Financial news

• Pound to euro LATEST: Sterling 'BULLISH' despite Brexit uncertainty as deadline looms

  11-03-2019 18:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE POUND is looking “bullish" despite uncertainty over Brexit, a finance expert has claimed, as the UK's EU exit deadline looms.
  
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• Low-paid work is no longer a route to better pay – it is a trap | Paul Johnson

  11-03-2019 18:32 via theguardian.com
  Universal credit was meant to lift people out of poverty. But in reality it’s just been fiddling at the edges of the changes we needOne of the few domestic political issues that occasionally manages to make itself heard over the Brexit cacophony is the rollout of universal credit. It is a huge and disruptive shake-up of the welfare system which will end up taking more than a decade from legislation to implementation. And it is no niche concern. One in three working-age households will be e
  
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• LOST SAVINGS: Crusader tracks down pot with thousands of pounds to help DEMENTIA patient

  11-03-2019 18:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  From a dead end to £11,000 better off, help from Crusader has made a big difference to one family tracing a lost investment belonging to a loved one with dementia. 
  
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• Number of empty homes in England rises to more than 216,000

  11-03-2019 15:51 via theguardian.com
  Long-term vacant homes now account for £53.6bn of property, analysis findsThe number of empty homes across England has risen for the second consecutive year to more than 216,000, the highest level since 2012, according to official figures.The number of long-term vacant properties – those empty for at least six months – rose by 5.3% to 216,186 in the 12 months to October, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is the highest level since 2012,
  
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• EU snatches nearly £1TRILLION in UK business - ’BREXODUS’ fears growing

  11-03-2019 14:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE European Union has snapped up nearly £1trillion worth of assets from banks, asset managers and insurers in the UK ahead of Brexit, a report has claimed.
  
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• Brexit BOOST: Economy boosted by BILLIONS - THIS is what will happen to GDP in no-deal

  11-03-2019 14:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  THERESA MAY is facing a tough week as MPs are due to vote on her Brexit deal with the EU on Tuesday, potentially followed by two other key votes including one on whether the UK will be allowed to leave with no deal. But what will happen to the British GDP?
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate GBP/EUR slips despite shock slump in German industrial production

  11-03-2019 13:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  This morning, the pound has fallen sharply against the euro and the pairing is currently trading at around €1.154. Disappointing data for Germany came in the form of industrial production, which showed output from German factories and mines contracted by 0.8 percent in January, despite a predicted monthly increase.
  
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• Germany in CRISIS: Economy growth forecast slashed AGAIN - car production PLUMMETS

  11-03-2019 13:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  GERMANY’S federal Government has slashed the country’s growth forecast for the EU’s biggest economy again after plunging monthly car production figures sent shockwaves through the eurozone.
  
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• UK porn block: How cryptocurrency allows Britons to dodge new sex website law

  11-03-2019 11:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Britons can get around the controversial UK porn block using cryptocurrency, tech experts have warned. In April of this year, porn websites will be blocked by UK internet providers and users will have to verify their age using a driver’s licence, passport or credit card to access X-rated content – a move many see as an attack on privacy.
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD sinks as Trump angers Congress with budget proposal

  11-03-2019 10:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound is down against the US dollar by more than 0.3 percent this morning and is currently trading around $1.296. GBP/USD has continued to struggle despite domestic political tensions once again heating up in the US ahead of President Donald Trump’s proposal for new budget roadmap – which could see a possible $2.7 trillion spending cut – that is due to be announced today.
  
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• German industrial production falls as slowdown gathers pace - business live

  11-03-2019 09:04
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including more weak economic data from GermanyIntroduction: German factory orders fallComing up: BoE speech, US retail sales 8.04am GMT Back in the UK, the battle for troubled department store chain Debenhams has taken another twist.Debenhams has told the City it is in advanced talks to secure £150m of new funding. Get it, and it could repel Sports Direct, whose founder Mike Ashley wants to take control of Debs.The arrangement wou
  
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• Debenhams confirms it is in talks about borrowing £150m

  11-03-2019 08:53
  Funding, in addition to £520m of long-term debt, would enable chain to restructureDebenhams has confirmed it is in advanced negotiations about borrowing £150m as it battles for survival.The funding, which would be in addition to £520m of long-term debts, is intended to ensure credit insurers restore cover for Debenhams’ suppliers and to enable the business to restructure its store portfolio. Continue reading...
  
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• Axe personal allowance and pay everyone £48 a week, says thinktank

  11-03-2019 08:38
  Radical tax proposal by the New Economics Foundation backed by shadow chancellorThe tax-free personal allowance, which rises to £12,500 in April, should be scrapped and replaced with a flat payment of £48 a week for every adult, according to radical proposals welcomed by shadow chancellor John McDonnell.The proposal, from the New Economics Foundation thinktank, is for a £48.08 “weekly national allowance,” amounting to £2,500.16 a year from the state, paid to e
  
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• Why economics must get broader before it gets better | Mohamed El-Erian

  11-03-2019 08:00
  A decade on from the financial crash, the shortcomings have been exposed again by a world of fluidity and uncertaintyThe economics profession took a beating after most of its leading practitioners failed to predict the 2008 global financial crisis and it has been struggling to recover ever since. Not only were the years after the crash marked by unusually low, unequal growth; now we are witnessing a growing list of economic and financial phenomena that economists cannot readily explain.Like the
  
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• Should we remortgage our home to build an extension?

  11-03-2019 08:00
  A neighbour sold a property like ours – without an extension – for 10% more than we paidQ We have been living in our five-bedroom home for the last four years. I don’t imagine we’ll move for at least another six years or so, until both our kids have finished school.We’ve recently looked into the cost of building an extension to the ground floor, creating a separate reception area off the kitchen plus another living space. Continue reading...
  
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• John Lewis's customer service is really bugging us

  11-03-2019 08:00
  Nightmare as it delivers our new Cooper oak beds along with wood eating beetlesI know you have discussed whether John Lewis’s customer service has got worse, so I thought you would be interested in my experience after it sold us an oak bed containing rare wood-eating beetles that kept us awake at night.We had bought two Cooper beds – described as being made from oak in Vietnam – from John Lewis, but a year or so later my daughter complained of hearing odd noises at night. After
  
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• Unexpected February heatwave cheers Britain's pub trade

  11-03-2019 07:01
  For restaurant chains the picture was less sunny as Britons cut back on eating outThe freak February heatwave provided rare cheer for the struggling UK pub trade as Britons sought out beer gardens to soak up the sunshine.The monthly snapshot of trading at major chains, including All Bar One, Yates and Chef & Brewer, recorded growth of 1.4% at pubs open for more than one year. Bars focused on serving drinks rather than meals were the strongest performers, with London out-performing the rest o
  
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• ‘It's in the eye of the beholder’ – drinks giants defend ‘craft beer’ branding

  11-03-2019 07:01
  Report shows many consumers unaware of buying from global firms instead of small brewersDrinkers may be ordering “craft” beers without realising they are owned by multinational drinks giants, according to a new report, prompting concern that consumers are easily duped by artisan-style branding.The British craft beer report, due to be released by small brewers’ trade body the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba) this week, will say that 98% of drinkers do not believe a global f
  
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• NatWest trials fingerprint debit cards to remove £30 limit

  11-03-2019 07:00
  Contactless card that stores owner’s fingerprint could mean an end to typing in pinBank customers will be able to spend more than £30 using contactless cards and could never again have to remember their four-digit pin if a fingerprint technology trial starting in April proves a success.The pilot project from NatWest, the first of its kind in the UK, will use debit cards that contain an electronic copy of the customer’s fingerprint on one corner. If the customer places their fin
  
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• Ethiopian Airlines crash: carriers ground Boeing 737 Max 8 jets

  11-03-2019 06:27
  Airline joins China and Cayman in suspending use of new jets after second tragedy in four monthsEthiopian Airlines has joined carriers in China and the Cayman Islands in suspending the use of Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in the wake of a crash that killed all 157 people on board on Sunday.Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302, on its way to Nairobi from Addis Ababa, crashed six minutes after take-off, ploughing into a field near Tulu Fara village outside the town of Bishoftu, 40 miles south-east of the Ethi
  
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