Financial news

• The Guardian view on the cladding scandal: don’t punish the innocent | Editorial

  28-04-2021 19:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Leaseholders didn’t build these high-rises and they didn’t certify them as safe. So why are they being landed with the giant bills to fix them?If natural justice had its proper bearing, hundreds of thousands of people would not tonight be sleeping in high-rise homes that are clad in materials that could potentially go up in flames, a prospect for which they not only have to pay fire safety costs and higher insurance bills, but also face the reality that they will not be able to sell
  
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• Cheese futures: could we all make millions by investing in cheddar?

  28-04-2021 17:50 via theguardian.com
  
  The popularity of pizzas and burgers in the pandemic has caused a surge in cheese trading. Now investors are keen to get a slice of US ‘grilling season’Name: Cheese futures.Age: Minus several months. Longer in many cases. We’re talking futures contracts here.Appearance: I suspect you know what cheese looks like.What is a cheese future? Basically, you agree to pay a supplier a certain price for a lump of cheese at a future date. You are making a bet on trends in cheese prices.
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• Dixons Carphone to close all airport stores after tax-free shopping scrapped

  28-04-2021 10:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Firm does not expect a sufficient recovery in passenger numbers to offset loss of retail scheme The retailer Dixons Carphone has decided to close permanently all of its outlets in airports, blaming the UK government’s decision to scrap tax-free shopping.The company said it did not expect a sufficient recovery in passenger numbers to make up for the loss of the retail scheme from 1 January, which enables non-EU visitors to reclaim VAT paid on their purchases. Continue reading...
  
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• European parliament votes through Brexit deal with big majority

  28-04-2021 10:28 via theguardian.com
  
  UK and EU senior figures hail moment as a ‘new chapter’ of friendly relations after four years of divisionThe European parliament has given its overwhelming backing to the Brexit trade and security deal, prompting senior figures on both sides to speak of hope for a “new chapter” of friendly relations after four years of division.Just five MEPs voted against the deal, with 660 in favour and 32 abstentions, although in an accompanying resolution the chamber described the re
  
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• Homeowners near London Olympic park hit out at ‘unfair’ estate charge

  28-04-2021 09:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Mayor urged to intervene over extra charge for upkeep of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford
  Homeowners living on a development in east London say they are being forced to pay an “unjust and unfair” charge that provides them with no benefits and is likely to make their properties “unsellable and unmortgageable”.Residents of Chobham Manor pay a “fixed estate charge” for the upkeep of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, the site of the 2012 Olympic
  
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• Sainsbury’s slumps to £261m loss on back of Covid costs

  28-04-2021 09:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Supermarket spent £485m on ‘keeping colleagues and customers safe during the pandemic’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSainsbury’s has dived to a £261m annual loss despite booming sales of groceries during the pandemic as it spent millions of pounds on protecting staff and customers from the coronavirus.The UK’s second biggest supermarket said it had spent £485m on special bonus payments for staff who worked through the p
  
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• Lloyds beats forecasts with near-£2bn profit; markets eye Fed decision – business live

  28-04-2021 09:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Lloyds profits boosted by release of bad loan provisions; Fed to maintain near-zero interest rates and bond-buying programme 8.43am BST Here is our full story on Lloyds, which reported a £1.9bn pretax profit this morning, as the lender released hundreds of millions of pounds worth of loan loss provisions originally earmarked for potential defaults linked to the coronavirus pandemic. Related: Lloyds profits soar as Covid loan loss provisions released8.43am BST In other news, motorists could
  
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• Bosses’ bonuses for zero workplace deaths ‘a terrible judgment on their character’

  28-04-2021 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Call to end incentives, with campaigners saying it shouldn’t take money for executives to care whether employees live or dieCalls are growing for an end to the practice of paying executives health and safety bonuses if none of their employees dies on the job, as an analysis revealed the average value of a human life in some boardrooms under such schemes is as little as £33,000.The research, by the shareholder advisory firm Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), looked
  
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• Cottages.com cancelled a booking, but it cost me £900

  28-04-2021 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Our property was double-booked yet we had to pay a 50% increase for another propertyIn February, I made a booking with Cottages.com for July. A month later, the company said that the reservation was cancelled because of remedial work on the property. I offered to defer the booking, but was told the works would last the entire season because of insurance issues. I could find an alternative property, or accept a refund. When I called back to discuss it, I was told my booking had been cancelled bec
  
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• ‘They’re playing chicken:’ inside Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook’s feud

  28-04-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Tensions between Facebook and Apple have been growing, but is it just an attempt to get ahead of US antitrust regulators?A longstanding feud between Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook could come to a head this week, as a highly-anticipated Apple operating system update will for the first time allow users to opt out of cross-platform tracking.Tensions between Facebook and Apple have been growing for some time, but the new operating system threatens to kneecap Facebook’s business model, and has tu
  
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• Green economy: MPs warn over lack of plan to manage fossil fuel tax loss

  28-04-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  MPs say Treasury has not set out how tax system will help UK meet target to cut emissionsThe Treasury cannot explain how it will manage declines in tax revenues worth £37bn from fossil fuels as the UK shifts to a clean economy, MPs have warned.A report from the influential parliamentary public accounts committee also warned that the Treasury had not set out how the tax system was going to help the government meet the target to cut emissions to “net zero” by 2050. Continue readi
  
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• Vote to protect leaseholders from cladding costs fails despite Tory rebellion

  28-04-2021 02:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Government defeats amendment aiming to stop fire safety costs being passed on to leaseholders, but Lords vote means new Commons showdownHundreds of thousands of leaseholders living in unsellable and potentially dangerous high-rise homes will continue to face fire safety bills of up to £100,000 each after MPs again voted against banning building owners from passing on remediation costs.Despite a Conservative backbench rebellion of 31 MPs including the former party leader Iain Duncan Smith,
  
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• ‘Self-driving’ cars could get green light for use on UK motorways this year

  28-04-2021 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Automated lane-keeping systems likely to be allowed only when traffic is moving slowlyMotorists could legally allow their cars to “self-drive” on British motorways later this year – but only slowly, the government has announced.Drivers could soon be allowed to read a newspaper or watch a film via the car’s built-in screen in periods of slow-moving traffic, using automated lane-keeping system (Alks) technology that makes the car stay in lane and a safe distance from other
  
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• Pension: Retirees consider riskier products as interest rates plummet - warning issued

  28-04-2021 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  PENSION decisions have been impacted by the low interest rate environment the UK finds itself in according to new research from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme . Retirees are considering riskier products in retirement and this could be placing savings at risk.
  
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• Dogecoin pronunciation: How do you pronounce Dogecoin?

  28-04-2021 00:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  DOGECOIN has become a superstar phenomenon almost overnight, with the cryptocurrency able to increase its value by more than 3,000 percent off the back of popular support on social media. How do you pronounce Dogecoin?
  
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