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Thursday 18th of March 2010
March 10, 2010

Google Finance sends users to China!

by Brian Turner
Google Finance sends users to China!
Google Finance (http://www.google.com/finance) appears to be having problems today - with users being directed to a Chinese language version of the site. Google Finance is certainly no stranger to problems - screwy updates, tickers, and sections of data missing - problems usually associated with the massive amount of data Google has to rely on. However, the current issue with Google Finance appears ...



August 27, 2009

416 US banks in trouble

by Brian Turner
416 US banks in trouble
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which overseas American banks, says that 416 now fail its stress tests. While the FDIC will not reveal the identities of the failing banks, it has stated that they have combined assets of $299.8 billion. The result is the highest since 1994, when 434 banks were on the list, and comes at a time when the FDIC ...



August 17, 2009

Japan’s false economic recovery

by Brian Turner
Japan's false economic recovery
Today's news that Japan has stepped out of recession is, superficially, good news. However, before anyone opens the champagne, it's worth pointing out that there's nothing natural about Japan's economic growth in the slightest. In April Japan unveiled a £100 billion stimulus package on top of previous stimulus attempts, resulting in a total boost of £260 billion over the economic year. It should be worrying to ...



August 14, 2009

Stock Market to crash again in 2009?

by Brian Turner
Stock Market to crash again?
Bob Janjuah, chief credit strategist at RBS, is predicting that we're heading for another stock market crash this autumn. Before the bulls cry "doomsayer!", let's note that at a similar time last year Bob Janjuah successfully predicted the stock market crash for the autumn of 2008. Coverage is highlighted by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard at the Telegrah: RBS uber-bear issues fresh alert on global ...



August 8, 2009

NAEA mistake: It’s Estate Agents over valuing property

by Brian Turner
Estate Agents over valuing property
Surveyors are not undervaluing property as the NAEA claims - but instead, estate agents are over-valuing property. The National Association of Estate Agents today claimed that surveyors are purposefully under-valuing properties, thus adversely impacting the property market. This is especially when someone applies for a mortgage, only to find the mortgage lender will only lend a smaller amount, leaving the buyer in difficulties in ...



July 20, 2009

George Osborne forgets Bank of England created financial crisis

by Brian Turner
Gross mortgage lending shows seasonal surge
Today's announcement of regulatory reform of the financial services sector by the Conservative Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, initially seems a sensible suggestion. However, setting up the Bank of England to regulate banks to help prevent any potential future financial crisis fails to address two key points: 1. The Bank of England specifically and intentionally created the current conditions for the financial crisis in ...



June 29, 2009

Gordon Brown set to fix unexmployment figures

by Brian Turner
Gordon Brown set to fix unexmployment figures
Today's announcement by Gordon Brown of reforms to benefits for young people is old news and has already been tried by consecutive Conservative and Labour governments. As Project Work under the Conservatives, and New Deal under Labour, the entire process has been - and always has been - a complete sham designed to shunt people off unemployment statistics. The announcement claims that ...



May 8, 2009

Bank stress tests point to false hope

by Brian Turner
Bank stress tests point to false hope
The current optimism in the financial markets is being further encouraged by the release of data on the stress-tests for US banks. Unfortunately, we've become so used to seeing eye-watering high figures in news about banks that somehow the news that at least $75 billion more is required is somehow comforting. It's worth remembering that initial reports into the credit crunch ...



April 21, 2009

Welcome to the New Depression

by Brian Turner
Recession optimism is misplaced
Recession over? April Fool! We're seeing the message this week that the worst of the recession could be over. It seems a familiar April Fool's message - we saw the same last year when stock markets enjoyed a brief rally after claims the credit crunch was effectively over. You might be easily led into thinking that the worst is indeed over after a ...



January 21, 2009

The Mother of Bear Rallies: Obama effect to rally Stock Markets?

by Brian Turner
The Mother of Bear Rallies: Obama Effect to rally Stock Markets?
Wall Street rallied today in a dazzling return of investor confidence only a day after US financials were slaughtered. The Dow Jones gained 279.01 point (3.51%), the S&P 500 35.02 points (4.35%), and the Nasdaq was up 66.21 points. (4.60%). Marketwatch makes and interesting point with Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist, LPL Financial, as saying: But ...



January 20, 2009

Why RBS can’t be nationalised

by Brian Turner
Why RBS can't be nationalised
The announcement by RBS yesterday that it expected to write down £28 billion was extraordinary. Fears that the bank may be fully nationalised drove the share price down 67%. However, the announcement was extraordinary not simply because it would represent the biggest single loss in UK corporate history - but also because of the timing. The Royal Bank of Scotland is not ...



November 24, 2008

Pre-Budget report fails to support business

by Brian Turner
Pre-Budget report fails to support business
Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget report was received among a flurry of interest and excitement, but anyone expecting tax cuts to help the UK's small businesses and entrepreneurs will be left sorely disappointed. A cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15% was announced, ostensibly to help consumers - and yet consumers would be hit with rises on duty for fuel, drink and tobacco to ...



October 10, 2008

UK Banks: the worst is yet to come

by Brian Turner
UK Banks: the worst is yet to come
UK banks such as RBS, HBOS, Barclays and Lloyds have had it bad - share prices have plunged wiping billions from their company values, and commercial markets have frozen up leaving them in need of government help to remain afloat. During the drama of the financial crisis, everyone seems to have forgotten about the ongoing case relating to unfair ...



October 9, 2008

DJI under 9000 points

by Brian Turner
DJI under 9000 points
Hell - the DJI has already fallen through 9,000 tonight, only 4 days after crashing through 10,000 points - and the fall is continuing through the last half hour of normal trading. Currently the DJI is just above 8,900 points, a loss of over 3.8% on the day. That's a consecutive loss of 18% over just 1 week. US financials have almost reached the bottom points ...



Do pray for us Mr Darling

by Gill Montia
Do pray for us Mr Darling
As yesterday morning's speaker on BBC Radio 4's "Thought for the Day" urged a bleary-eyed nation to consider in its prayers the plight of bankers, whose lives may be torn apart by the credit crisis, and bear in mind their efforts in support of charity, a new day of financial turmoil was about to break. Initial reports of a £50 billion rescue ...



October 7, 2008

Banking Crisis: Which are the Safest UK Banks?

by Brian Turner
Banking Crisis: Which are the Safest UK Banks?
We've seen Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley collapse, the Cheshire and Derbyshire Building Societies rescued, and even Halifax Bank of Scotland required a bail-out from Lloyds TSB. Turmoil in the world's markets mean that credit around the globe has literally frozen up, and banks face the very real possibility of a systemic meltdown of the financial system. Consumers are ...



October 6, 2008

Santander: White Knight or What?

by Gill Montia
Santander: White Knight or What?
A crisis might be a time for action rather than questions but with the scale of the problems facing the UK banking sector escalating, one particular question regularly bubbles to the surface. Is Grupo Santander any more likely to emerge from the credit crisis in sound shape than some of its failing European rivals? Santander became a household name in the UK when it ...



October 2, 2008

Stock Markets face October crash

by Brian Turner
Stock Markets face October crash
Stock markets face a further crash over October, as a combination of bad economic data, credit derivative write downs, and the threat of further bank failures, plague financial markets already freezing up. The finance sector is bracing itself for further nasty shocks over the new few weeks, as a slew of worsening economic factors come together. A particular concern is that October sees credit ...



September 29, 2008

Bradford & Bingley shareholders ‘robbed’

by Jon Knight
The nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley is the most blatant case of legalised bank robbery this country has ever seen, with almost a million shareholders likely to lose a fortune. The whole point of having shareholders in a democracy is that they own the company and can decide its fate between them, including sacking the board or deciding to sell to a new owner if they wish. Yet the Treasury has apparently ...



September 26, 2008

Are Wachovia Bank and Ambac next to fail?

by Brian Turner
Are Wachovia Bank and Ambac next to fail?
Wachovia Corporation (WB) When Harvard economist, Professor Kenneth Rogoff - formerly head of the IMF - predicted at the end of August that at least one major US bank would collapse along with hundreds of smaller banks, trader speculation fell on three names: - Lehman Brothers - Washington Mutual - Wachovia Corporation Since his warning on August 28th, we saw Lehman Brothers ...