Are banks, building societies and other lenders ripping people off by charging over the odds for loans and mortgages? Figures out this week suggest they’re doing just that with margins – the difference between the cost of a loan and the charge the lender makes – at all-time highs.
Unsecured personal loan rates have soared by [...]
Archive for August, 2009
No more cheap loans
August 31st, 2009 by Financial Writer
Tags: cheap loans, mortgages, uk banks, UK Finance
more...Economy shrinks less than thought
August 31st, 2009 by Financial Writer
The rate of contraction of the UK economy in the three months from April to June has been reduced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Gross domestic product (GDP) has been revised to a fall of 0.7% from 0.8% compared with the previous quarter.
The year on year decline has been revised to 5.5% from 5.6%.
The [...]
Employment Insurance rolls increased in June
August 25th, 2009 by Financial Writer
The number of Canadians collecting regular Employment Insurance benefits jumped 5.1 per cent in June, according to Statistics Canada.
About 816,000 Canadians collected EI benefits in June, up 39,500 from the previous month.
The largest percentage increases came in Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, Statistics Canada said. The agency says the number of beneficiaries increased [...]
Tags: benefits, Canada, Employment Insurance
unemployment will peak at 9.3%
August 25th, 2009 by Financial Writer
In the first quarter of this year, economists at the Conference Board of Canada began to revise down their economic estimates. In October last year, they had predicted that Canada would avoid a recession all together.
Chief economist Glen Hodgson admitted Friday that the board, using a mathematical model to produce its forecasts, had been not [...]
Tags: Canada, economic estimates, unemployment
US stocks Today
August 21st, 2009 by Financial Writer
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 70.89 points (0.76 per cent) to 9350.05 in closing trades. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite increased 19.98 points (1.01 per cent) to 1989.22 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a broad measure of the market, gained 10.91 points (1.09 per cent) to 1007.37, crossing the psychological 1000 barrier.
Yesterday the major [...]
Tags: Federal Reserve, long recession, us stocks
Stocks Rally For Third Day
August 20th, 2009 by Financial Writer
After its worst two-day plunge in two months, the markets appear to have stabilized as Wall Street closed higher for the third day in a row on Thursday despite a surprise jump in jobless claims.
Today’s Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.89 points, or 0.76%, to 9350.05, the Standard & Poor’s 500 [...]
Japan has become the latest country to pull out of recession.
August 17th, 2009 by Financial Writer
It follows news last week that the economies of France and Germany have also narrowly moved back into growth.
Japan’s economy grew 0.9% in the three months to June, ending its longest recession since the Second World War. It was largely due to a rebound in exports and the attempts being mounted by governments around the [...]
Tags: economies, Global Recession, japan, recession
Bankruptcy News
August 14th, 2009 by Financial Writer
1.4 Million Companies Could Go Under
U.S. bankruptcy filings rose 38 percent in April-June from a year ago, according to court data released on Thursday, as consumers and business were hit by rising unemployment and a lack of credit.
Overall, 381,073 bankruptcies were filed in the second quarter, up 15 percent from the first three months [...]
Tags: Bankruptcy News, California, Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp, Florida, HAWAII, us
Strategic Executive Alliance (SEA)
August 12th, 2009 by Financial Writer
n August 25th from 5:30 to 7:30pm, Bank of Florida - Southeast together with Strategic Executive Alliance (SEA) and Mike Borrone of envision staffing solutions will host a unique networking opportunity for accounting executives, recruiters and business professionals to discuss today’s economy.
Senior VP Bank of Florida, Lane DeCost will be the keynote speaker and will [...]
Tags: Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Strategic Executive Alliance, UK
Invest with a long-term perspective
August 10th, 2009 by Financial Writer
With news having come in that the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) initial public offer (IPO) has already got over-subscribed, it might appear that reviewing this IPO is an exercise in futility. Nonetheless, we are undertaking it with a view to informing our readers about its pros and cons, and to influence those who have [...]
Tags: india, Invest, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation