This Christmas won’t be a positive one for the FTSE, according to new research, despite its previous 21-year pattern of December gains.
ADVFN, a stocks and shares website, has found the FTSE 100 was up by 4.81% in December 2006 – the 21st occasion since 1984 that the index had seen positive gains during the […]

IFAs and fund managers are generally optimistic about the stock market’s prospects in 2008, research from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and Unbiased.co.uk has shown.
Blue chips were tipped as the sector most likely to outperform in 2008 by the largest proportion of fund managers. IFAs, in contrast opted for the resources sector. IFAs have […]

Nearly 8 out of 10 thieves see the Christmas period as the perfect opportunity for home theft, according to research from home insurance company Zurich.
The research also showed that thieves can make a lot of money from selling on stolen goods, with 84% of former thieves saying stolen Christmas goods are easy to pass on […]

Building societies attracted £2.3bn of savings inflows in November, almost three times the amount received in the same month last year, according to the Building Societies Association.
Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA, said: “In the last 3 months, building societies have received new deposits of roughly the same value as they received in the […]

Consumers continue to withdraw cash at a growing rate in the run up to Christmas, according to the latest figures released by UK ATM network, LINK. 
The new data covers daily cash withdrawals for the period up to 18 December 2007 from more than 64,000 LINK cash machines in the UK and points to a good […]

One in three over 55 year olds (36%) use their pensions to support their children and grandchildren, research from Birmingham Midshires has shown.
The research also showed that a further 12% of over 55 year olds dip into their savings and investments in order to contribute to the family household income. On average, 12% of the […]

Concerns about the credit crisis, inflation and oil prices will continue into 2008, but shouldn’t deter investors, according to stockbrokerage Edward Jones.
Consumers should meet with a financial adviser early next year to review their portfolio, Edward Jones has advised. Investors should aim for a diversified portfolio of quality holdings and need a plan to […]

Copenhagen-based online investment bank Saxo has released its ‘outrageous predictions’ as part of its 2008 outlook. 
The predictions are an annual attempt to predict ‘black swan’ sightings in the global markets, and this year present an ominous view. Black swan events are high impact, rare occurrences that are beyond the realm of normal expectations.
Among the forecasts […]