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March 14, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Asian markets saw substantial losses again on Wednesday after Wall Street declined on Tuesday in response to the chaos in the subprime mortgage sector. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 2.57 percent to 18,836.93, while the Strait Times Index in Singapore fell 3.11 percent to 3,057.85. In India, the Sensex was 3.49 percent lower ...
by Elaine Frei
Several credit card companies operating in the UK have raised a number of charges in the past few weeks, according to new information from Moneyfacts, the online financial comparison service. It named several credit card issuers as introducing higher charges, including Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY), Northern Rock (LSE: NRK), Nationwide, Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS), GE Money (NYSE: GE), and Co-operative ...
by Elaine Frei
Arson claims account for more than half of the money insurance claims pay out to businesses in the UK, according to a new study from insurer Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA). This is true even though arson claims are only about 1 percent of all claims made by businesses. The average claim for arson is around £40,000, the ...
by Elaine Frei
The Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) has announced that the amount of money lost to issuers of credit, debit, and store cards was down by 3 percent in 2006. Still the total amount lost to card fraud in the UK reached a total of £428 million last year.
There were definite trends in the methods used to commit ...
by Elaine Frei
HSBC (LSE: HSBA; Euronext: HSBC; NYSE: HBC; SEHK: 005) has come under fire for shifting some of its pension fund investment out of equities and into bonds. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said that the shift brought increased risk to the fund.
HSBC announced the switch last week in its annual report, saying that it would reduce the proportion of its fund ...
March 13, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Many Asian equities markets were lower on Tuesday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 0.56 percent to 19,333.14, while the Straits Times index in Singapore fell 0.78 percent to 3,155.9. In India, the Sensex bucked the trend, adding 0.62 percent to 12,982.98. In Japan, the Nikkei closed 0.7 percent lower to 17,178.84, while the Topix ...
by Elaine Frei
An environmental plan that was leaked to newspapers in the UK outlined a plan by the Conservative Party to impose new taxes on travel by air in an attempt to curb global warming. The idea, according to party official George Osborne, is to slow the growth of air travel to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses ...
by Elaine Frei
The UK’s trade deficit narrowed in January, according to the Office for National Statistics. The main reason was that the value of imports fell by £743 million as exports remained roughly even. The January trade deficit was at £6.22 billion, down from £6.95 billion in December. This was much lower than the anticipated deficit of £6.9 billion and ...
by Elaine Frei
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) more people taking out mortgages than ever before chose a fixed-rate mortgage to finance their purchase of a home in January. The apparent reason for this is worry that interest rates will go up again, with the effect that payments on variable-rate mortgages will go up as well.
The CML says that 85 percent of first-time home buyers ...
by Elaine Frei
A new report from Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) says that 20 percent of British adults consider the system of Individual Savings Accounts (Isas) to be “too complicated”. The accounts were first offered to UK savers in 1999, but many still don’t understand how they work or what tax advantages they can gain from having an Isa, according to ...
March 12, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Equities markets in Asia were generally higher on Monday. In India, the Sensex index added 0.14 percent to 12,902.63, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 1.61 percent higher to 19,442.42. The Straits Times index in Singapore added 1.32 percent to 3,182.68. The Tokyo markets were higher, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.8 percent to 17,292.39 and ...
by Elaine Frei
Previously announced declines in energy bills for British Gas customers go into effect Monday, sending the average annual fuel bill for gas and electricity combined down to £953, a drop of £167. The price of natural gas is going down by 17 percent, while electricity prices are dropping by 11 percent.
This is the first price decline by British Gas, ...
by Elaine Frei
The price of a terrace house has gone up faster in the UK than any other type of housing, according to a new report from Halifax, part of the HBOS Group (LSE: HBOS). In the past decade, all types of properties have gone up in price by 205 percent. Terrace houses, in contrast, have seen average prices rise ...
by Elaine Frei
A new poll from uSwitch says that over 80 percent of Britons would switch banks if the bank they currently use were to introduce monthly or yearly fees for standard current accounts. This is a significant number, considering that the average length of time that respondents to the poll reported holding their account is sixteen years.
The poll found that ...
March 9, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Asian markets were mixed on Friday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 0.21 percent on the session to 19,134.88, while the Sensex in India fell 1.26 percent to 12,884.29. On the other hand, the Straits Times Index in Singapore added 0.97 percent to 3,143.71. Tokyo’s markets were higher was well, ...
by Elaine Frei
A government-appointed committee asked to look at ways that pensions schemes could be saved have announced a number of proposals that would cut the cost to employers of maintaining the schemes but would also reduce benefits to members of the schemes in the future. Committee members Chris Lewin and Ed Sweeney admit that the proposals will stir controversy but they ...
by Elaine Frei
The euro is about to make an appearance in the UK via automatic teller machines in Tesco (LSE: TSCO) stores. Tesco has already installed ATMs that dispense funds in euros at four stores located near airports and international rail terminals as a test to determine whether there is a market for such a service. The four locations ...
by Elaine Frei
A new study by insurer Hiscox (LSE: HSX) has found that a substantial portion of first-time homebuyers in the UK are considering buying abroad rather than at home. There is even a name for them: “Barbies”. That stands for “buy abroad, rent in Britain”.
According to the company’s research, 40 percent of young people looking at buying ...
by Elaine Frei
Travel insurance will soon become available to cover your trip into outer space.
BUPA, which offers not only travel insurance but also provides medical insurance and health care services as well, has announced that it will offer an insurance package to those who travel into space. The offering comes at a time when Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is getting ...
by Khurram Naik
In most people's minds finance and economics are the domains of clear, quantitative thinking. Economists merely uncover financial truth one after another as they develop new mathematical tools for modeling capital and how wealth is created. Markets, likewise, are ethereal natural forces tapped into rather than created. In truth, the assumptions that underly the pricing models used for the past three decades are ...
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Asian markets saw substantial losses again on Wednesday after Wall Street declined on Tuesday in response to the chaos in the subprime mortgage sector. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 2.57 percent to 18,836.93, while the Strait Times Index in Singapore fell 3.11 percent to 3,057.85. In India, the Sensex was 3.49 percent lower ...
Many Asian equities markets were lower on Tuesday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 0.56 percent to 19,333.14, while the Straits Times index in Singapore fell 0.78 percent to 3,155.9. In India, the Sensex bucked the trend, adding 0.62 percent to 12,982.98. In Japan, the Nikkei closed 0.7 percent lower to 17,178.84, while the Topix ...
Asian markets were mixed on Friday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 0.21 percent on the session to 19,134.88, while the Sensex in India fell 1.26 percent to 12,884.29. On the other hand, the Straits Times Index in Singapore added 0.97 percent to 3,143.71. Tokyo’s markets were higher was well, ...
