Financial news

• Even if there is a Brexit deal, a UK interest rate cut seems likely | Nils Pratley

  03-10-2019 20:28 via theguardian.com
  The Bank rate is already low and Brexit overshadows everything, but look elsewhere too – the global economy is not in good healthCall it a full house of poor economic news. The services sector is contracting, according to the purchasing managers’ index, joining the manufacturing and construction industries in negative territory. In big picture terms, there are no bright spots.The official data, which measures actual economic activity as opposed to managers’ view of prospects, m
  
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• Whisky tariffs are glimpse of post-Brexit future, says union

  03-10-2019 20:04 via theguardian.com
  Industry body says tariffs put jobs at risk but shares in European drinks makers riseBusiness and union leaders in Britain have reacted angrily to the announcement of US tariffs on a range of European goods including Scotch whisky and stilton cheese after a World Trade Organisation ruling over subsidies for Airbus.The US unveiled the list of goods to be hit with tariffs late on Wednesday after the WTO ruled that Washington could impose tariffs worth $7.5bn (£6.1bn) to remedy subsidies give
  
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• UK housebuilding falls to slowest quarterly rate for three years

  03-10-2019 17:47 via theguardian.com
  Figures show new housing starts fell to 160,640 in June, 1% lower than a year agoHousebuilding across England has fallen to the slowest quarterly rate for three years, according to official figures, despite a promise by the government of a homebuilding revolution.Figures published by the housing ministry showed construction began on 37,220 homes in England in the three months to June – 8% down on the same period a year ago, and the lowest quarterly number of new home starts since 2016. Con
  
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• This brutal judgment on pensions is blind to the reality of older women’s lives | Polly Toynbee

  03-10-2019 16:52 via theguardian.com
  The sweeping decisions made by politicians about retirement age ignore the harsh consequences for millions of women
  Equality for women is not always a victory. Women and men’s entitlement to a state pension was equalised by law back in 1995, so women retire at 65 now, at 66 next year – just the same as men. Sounds fair? Not to women born in the 1950s whose lives were hard work and slim savings, with no chance to build up pensions: they expected to retire at 60 and draw their state pe
  
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• Energy networks making big profits at expense of consumers, says watchdog

  03-10-2019 13:19 via theguardian.com
  Companies that run UK’s energy pipes and wires earning double-digit returns, says OfgemThe regulator has allowed energy network companies to make bigger than expected profits at the expense of household bills, according to its own state of the market report.Ofgem admitted the companies that run Britain’s energy pipes and wires had earned double-digit returns in the last year despite its efforts to keep a lid on energy bills. Continue reading...
  
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• Does the IMF need to refocus its role after the Argentina crisis?

  03-10-2019 11:29 via theguardian.com
  The IMF alone cannot help troubled states out of a financial hole. Such states need more aid, not more loansIn case you blinked, the Argentine government built up a pile of debt out of almost nothing with surprising speed, and then proceeded to default on it almost as quickly. Compared to the country’s slow-motion 2002 default, the latest crisis feels like 60-second Shakespeare. But in both cases, default was inevitable because the country’s mix of debt, deficits and monetary policy
  
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• Women not entitled to pension age change compensation, high court rules

  03-10-2019 11:11 via theguardian.com
  Nearly 4m women born in 1950s not entitled to restitution over pension age rise, judges ruleAlmost 4 million women born in the 1950s will not be compensated for the money they lost when the pension age was raised from 60 to 66, the high court has decided.Two claimants took the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to court, arguing that raising their pension age “unlawfully discriminated against them on the grounds of age, sex, and age and sex combined”. Continue reading...
  
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• High court due to rule on women's pension age case

  03-10-2019 08:49 via theguardian.com
  Raising pensionable age from 60 to 66 discriminated on grounds of sex, say claimantsWomen affected by changes to the state pension age are due to hear the outcome of their high court fight against the government.Nearly 4 million women born in the 1950s have been affected by the changes, which have raised the state pension age from 60 to as high as 66. It has been increased by successive governments in an attempt to ensure “pension age equalisation”, so that women’s state pensio
  
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• New Tesco boss isn't the obvious choice for chief executive | Nils Pratley

  03-10-2019 08:03 via theguardian.com
  It’s a surprise that supermarket group did not recruit internally after Dave Lewis jumpedIf you want to wind up Dave Lewis, point to Tesco’s share price. It was 230p when he arrived in September 2014 and, after five years of effort that have prompted the chief executive to want to “recharge my batteries”, it has reached only 240p. All that struggle to go sideways?Lewis resents the share price comparison as much as he dislikes his “Drastic Dave” label and, actu
  
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• There was nothing super about this Tui travel agent

  03-10-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  When Super Break went into administration, we faced a complex automated maze to try and get our money backI had booked an August break with my son to Rome through a Tui store that used the tour operator Super Break. Tui agents called the evening before our departure to inform us Super Break had gone into administration but said our booking would be honoured. This was not quite true. Our prepaid transfer from the airport was cancelled without notice, leaving us a bus and underground journey and a
  
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• 'I was scammed by a fraud so ingenious even bank staff were fooled'

  03-10-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Charlotte Purcell was tricked out of her student loan by bogus emails claiming to be from Metro BankCharlotte Purcell, 20, lost £940 of her student loan in a scam so sophisticated that it even deceived staff at her local bank.Purcell had received a string of emails and calls from Metro Bank – or what appeared to be Metro Bank – and had agreed to transfer her money to a new account number. She headed to the bank just half an hour later, showing the messages to bank staff, and wa
  
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