Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Britain is booming

Tell me if this article is talking about you.....

From the Daily Express...

BRITAIN’S economy bounced back spectacularly yesterday with shares soaring and the pound on a 10-month high against the dollar. And as banks reported huge profits even the beleaguered manufacturing industry was rallying.

There was also good news in the housing market as a new report suggested prices in the UK will soar by as much as 20 per cent by 2014. On the same day that two banks, Barclays and HSBC, announced joint profits of nearly £6billion, the jump in the value of sterling sparked renewed optimism in the City.

The FTSE surged through the 4,700 barrier before closing at 4,682 – a massive turnaround since March when it was just above 3,500 points. At the same time Barclays revealed it was lending more money than expected to businesses and individuals this year, having advanced £17billion in the first six months against a target of £11billion for all 2009.

9 comments:

  1. Britain isn't booming, it's just doing less badly than the States where the reality of Obama's spending spree is beginning to hit home. The markets have cottoned on to the fact that you can't just borrow trillions of dollars and hope for the best. Hence the dollar is tanking. All currency movements are about relative performance, not absolute. A currency can only rise or fall relative to another.

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  2. The Express is a spoof paper, isn't it?

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  3. I feel fine and think your blog is relentlessly gloomy; more a reflection of the state of your mind than the state of the economy!

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  4. Anonymong has been given a Mogadon and is now resting.

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  5. I would have to agree: the UK is doing rather well thank you. I remember the last big recession, and I toured around the US recently and in its last big recession. The UK does not look like it is in recession. In London, the shops and restaurants hum as usual. I have plenty of money in the bank, no debts and my friends are in the same situation. A minority is getting a royal flush but then they should, those greedy, profligate little drunks.

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  6. I really, really don't understand what's happening to the housing market.

    Are people oblivious to the fact that in 2 years we will have double digit interest rates?

    Are all the buyers immune from unemployment?

    Which first time buyers can afford the 30% deposits and the 4% above base interest rates?

    My estate agent friends tell me things are definitely looking up and it's not buy to let.

    So what's going on?

    And while I'm at it, why is a resurgence of the housing bubble a good thing?

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  7. The housing uptick is on very low volume. Don't forget that.

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