Financial news

• Fed chairman defends rate rise policy after attack by Trump

  24-08-2018 19:07 via theguardian.com
  Jerome Powell says central bank will ‘do whatever it takes’ to maintain strong economyThe Federal Reserve chairman has defended the central bank’s approach of gradually raising interest rates, after direct criticism from Donald Trump.Jerome Powell, who was this week attacked by the president for failing to give him “some help” on the US economy, warned that steadily rising borrowing costs would be required to promote job creation and economic growth. Trump had sugge
  
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• Wheelies and turnarounds: the economics of Ryanair's baggage rules

  24-08-2018 18:57 via theguardian.com
  Airline faces accusations of cynical profiteering, but it insists the aim is to cut flight delaysLong before the era of Ryanair charges, those who flew knew the importance of minimising baggage. According to the French pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “He who would travel happily must travel light.” But now, even a case small enough to fit an aircraft’s overhead locker does not guarantee a passenger’s happiness. Continue reading...
  
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• Pension opt-outs have not jumped since auto-enrolment rate rise

  24-08-2018 17:47 via theguardian.com
  Analysis suggests those on low salaries have been able to pay increased contributionMillions of low-income households have found extra cash to put into a pension in the latest success for the government’s auto-enrolment scheme, quelling fears that opt-out rates would jump after higher contributions began in April.Nine million people have joined workplace pension schemes since auto-enrolment began in 2012. The scheme faced its first major test in April, when workers were forced to begin pay
  
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• Let’s move to Callander and the Trossachs: ‘Magical countryside’

  24-08-2018 17:30 via theguardian.com
  It looks like Disney bought up the place and squished the whole of Scotland into a few square milesWhat’s going for it? “The Highlands in miniature”, they call it, and, true enough, the Trossachs (great name, by the way), do look as if Disney had come along, bought up the place and squished the whole of Scotland into a few square miles. Peaks and mountains (though not scarily high). Forests. Lochs. Glens. Dramatic ruins on mystical islands. Copious shops selling tartanned tins
  
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• Property news: Mortgage lending up in July ahead of interest-rate rise

  24-08-2018 15:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  HOMEOWNERS locked themselves into attractive mortgage deals in the weeks leading up to August's Bank of England base rate rise, according to a household finance report. Gross mortgage lending for the total market in July stood at £24.6 billion, 7.6 percent higher than a year earlier, figures from trade association UK Finance show.
  
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• BHS collapse: ex-owner was victim of political pressure, court hears

  24-08-2018 14:54 via theguardian.com
  Dominic Chappell’s solicitor says regulator was under pressure to be ‘seen to respond’ over collapseThe former owner of the collapsed high street chain BHS was the victim of political pressure, a court has been told.Dominic Chappell, who had no previous retail experience, bought the high street chain from the billionaire Sir Philip Green for £1 in March 2015. The company collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs 13 months later, leaving a pension deficit of about £571m
  
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• Bargain wedding dresses, TVs and antiques: John Pye sees soaring sales

  24-08-2018 14:28 via theguardian.com
  Selling unwanted stock from closing stores has given the online auctioneer a boostAs high street retailers struggle with store closures and bankruptcies, an online auctioneer is thriving. John Pye Auctions operates a digital bootsale that helps clear stock from collapsed shop chains, closed down restaurants and failed manufacturers. On a Monday morning in August, a traffic jam at a secluded industrial estate in rural Staffordshire indicates that the firm is doing brisk business.Continue reading.
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: GBP stabilises despite no-deal Brexit papers

  24-08-2018 14:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound euro exchange rate has managed to find firmer ground ahead of the long bank holiday weekend after dropping half a cent yesterday in reaction to the government’s no-deal Brexit papers. So far today the pound euro exchange rate has been lingering around the day’s opening levels of €1.109.
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP exchange rate recovers after impact papers

  24-08-2018 14:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound US dollar exchange rate has managed to recoup some of its losses today, taking the pairing back up to $1.285. Today’s pound gains have been caused by a partly positive reaction to yesterday’s Brexit ‘no-deal’ impact papers, although these have had a mixed reception overall.
  
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• Cornish public toilet with sea view up for auction for £15,000

  24-08-2018 13:49 via theguardian.com
  Conveniently located building in Newlyn could be turned into a residential propertyA stone building with a harbour view in mainland Britain’s most southerly town that could be turned into a bijou home has gone up for auction with a guide price of £15,000.What may put off some buyers is the fact that the property overlooking Newlyn harbour in Cornwall was until recently a public toilet. Continue reading...
  
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• Mortgage lending fell in July before rise in interest rates

  24-08-2018 13:07 via theguardian.com
  Number of mortgages approved drop by 4.3% to 39,584 compared with a year agoMortgage lending in Britain dropped last month before the Bank of England raised interest rates above the level set since the financial crisis, new banking industry figures show. The industry body UK Finance said the number of mortgages approved for new house purchases dropped by 4.3% in July to 39,584 compared with the same month a year ago. City economists had forecast around 40,700, suggesting a renewed slowdown in th
  
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• Choose a side: the battle to keep French isle McDonald's-free

  24-08-2018 12:22 via theguardian.com
  Mayor on Île d’Oléron is leading the fight, saying the island is ‘not about mass consumption’Inside a ramshackle former holiday club on the picturesque Île d’Oléron off France’s Atlantic coast, a group of people were screen-printing old T-shirts with anti-burger slogans inspired by the student protests of May 1968. The artwork implored “comrades” to choose their side in the island’s battle with McDonald’s.“Ol&e
  
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• Norway's $1tn wealth fund urged to keep oil and gas investments

  24-08-2018 12:14 via theguardian.com
  Government advisers reject central bank’s proposal to sell billions held in oil stocksGovernment advisers have urged Norway not to ditch oil and gas investments from its $1tn sovereign wealth fund, in a setback for those backing the world’s biggest fossil fuel divestment.Norway’s central bank last year recommended the fund sell the billions it holds in oil stocks to avoid the risk of a permanent drop in crude prices.Continue reading...
  
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• WTO warns on disruption to UK of no-deal Brexit - Financial Times

  24-08-2018 12:08
  Financial Times
  WTO warns on disruption to UK of no-deal Brexit
  Financial Times
  The World Trade Organization has warned about potential disruption for the UK from a no-deal Brexit, saying that it is “very unlikely” that the government will have agreed tariffs and quotas with all other member countries by next March. Hardline ...
  UK outlines 'no deal' Brexit scenario for financial servicesIPE.com
  UK govt says 'no-deal' Brexit would mean red tape, expenseFinancial Postalle 1.483 nieuw
  
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• Victorian terraced homes for sale – in pictures

  24-08-2018 11:36 via theguardian.com
  Packed with period features, here are five properties from Canterbury to York Continue reading...
  
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• UK savings growth languishes at historic lows - Financial Times

  24-08-2018 11:27
  Financial Times
  UK savings growth languishes at historic lows
  Financial Times
  UK savings growth remains stuck on a downward trajectory, according to data published by the trade body UK Finance on Friday, with the rate at which personal deposits increased dropping to yet another fresh low. In 2016 the year-on-year rate of growth ...en meer »
  
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• Brexit: Philip Hammond's £80bn no-deal warning exposes Tory rift

  24-08-2018 08:49 via theguardian.com
  Leavers react as chancellor points to risks after Dominic Raab struck positive noteTory divisions over Brexit were exposed afresh on Thursday, as Philip Hammond warned that leaving the EU without a deal would blow an £80bn hole in the public finances, just hours after Dominic Raab sought to play down the risks.In the morning, the new Brexit secretary struck a determinedly optimistic note, as he launched 24 “technical notices”, advising businesses and consumers how to protect th
  
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• Nearly half of tenants who make complaint face 'revenge eviction'

  24-08-2018 08:27
  Estimate by Citizens Advice puts figure at 141,000 tenants since 2015Nearly half of all tenants who make a formal complaint about their housing suffer a “revenge eviction” by private landlords, according to research by Citizens Advice.
  It estimated that 141,000 tenants have been subject to “complain and you’re out” evictions since 2015. Continue reading...
  
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• Merger probe at Sainsbury’s

  24-08-2018 04:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE £14billion merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda to create Britain’s biggest supermarket is being investigated.
  
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• Amazon's 'ambassador' workers assure Twitter: we can go to the toilet any time

  24-08-2018 01:50 via theguardian.com
  Army of fulfillment center employees jump to company’s defense online when it faces a barrage of bad pressAnxious consumers worried about the welfare of Amazon’s thousands of warehouse employees will be relieved to discover that they do in fact get to occasionally use the toilet. They’re also allowed to drink water on the job, work in well-lit spaces with really big fans, and don’t need food stamps to make ends meet.And, for at least one of them, “Olive Garden is li
  
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• Volkswagen and Seat accused of selling cars with rear seatbelt fault

  24-08-2018 01:01
  Thousands of vehicles recalled but Which? says company is still selling models with fault Volkswagen and Seat have been accused by consumer group Which? of selling thousands of vehicles with a known dangerous and unsolved rear seatbelt fault.In May, independent tests by Finnish magazine Tekniikan Maailma found that when all three rear seatbelts were used in VW Polos and Seat models driven at speed, the back-left seatbelt could come undone, leaving a passenger at risk of serious injury in the eve
  
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