Financial news

• Over-55s urged to wise up on pension advice

  15-03-2017 23:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE over-55s are taking a massive financial risk by failing to take independent financial advice at retirement.
  
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• Trump begins rollback of Obama's car pollution standards to curb emissions

  15-03-2017 23:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Automakers welcome president’s plan for EPA to review fuel efficiency mandate while critics warn reversal would endanger health and environment
  Donald Trump has begun the process of rolling back carbon pollution standards for vehicles following a meeting with automakers in Detroit, Michigan. Continue reading...
  
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• Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen announces an interest rate increase – video

  15-03-2017 22:02 via theguardian.com
  
  The Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, announced on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. This raise is the second hike in three months, a move Yellen said was spurred by steady economic growth, strong job gains and confidence that inflation was rising to the central bank’s targetStocks rise but dollar slides after Federal Reserve raises US interest rates – live updates
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• Stocks rise but dollar slides after Federal Reserve raises US interest rates - as it happened

  15-03-2017 21:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Wall Street is reassured by ‘dovish hike’, as Chair Janet Yellen says the US economy is doing wellWhat the experts sayWall Street jumps, dollar hit by dovish hikeFed chair says US economy doing wellJanet Yellen holds press conference - highlights start hereFed votes to raise interest rates for third time since 2008Statement: economy continues to expand 8.42pm GMTThat’s all for us for tonight. Here’s our news story about the Federal Reserve rate rise:The US Federal Reserve
  
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• Philip Hammond defends scrapping national insurance rise for the self-employed

  15-03-2017 21:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Chancellor performs U-turn on much-criticised budget tax grab, accepting that it breached wording of Tory manifestoPhilip Hammond ditched plans to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed yesterday, in a humiliating U-turn just a week after the measure formed the centrepiece of his first budget.
  The chancellor signalled the abrupt change of heart in a letter to Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, the chair of the treasury select committee, following a revolt by backbench MPs tha
  
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• Jones Bootmaker is on the brink – but it's not all gloom on the high street

  15-03-2017 20:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Bricks and mortar shops are squeezed by online sales and business rates; perhaps Inditex’s Zara points the way The news that Jones Bootmaker is on the brink of falling into administration is a reminder of just how tough life is on the high street. The 160-year-old shoe retailer may yet be rescued, but about 1,000 workers are unsure about their future employment.Profits for bricks-and-mortar shops are being squeezed by the rise of online shopping, an increase in staff costs brought on by th
  
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• US interest rate rise signals end of ultra-low borrowing costs

  15-03-2017 20:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Will Fed’s steady march to ‘new normal’ scare away the ghosts of financial crisis? It could have been worse. That was Wall Street’s initial response to the decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise borrowing costs in the world’s biggest economy by a quarter of a point.For once, the market reaction was entirely rational. The increase in interest rates was expected and it would have been a real surprise had Janet Yellen and her colleagues at the US central bank deci
  
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• Self-employment tax plan will kill criticism | Letters

  15-03-2017 19:16
  
  The Critics’ Circle, the body of 500 professional UK critics founded in 1913, welcomes the news that the government will not proceed with hikes in national insurance contributions for the self-employed. With full-time jobs for critics at an all-time low, the vast majority of our members are freelance and therefore self-employed. We have no sick pay, no benefits, no job security and work increasingly long hours. However, a greater obstacle is looming in plans for the self-employed to file f
  
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• US Federal Reserve raises interest rates to 1% in bid to hold off inflation

  15-03-2017 19:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Fed chair says US economy in strong health as she announces third rate rise since 2008 and the first of several expected this yearJanet Yellen discusses rate rise – liveThe US Federal Reserve has sought to head off rising inflation with a third interest rate rise since the 2008 financial crash and the second in three months, taking the base rate from 0.75% to 1%.The central bank set aside concerns about the impact of higher interest rates on consumer spending to confirm analyst projections
  
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• Southern reaches new agreement with train drivers' union Aslef

  15-03-2017 18:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Members turned down previous proposal to solve dispute, but leaders say new deal offers solutions to their concernsA fresh deal aimed at resolving the long-running row between Southern and the biggest train drivers’ union has been agreed, the two sides said on Wednesday.Hundreds of thousands of commuters have faced chaos since the dispute began last year.Continue reading...
  
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• Good riddance to the unfair NIC tax rise. Now what about that £2bn black hole? | John McDonnell

  15-03-2017 18:50 via theguardian.com
  
  The chancellor must tell us how extra social care will be funded, after Jeremy Corbyn, Labour and civic society forced him into a U-turnThe government’s U-turn on the unfair £2bn national insurance hike for the self-employed is a humiliation for chancellor Philip Hammond, who has shredded his reputation after only his first budget – and broke a manifesto promise to do it. Labour opposed the measure from the start: Jeremy Corbyn made our opposition loud and clear in his immediat
  
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• TV company behind Question Time could sell for up to £300m

  15-03-2017 16:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Welsh-based international media firm Tinopolis is considered the UK’s last remaining truly independent television producerTinopolis, the company behind TV shows including Question Time and Crufts and producer of BT’s Premier League and Champion’s League coverage, is up for sale with a price tag of up to £300m.The Welsh-based international media company, which also owns sports production business Sunset + Vine, is the UK’s last remaining truly independent TV producer
  
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• Why have four children when you could have seven? Family planning in Niger

  15-03-2017 16:21 via theguardian.com
  
  With the world’s highest birthrate, Niger’s population is set to double in 17 years. NGOs are providing contraception, but what if women want more babies?Roukaya Hamani has an in-law problem. Her husband’s parents want more grandbabies, but she doesn’t want any more children right now. She’s already given birth four times; one of the babies died, and so now she has three, ages seven, five, and 16 months. She’s 18 years old.“I just pray to God to bless th
  
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• Do the maths, employers: strong unions are good for business | Abi Wilkinson

  15-03-2017 15:07
  
  A claim that councils waste millions subsidising trade unions ignores the much bigger sums of public money that are saved by having happy, protected workersFor workers, the value of joining a trade union is obvious. Union members tend to earn more than non-unionised employees for the same sort of work. They’re more likely to have secure contracts, sick pay and other benefits. Union reps make sure bosses don’t cut corners on health and safety, which is why there are up to 50% fewer ac
  
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• Aeriandi Study Highlights UK Financial Institutions Are Unprepared ... - ISBuzz News

  15-03-2017 14:22
  
  ISBuzz News
  Aeriandi Study Highlights UK Financial Institutions Are Unprepared ...
  ISBuzz News
  Oxford. A study of IT managers and decision makers and Risk & Compliance managers within UK financial services businesses, reveals a lack of preparation ...en meer »
  
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• Hammond's NICs U-turn is a political disaster for the government | Larry Elliott

  15-03-2017 13:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Chancellor’s change of heart raises the question of who’s in charge at the Treasury: Hammond, May or the Daily Mail?Not so funny now, is it chancellor? A week to the day since he peppered his debut budget speech with gags to disguise its thinness, Philip Hammond has just done a screeching U-turn.There was only one measure of note in the package – an increase in national insurance contributions for the self-employed – and from the moment it was announced the proposal cause
  
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• Zara founder to receive £1.1bn payout after record sales

  15-03-2017 13:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Amancio Ortega, Europe’s wealthiest person, has earned more than £5bn since 2010 and has a net worth of £58bnThe multibillionaire behind the Zara retail chain has banked another £1bn after the fashion group reported record sales and profits.Amancio Ortega, Europe’s richest man, will receive €1.26bn (£1.1bn) from Inditex, the Spanish company he started more than four decades ago, which owns Zara and many other brands.. Continue reading...
  
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• Immedia Wins "Material" Order With UK Financial Institution - London South East (registration) (blog)

  15-03-2017 13:34
  Immedia Wins "Material" Order With UK Financial Institution
  London South East (registration) (blog)
  LONDON (Alliance News) - Immedia Group PLC on Wednesday said it has won a "material" installation purchase order with a UK financial institution that it did not name. This work will be undertaken in the current financial year, and Immedia noted that ...en meer »
  
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• JP Morgan's investment bankers ride high on UK hat-trick - Financial News (subscription)

  15-03-2017 13:00
  
  Financial News (subscription)
  JP Morgan's investment bankers ride high on UK hat-trick
  Financial News (subscription)
  Mergers and acquisitions bankers at JP Morgan have taken the Wall Street bank to the top of the league tables for domestic UK deals so far in 2017. This week the bank was named financial adviser to John Wood Group, an Aberdeen-based oil field services ...
  
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• UK unemployment is as low as 1975 – but why aren't wages rising?

  15-03-2017 12:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Falling pay growth shows how the balance of power has shifted in the past four decades away from workersThe last time Britain’s unemployment rate was lower than it is today was in the summer of 1975. For those whose memories don’t stretch that far back it was the time of the UK’s first referendum on EU membership, Harold Wilson was prime minister and inflation was at at postwar peak of more than 25%.The contrast with today’s labour market is stark. Joblessness stands at 4
  
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• Pound RISES against euro amid Dutch elections and drop in UK unemployment

  15-03-2017 10:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE pound was up against the euro and dollar as the Netherlands headed to the polls and strong employment data was released in Britain.
  
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• Homes with hot tubs – in pictures

  15-03-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Slip under the bubbles, from Colchester to the Loire Continue reading...
  
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• Trying to get a refund from Virgin Balloon Flights fails to take off

  15-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  There have been four cancellations and we are getting nowhereIn mid-April 2015 I bought vouchers for two weekday morning Virgin Balloon Flights in the east Midlands, costing £204. They were a gift for my friend, and we wanted to fly together. Our first flight was booked for May 2015 but was cancelled as it was raining. The second was booked for June but was again cancelled due to high winds at altitude. The third attempt, in April 2016, was cancelled as it was misty at the take-off locatio
  
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• Secrets to business survival: 'always look at new ways to innovate'

  15-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Family businesses are often best suited to longevity. But product development, investing in staff and attention to detail help in a recession Founded in 1860, awnings and blinds manufacturer James Robertshaw has seen its fair share of internal change and economic upheaval. The company also survived a major fire, in 1933. A feat managing director Nigel Sharrock, who took on the role in 1979, brushes off. “Fires were a common occurrence in those days,” he says.Sharrock took over from h
  
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