OneGuyFromBarlick

I agree Tiz. I wonder if donations explains why Bamford is a 'Lord'. What a rotten system.... (See this week's PE for a lot more examples of privilege and promotion after donations to the Tories)
See THIS for a BBC report of the Santander bank closures. 'Britain is open for business!'? Evidently not if you are an ordinary person on the High Street. Barlick has only one bank left now, Barclay's. I discount the van that Lloyd's park up at the Co-op three days a week. That will soon go as well.....

Perhaps Ian's wife, Sally, could talk Nationwide into opening a branch to replace the lost banks like they've done in some other towns after people have requested it. She's seems to be persuasive!

I doubt if even Sally's activist skills could do that Tiz. They have abandoned face to face contact......

Perhaps not quite the Banks out to get you but the end results are just the same. Personal Insolvencies are rising at a level not seen since 2010. Principally its all down to the loss of confidence in the Brexit. ie: people have no confidence in spending money they do not have and firms are reluctant to invest if there is no market for what they are making / selling. This is a downward spiral which ultimately is self correcting because there are no firms left to become insolvent. Under previous boom-bust cycles the next phase is upward just in time for the next general election. I think in this case we are starting a completely new game.

I've noticed that and agree with you P. All the negative indices are piling up and to me are a warning sign that a very nasty correction could be on the near horizon. I noted also a new advertising campaign by Sun Life pushing Equity Release mortgages despite the risks we have noted. They are offering a £100 Argos gift voucher as bait.
See THIS and THIS. All is not well in the airline business!

More has emerged about the RBS trouble of some years ago when their so-called Global Restructuring Group made a fortune from putting companies out of business when they were supposed to be helping them. Correspondence shows that a government department was involved. LINK

All three Tesco execs who were sacked for allegedly carrying out fraud have now had their cases thrown out and at least one of them is now suing Tesco for sacking him. Tesco was found guilty of fraud and had to pay a big fine. Who in the company is guilty if the three are innocent?

"More has emerged about the RBS trouble of some years ago when their so-called Global Restructuring Group made a fortune from putting companies out of business when they were supposed to be helping them."

Give Private Eye their due, they were onto it as soon as it became obvious what was happening.

I think that THIS BBC account of the way the 2008 crisis is still affecting income, particularly that of the 30 year olds belongs here. The report by the Resolution Foundation confirms what many of us suspected, that the depressed earnings triggered by the crisis still linger on in the system.
Also, see THIS BBC report of the troubles facing Nissan. Despite the 'deal' arrived at when they first made noises about cutting back production the outlook is poor and the contract for ther next X Trail model, essential to the plant, seems to be in jeopardy.

Stanley wrote: ↑03 Feb 2019, 07:13 that the depressed earnings triggered by the crisis still linger on in the system.

The root of the problem is that firms are not investing in new machinery / systems. There is only so much efficiency that you can gain by cracking the whip. Gradually we are falling behind most other countries in the 'efficiency' race consequently wages will continue to stagnate in areas that haven't modernised. The current trend is for people to move to areas where better paid work is available this leaves behind areas devoid of younger people which turns into wastelands with little hope of recovery. Do I need to say more?

No P. That's an accurate description of what has happened to towns like Barrow in Furness which, apart from the shipyard is a depressed town. Look also at the old pit villages, slightly different causes but the same effect and the basket case that Liverpool has become.
I see the Nissan cancellation of the new contract is now official. In effect this means that the writing is on the wall for the plant eventually, without new contracts it will die.

Stanley wrote: ↑04 Feb 2019, 05:03 and the basket case that Liverpool has become.

Having worked in the city for four years, I'm no fan of the place, but I think that's a bit harsh, and a maybe a few decades out of date.

Liverpool

Stanley wrote: ↑19 May 2013, 04:44 That sounds like a good weekend. Always liked Liverpool, even my long waits for the docks were full of incident.

This was in response to my post in another thread Where Have You Just Been on my report of one of our visits to Liverpool.

What makes you now have it as a "basket case" Stanley?

So -
I don't think it's a basket case, but I still don't like it.

SCG thinks it's a basket case but still likes it.

I think both positions are quite tenable.

Nowt as queer as folk.

Nothing queer about listening to a Labour Activist reporting on the plight of the people using the food banks and voluntary support services. I compare Liverpool the last time I saw it with the bustling port I knew in the 1960s. And yes, I have visited Albert Dock but a museum doesn't make a water front. The Mersey used to be full of shipping...... They are now a rarity if you discount the ferry.
I still like the place and the people......
Later.... See THIS for breaking news of a bad shock for crypto currency investors. The Canadian Exchange site for Bitcoins has had to apply for protection after their founder died suddenly and his laptop, believed to hold the location of the assets is encrypted so well it can't be accessed. The estimate for the locked assets is £105million. There must be a lot of investors asking searching questions.

As Mick was driving me to Airedale yesterday our conversation turned to the Quadriga affair and he was interested because one of his mates trades in Bit-coin and is a client of this firm. He's going to ask him what the position is......
Later.... See THIS BBC account of the latest moves to shore up Interserve. The outsourcing model is in trouble and one has to question whether imaginative accounting is the answer. Their shares are currently trading at 13p, down from 100p a year ago.....

See THIS BBC report of a proposal by Amber Rudd to beef up penalties for company bosses who play fast and loose with the firm's pension fund. About time too! I am all in favour of this move.

See THIS for a report about Flybmi which has gone into administration. Another brick in the wall.......

The banks appear to be doing very nicely thank you out of the growing confusion over economic prospects and Brexit......

I'm glad the Competition and Markets Authority is saying it might block the Asda-Sainsbury's merger. I hope it does. We should be breaking them up, not making them bigger.

People forget that Asda is now Walmart and they have a very bad reputation in the US for exploiting their almost monopoly position. Will they change style over here?

Shares in the Purple Bricks online estate agency have collapsed even further. It illustrates what's really happening in the housing market.

Which is what many have been predicting and of course it has dire consequences for the companies who have pushed the 'Lifetime Mortgage' Equity release schemes as their business model only works if property prices are rising steadily. Quite possible that on termination of the policy the inheritors could find that they are in negative equity. Then there is the link between the property market and the 'get rich quick' schemes that many pension pot release people are in. We always said these were both dodgy and who knows Tiz, us kitchen table experts could be proved correct. Lots to be said for steady as she goes financial management.
Incidentally I have just got my notice of increase in my annuity under the 3% interest scheme. It is almost double what it was 19 years ago. Compound interest is good stuff if it's on your side!

News that JUST a heavy trader in the pensions and life mortgage business are having a good year and increasing their share. This could mean very bad news later.
Halifax report that there were more first-time buyers last year than any year since 1995. This is due to the government subsidising them and is what is skewing the market at the moment and lining the pockets of the builders, see Persimmon etc....

The Times reported yesterday that housebuilder Persimmon could be stripped of its right to sell Help to Buy homes. This is City AM's follow up...
`Housing minister James Brokenshire 'concerned' over Persimmon's Help to Buy scheme, reports say' LINK
`Housing minister James Brokenshire has raised concerns that Persimmon is not operating correctly within the Help-to-Buy scheme, according to reports. Brokenshire is “increasingly concerned” over the behaviour of the UK’s second biggest housebuilder, raising issues over leasehold, build quality and accountability, a source told Reuters. “Leasehold, build quality, their leadership seemingly not getting they’re accountable to their customers, are all points that have been raised by (the minister) privately,” the source said. It follows a report in The Times which said Persimmon could be stripped of its right to sell Help to Buy homes. The housebuilder’s profit per house has almost tripled since the scheme was introduced, from £22,114 in 2012 to £60,219 last year.'