Is property crash nearing end?
31 Mar 2009 [2 Comments | 214 views]
It’s a shame it isn’t tomorrow, then when you read the article below you would be left uncertain as to whether it was an April Fool's Day joke.
But it is no joke. The last few days have seen the strongest evidence to date that the great property crash of 2008/09 may be drawing to an end.
That is not to say house prices won’t continue to fall. But the latest set of data from several different sources does seem to imply the end is in sight.
As ever with the property market,
G20 build up: G20 cynicism
31 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 180 views]
A consensus seems to be building on what the G20 will achieve. The consensus seems to be that it will achieve nothing. But it goes further. A growing chorus of voices is saying that if it does achieve nothing, it will be a good thing too. Politicians only ever make things worse.
Meanwhile, the French President seems to want to appease the G20 critics. If you want nothing, he seems determined to grant that wish.
But they are wrong.
Obama slams US car industry
31 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 191 views]
Well, no one can argue Rick Wagoner hasn’t gone down in style. He had ruled the roost at GM for years. He was appointed chief finance officer in 1991. In 2000 he became chief executive, in 2003 he combined the role of chief exec with chairman. And in that time he has seen GM fall from being one of the world’s biggest companies, a powerhouse symbolizing the strength of corporate America, to a quivering wreck of a company.
No one likes to be fired, but if it is going to happen, then why not go for it. The man whose decision it was that Mr Wagoner had to go, was no other than Barack Obama.
It might almost look good on a CV. Under the heading: Why did you leave your last job? you answer, the President of the USA sacked me.
But actually, Mr Obama is not happy. He has slammed the
Europe’s decline accelerates
31 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 206 views]
The last 24 hours have seen four major stories develop on the declining fortunes of Europe. Turkey is the latest economy to hit the buffers, and the news out this morning really is disturbing.
Meanwhile, things seem to be going from bad to worse in Ireland, unemployment is mounting in Germany, while in the Eurozone, the news out this morning seems to make it pretty clear that deflation is on its way.
Tesco, Barclays and Nationwide triumph from adversity
30 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 205 views]
It is often said that the two characters which make up the Chinese word for crisis, mean, if read individually, danger and opportunity. And that is quite apt, because, as has been argued here often enough, there are plenty of opportunities out there during these crisis times we find ourselves in.
Even the world of banking, on its knees, begging for government money, sees plenty of opportunity lurking within its dark midst.
The last few days have seen opportunity come hurtling out of the hidden places of this crisis, shining light where once there was darkness. Barclays Bank, Tesco and Nationwide have all managed to lift themselves above the gloom.
Read on to find out how good news has at last come knocking on three of Britain’s recession-torn companies.
Savings rise at last
30 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 160 views]
It is difficult to work out whether this is good or bad news. The UK’s savings ratio rose from just 1.7 to 4.8 per cent in the final quarter of last year, according to the latest official data out last Friday.
Meanwhile, in the US, the savings ratio fell slightly in February. But even so, there has been a remarkable turnaround. Six months ago, the US savings ratio stood at zero. In February it was 4.2 per cent.
Never has one statistic so well summed up the real challenge of the economy.
Just over a year
Spanish banks fall to credit tsunami
30 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 161 views]
If only British banks had done things the Spanish way. In Spain, as you know, banks which provided loans worth a high percentage of the property they were secured against, or banks which relied on wholesale markets, had to ensure capital ratios were much higher.
That is why, despite the terrible plight of the Spanish economy and the severe collapse in Spanish house prices, the banking sector has remained in good – or at least goodish – shape.
But news broke yesterday to suggest that even Spanish banks may be succumbing.
Hell jibe misunderstood
30 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 169 views]
Apparently, it was all a misunderstanding. You may recall, last week Mirek Topolánek, the man who finds himself in the rather odd position of no longer being Prime Minister in his own country, the Czech Republic, and yet is EU President, said that Barack Obama’s wishes for a global fiscal stimulus were a “road to hell”.
Well, it appears media coverage of his comments was not actually telling us what he meant at all.
White, blue-eyed bankers are to blame for crisis, says international leader
27 Mar 2009 [4 Comments | 181 views]
And so the blame game has reached a new level. Apparently, it wasn’t just bankers who were to blame for the crisis of our times, it was blue-eyed, white bankers. At least that’s what President Lula da Silva of Brazil said yesterday, during a meeting with our own beloved Prime Minister.
Setting aside arguments about racism, and how the world would react if Gordon Brown had ever made similar comments, but rather, stereotyping the typical features of Brazilians, it does just go to show the dangers in overreaction.
High Street limps forward
27 Mar 2009 [0 Comments | 164 views]
The High Street is set to enter a crucial phase. Wednesday just gone was that day when the quarterly rent on High Streets across the land was due. You don’t need to be especially smart to know that some retailers will struggle to pay. Expect trouble ahead as we discover which retailers actually defaulted and were forced under as a result.
Meanwhile, retailers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The recent falls in the pound mean that, inevitably, the costs of products imported from abroad are rising, and yet, in recession Britain, consumers are cutting back.
So, the marketing departments may say 'we need to cut prices', but the finance departments may say 'we can’t afford to'.
No wonder Next is sticking to its guns and refusing to discount, this despite a recent 14 per cent fall in pre tax profits revealed this week.
But how is all this showing up on the High Street. The last few days have seen the release of two of the main High Street indicators.
