009. Read the rest of this entry »