Financial news

• Opec doesn’t hold all the cards, even after its oil price deal

  03-12-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The cartel’s agreement hammered out in Vienna may put a floor under the price of crude, but Saudi Arabia has failed to destroy the US fracking industryTwo years of wrangling were needed before Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Opec oil cartel could agree a cut in production at its meeting in Vienna last week.Ever since the collapse in crude prices in 2014, the big oil-producing countries have plotted a way to regain control and improve their battered finances. But agreeing which countries w
  
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• Home truths: house price rises to slow to trickle as Brexit and stamp duty hit

  03-12-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The London market has lost its shine, experts say, and even regions seeing positive growth could be hit by further political uncertaintyOngoing uncertainty over the manner of the UK’s departure from the EU is likely to weigh down the property market in 2017, say experts, who predict little or no growth in prices amid a slowdown in sales. The Brexit referendum result and government measures to cool the buy-to-let market have hit the property market in 2016, and are expected to keep the lid
  
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• Independents across the UK celebrate Small Business Saturday

  03-12-2016 15:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Business owners in Birmingham, the Cotswolds and Edinburgh tell us how they are marking 3 December Share your stories and photos here
  Big names and chains are refreshingly scarce in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade, which is filled instead with an array of independent businesses. From clothing to coffee, a day spa and regular pop-ups, the Victorian arcade is a haven for customers keen on browsing small independently-run businesses. Continue reading...
  
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• Letter to my younger self: I envy you and your innocence

  03-12-2016 10:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Barnaby Lashbrooke warns his 17 year-old self that, when he finds himself desperately unhappy, it’s time to rip up the rule bookDear Barnaby,Right now you’re functioning on one hour’s sleep a night (something perhaps only a 17-year-old could do), your bedroom is a makeshift office with a desk squeezed between the bed and the wall and mum is on your case about knuckling down with school work so you can apply to university. But already the money’s coming in, so you know yo
  
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• Five ways to take action on climate change

  03-12-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The world’s leaders have promised to take urgent action on climate change. But that was the easy part. Here’s what they need to do nextThe Paris agreement has been ratified. Only one year after negotiating this historic treaty, it has come into force. This signals that the vast majority of governments around the world remain committed to fighting climate change. Yet that was the easy part. Actually realising these commitments made at COP21 in Paris will require concerted, concrete ac
  
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• Should you buy your Christmas tree this weekend?

  03-12-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Retailers say this weekend is prime to bag one, but others argue it’s just corporate crass consumerism. Get the lowdown on an evergreen marketNumber 10 Downing Street took delivery of its Christmas tree yesterday, just a few days after Michelle Obama unveiled her last-ever festive decorations for the White House. Meanwhile, radio and TV adverts implore us to pop down to our local garden centre this weekend as the eight million firs and spruces that Brits will buy this season are lined up f
  
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• New era of housebuilding needs new property laws

  03-12-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Leasehold houses aren’t the only problem area – apartment buyers need help tooLabour has committed to banning new houses being sold as leasehold, in a boost for Guardian Money’s campaign against escalating ground rents that have made some homes virtually unsaleable.The promise, by Labour’s shadow secretary of state for housing John Healey, comes just days after the government, in answer to a question in the House of Commons, pledged to “stamp out” the abuses h
  
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• Lakeland customer service is the best thing since sliced bread

  03-12-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  They instantly replaced our three-year-old applianceI purchased a Lakeland compact bread maker almost three years ago. Last week I contacted Lakeland for advice as the drive shaft kept falling out. This meant that I had to add the ingredients while the bucket was in the machine. Lakeland customer services replied the next day with the offer of a replacement machine. This arrived three days later. We are all quick to complain (rightly) when we have bad experiences, but I believe in showing my app
  
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• Furious readers help get justice for the man Waitrose labelled ‘shoplifter’

  03-12-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  After our story last week about Christopher Seddon’s ‘scandalous treatment’, pressurehas grown and the supermarket has agreedto apay-outChrisopher Seddon, the 60-year-old author featured in Guardian Money last week after being falsely accused of shoplifting, has been paid a substantial sum following an outcry by readers furious at his treatment at the hands of supermarket group Waitrose.Last week we related how Seddon was accused of stealing £102-worth of meat by a securi
  
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• Energy customers advised… don’t run up a big credit balance

  03-12-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As one small utility supplier collapses, and with more likely to follow, we look at how customers can protect themselvesHouseholds tempted by the promise of low prices if they switch to an unknown gas and electricity supplier have been warned not to run up big credit balances, in the light of the collapse of GB Energy.Last weekend the company, which had 160,000 customers, became the first domestic energy company to cease trading since 2008. With it blaming its failure on a big jump in wholesale
  
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• Is it worth buying a soundbar for my TV?

  03-12-2016 07:59
  
  I’m after one that’s easy to set up and not too priceyEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
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• Ethical gifts: think of others when you think of others this Christmas

  03-12-2016 07:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Lendwithcare offers ethical alternatives to traditional gifts, so you can help budding entrepreneurs across the globeIt’s the ethical Christmas gift that can throw a financial lifeline to people in poorer countries who are trying to improve their lives. Lendwithcare gift vouchers allow Britons to lend relatively small sums of money to people in 11 countries who are keen to start or grow their own small business – and the occupied Palestinian territories have now been added to the lis
  
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• Adani coal mine: green groups fume over plan for $1b federal loan

  03-12-2016 04:21 via theguardian.com
  
  A $2.2b rail link to the huge Carmichael project has gained conditional approval for commonwealth fundingThe environmental movement is up in arms over a move towards federal funding of up to $1b for a railway that will serve Adani’s proposed Queensland coal mine.A $2.2b rail link to Adani’s huge Carmichael mine in the untapped Galilee basin has gained conditional approval for a commonwealth loan, days before its billionaire promoter, Gautam Adani, is due to meet state and federal pol
  
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• Network Rail to lose sole control of rail maintenance

  03-12-2016 01:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Transport minister Chris Grayling believes using Virgin, Southern and other private firms will lead to savings, sources saySole control of Britain’s rail infrastructure is to be taken out of the hands of the state-owned Network Rail and shared with private firms under government plans to be announced next week, it has been reported.The move, which would represent one of the biggest changes to the running of the British rail network in recent years, would see track maintenance undertaken by
  
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• Period homes for less than £100,000 – in pictures

  03-12-2016 00:45 via theguardian.com
  
  From a former toll house to a Methodist chapel, here’s your chance to buy a piece of history Continue reading...
  
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