News and comment

The external links on this page will take you to other sites which are not connected to the regulated site of . Neither nor

Welcome to your on-line financial newsletter. This service is regularly updated to bring you news of important developments in financial matters.


Citywire Investment News

  • Is the boom over for supermarkets?
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:18:53 GMT
    Ahead of Sainsbury's update on Thursday, some analysts are suggesting this may be as good as it gets for food retailers.

Mortgage News

  • SHIP members predict boom in drawdown business
    Tue, 6 Jan 2009 11:41:39 GMT
    Many equity release providers are predicting that drawdown business will account for 70% of the equity release market by 2010, research from Safe Home Income Plans shows.
  • Rice confirms RAMP closure
    Tue, 6 Jan 2009 11:02:40 GMT
    John Rice, managing director of the Regulatory Association of Mortgage Packagers, has confirmed the organisation is set to close its doors after more than five years.

Citywire News

  • MS to shed 1000 staff, reports suggest
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:21:17 GMT
    Marks and Spencer is set to shed up to 1000 jobs in the wake of a poor Christmas trading season, reports today suggest.
  • Is the boom over for supermarkets?
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:18:53 GMT
    Ahead of Sainsbury's update on Thursday, some analysts are suggesting this may be as good as it gets for food retailers.

BBC Business News

  • Final Woolworths stores shut down
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:12:47 GMT
    The remaining 200 Woolworths stores across the UK close their doors after the High Street chain's final day of trading.
  • European gas supplies disrupted
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:16:59 GMT
    Several EU countries report major disruption to their gas supplies from Russia as Moscow accuses Ukraine of shutting pipelines.
  • German billionaire kills himself
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:14:02 GMT
    German billionaire Adolf Merckle commits suicide after his business empire runs into trouble in the global economic slowdown.
  • Marks and Spencer cuts 1,000 jobs
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:37:54 GMT
    Marks and Spencer will announce on Wednesday that it is cutting 1,000 jobs from its workforce of 70,000, the BBC confirms.
  • Long goodbye
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:04:21 GMT
    Woolworths staff feel the pain of closure

London Stock Exchange News

  • FSA to lift short selling ban
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:16:00 +0000
    An emergency ban on the short selling of UK financial stocks could be lifted later this month under new proposals from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
  • Japanese market closes at two-month high
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:57:50 +0000
    Rising optimism that the incoming administration of US president-elect Barack Obama will enact a new round of economic stimulus measures triggered a wave of buying on Japan's major stock market, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 hitting a two-month closing high on Tuesday (January 6th).

  • Wall Street edges higher on tech hopes
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:07:10 +0000
    US shares overcame a swathe of gloomy economy news to advance in early trading on Tuesday (January 6th), with investors hoping that president-elect Barack Obama's anticipated economic stimulus plan will boost the technology sector.

  • More than 1 in 8 'seek debt advice'
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:05:16 +0000
    There was further evidence of the biting recession today with new research from MoneyExpert.com showing that 13 per cent of UK adults have sought advice on controlling their debts in the face of mounting economic pressures.

  • Mortgage lenders 'bottom out' on rate cuts
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:04:09 +0000
    The number of mortgage lenders passing on interest rate cuts to their customers continues to "dwindle", with many showing signs that they are as low as they are prepared to go.

BBC News

  • Blackwater guards plead innocence
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:34:31 GMT
    Five employees of US security firm Blackwater plead not guilty in a US court to the manslaughter of 17 Iraqis in 2007.
  • Israel offers Gaza aid corridor
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:34:15 GMT
    Israel offers to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza as the UN Security Council meets on the conflict.
  • Brown voices Gaza ceasefire hopes
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:26:28 GMT
    UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is hopeful a basis for a ceasefire in Gaza will be found to end the Middle East's "darkest hour".
  • Tottenham hit back to hammer Burnley
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:00:47 GMT
    Spurs take a huge stride towards the Carling Cup final by thrashing Burnley 4-1 in the semi-final first leg at White Hart Lane.
  • Rabies victim dies of infection
    Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:47:54 GMT
    A Northern Ireland woman who contracted the rabies virus while she was abroad dies, her family says.

does not exercise any editorial control over the content and merely provides this information as a service to its clients, who should seek professional advice before taking any action in connection with any information provided therein.

Your home may be repossessed if you not keep keep up repayments on your mortgage.

The FSA does not regulate all forms of mortgage.