On the 29th March 2008 the WWF are asking all of us to turn of all essential power for 1 hour, across the world.
This is to highlight several facts. I will be supporting it along with the rest of my Family.
I urge you to support it as well. WWF
There is a further news story here >>
Richard Smith
The Finance Zone 0845 226 9106
So this week the Bank of England produced it’s Inflation Report . It does not make for good reading, or does it.
It is clear that there are some mixed signals, with Fuel, Food and other Basics all rising above inflation, with Fuel increasing substantially year on year. Not a good sign as it affects all we purchase or use in some way. We are likely to see more increases in Council Tax which is not news for all us, especially if we see cuts in services at the same time.
I am not convinced that the Bank of England are really up to the job of managing a very complex set of economic circumstances and the new global economy, then again who would be. IMHO certainly not our Mr Darling, who seems to be lurching from indecision to undecidedness. (is that a word).
I have been saying for a while we need to proceed with caution in all that we do, in particular in relation to investments.
House prices are likely to flatten, something I have been saying for months, are they likely to fall, I do not think so. More a levelling out.
What is clear:-
The world has changed, todays news is that the FTSE 100 has been supported because of, wait for it….. because the South African Electricity producer has explained it is unlikely to meet full demand for power later on on this year, and that means that some precious metals (Gold and Platinum) are likely to increase in price as production may fall. This caused some of the Mining Company shares to spike upwards and that meant the FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares had a better day.
The very thought of a Company share price increasing on speculation that they may have less of it to sell really ‘blew my mind’, but hey thats the world we are in.
What can you do:
Back to basics – manage debt (clear the most expensive first) make you have sufficient on short term cash deposits, just in case. Look at your existing plans, to make sure that they are cost effective, remortgage if appropriate. Ensure your Wills are up to date all the boring and oft ignored. Review – Amend – Change and make that forward plan.
Richard Smith
The Finance Zone 0845 227 9106 >>
