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	<title>Finance Markets: Finance News - UK Personal Financial News &#38; Financial Markets</title>
	<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk</link>
	<description>Finance Market News and Information</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:50:38 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>Brits only to survive 11 days if made redundant</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
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		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/25/brits-only-to-survive-11-days-if-made-redundant/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Recession fears as UK economic growth weakest for three years</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that the UK economy grew 0.2% in the second quarter of the year, which is the lowest quarter-on-quarter growth since the third quarter of 2005.
It grew 1.6% compared with the same quarter a year ago - also the weakest growth for three years, and much [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/25/recession-fears-as-uk-economic-growth-weakest-for-three-years/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>British Airways drops 8 percent on session</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


European equities markets were lower on Thursday after the Ifo Institute reported that German business confidence dropped in July, while reports from the United States showing that existing home sales declined in June and that first-time jobless claims climbed last week also hurt markets.
In London the FTSE 100 was down 1.61 percent to 5,362.3 while [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/24/british-airways-drops-8-percent-on-session/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Quit smoking and save on life insurance</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that the price of life insurance is half of what is was 10 years ago.
A price war between insurers and other providers such as supermarkets offering cheaper insurance has meant that life insurance is much cheaper than it was a decade ago. 
Car insurance and home insurance may have risen over recent [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/24/quit-smoking-and-save-on-life-insurance-2/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Tracker mortgages provide strong competition for fixed-rates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Moneysupermarket.com is alerting homeowners to the fact that the average two-year tracker mortgage is offering increasingly good value.
The price comparison website&#8217;s weekly credit crunch monitor shows that at the beginning of June, there was little difference between the cost of the average two-year fix and the average two-year tracker.
However, the latest update puts the difference [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/24/tracker-mortgages-provide-strong-competition-for-fixed-rates/</link>
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		<title>Retail sales fall at fastest rate for two decades</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Official figures have revealed that UK retail sales fell 3.9% in June - this represents the largest monthly fall since records began in 1986.
An unexpected 3.6% increase was announced in May, therefore, a fall of just 2.5% was forecasted by analysts for June due to consumers cutting back as they struggle with rising fuel and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/24/retail-sales-fall-at-fastest-rate-for-two-decades/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>First-time buyers return to property market</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has reported that first-time buyers are making a tentative return to the housing market.
In a survey of its members, the NAEA found that in June first-time buyer sales represented 11.8% of the housing market as compared with 9.8% a year earlier and up from 10.6% in May 2008.
NAEA [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/24/first-time-buyers-return-to-property-market/</link>
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		<title>Falling house prices leave home improvers out of pocket</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Homeowners who have chosen to improve, rather than move in the current market downturn, will be dismayed by new research from Abbey, which suggests that the cost of a home improvements is unlikely to be reflected in a sale price.
Falling house prices mean that previously profitable projects can now cost homeowners serious amounts of capital.
According [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/24/falling-house-prices-leave-home-improvers-out-of-pocket/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Former Barclays chairman joins Northern Rock</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Former vice chairman of Barclays, Gary Hoffman, has been named as Northern Rock’s new chief executive. 
Newcastle-based Northern Rock will pay Mr Hoffman almost £2 million over two years to manage the crisis-torn bank.
Mr Hoffman&#8217;s basic salary is £700,000 plus three separate payments of £400,000 in compensation for the loss of his participation in Barclays&#8217; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/23/former-barclays-chairman-joins-northern-rock/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Which? exposes incompetent mortgage advice</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


Which? has been investigating competency among mortgage advisers and has found that many are omitting to check information on clients&#8217; abilities to meet repayments.
The consumer group sent its researchers to gather advice from banks, estate agents and independent mortgage advisers.
Acting as first-time buyers, they visited 24 banks, 13 estate agents and 13 independent mortgage advisers [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/07/23/which-exposes-incompetent-mortgage-advice/</link>
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