The UK Economy

FTSE 100, a compilation of the biggest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange many of which are also the largest in the world, opened on a high today, after two days on break for the holidays. As 2012 nears its end to welcome the new year, with three trading days left (including today), some […]

Over the next seven days starting tomorrow I shall publish my seven share tips of the year for 2013. But before starting that exercise tomorrow I consider first my macro assumptions and predictions for 2013. There is no point making an oil stock a tip of the year if you think the crude price is heading […]

There was bad news for chancellor George Osborne as official figures showed growth in the UK economy was slower than initially thought in the third quarter, along with a deterioration in public finances last month. The UK economy grew by 0.9% in the third quarter of the year according to the Office for National Statistics […]

UK retail sales unexpectedly stagnated in November as spending at department stores slumped the most in almost two years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced sales volumes were flat in November compared with October. Retail sales had been expected to bounce back after October’s shock 0.8% fall. Anna Leach, analyst at the Confederation of […]

They are just doing their job What do the rating agencies do? They rate the debt issued by a company or a government. After analysts’ recommendations, a committee of senior staff  formally decides a rating (Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have recently downgraded the rating of France by one notch). Every prime minister or CEO […]

The Swiss bank UBS has agreed to pay $1.5bn (£940m) to US, UK and Swiss regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate. It is the second major bank to be fined over Libor after Barclays’ was ordered to pay £290m to UK and US authorities in the summer, where CEO Bob Diamond […]

UK consumer prices inflation (CPI) remained unchanged in November at 2.7%, according to the Office of National Statistics. The fastest price rises were seen in the cost of fruit, bread, cereals and energy bills, while car fuel, plane tickets and beer prices fell from the month before. On the other hand, the Retail prices index […]

Has anyone ever rated the credit rating agencies? The answer is simple: no. In 2011 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a long report with a generic downgrade of all the agencies, without naming them and asking for a further effort not to repeat the mistakes of the past.  A second report published […]

Hard times for big banks. In the US they are making a last minute push to ease the new global liquidity requirements, that would force them to come up with an additional $800bn in easy-to-sell assets under the proposed standards. On the other hand, UK banks are facing the threat of a break-up if they […]

Ofgem, the energy regulator will permit firms running the UK’s electricity and gas grids to add an average £12 to annual energy bills up until 2020, to pay for upgrades and maintenance. The proposals are part of plans to radically overhaul Britain’s ageing energy infrastructure over the next eight years, as set out in its […]