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Economic impact of the Japanese earthquake

4:34pm Thursday 24th March 2011

The tragic events of the Japanese earthquake will no doubt have traumatised us all. In much the same way as the Tsunami in Asia on the 26th December 2004 led to an immense impact, the seemingly heartless capitalistic world needed its answers.

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ISA Advice

4:15pm Thursday 17th March 2011

It's called an ISA season but I don’t know why, as we have all year to invest in our ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts). I assume, as we have a sell by date of the 5th April, most people have the ‘use it or lose it approach.’ But what are the key bits of ISA advice you need to consider before making that last minute investment?

With profits exodus

2:12pm Monday 14th March 2011

With profit bonds! Now there is the world's greatest enigma. Not only were they never a good idea, but it is now over ten years since they were really shown to never be a good idea. Yet, today there is over £330bn sitting in such arrangements, fermenting at the expense of the unaware investor.

Banks finally easing lending

8:32am Friday 25th February 2011

Do you believe that commercial banks are beginning to lend and do you think Project Merlin will force them to?

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Fix my mortgage at 2.14% or gamble

4:04pm Thursday 17th February 2011

Should I fix my mortgage or keep it at a standard variable rate?

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Barclays financial planning- Exit stage right

3:01pm Wednesday 2nd February 2011

It's not been a great start to 2011 for the banks in terms of fines for the advice they have given. Barclays were walloped £11m by the FSA but agreed to settle in advance for £7.7m for advice relating to two Aviva funds of the global balanced income fund as well as the Global Cautious Income Fund. £692m was invested across 12,331 people and the FSA has secured £60m in redress for customers. (1) Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest found themselves on the receiving end of a £2.8m fine for poor complaints handling. The banks' routine handling of complaints was under scrutiny. Of the files checked by the FSA, 53% showed deficient complaint handling and 62% showed a failure to comply with the FSA's requirements on timeliness and disclosure of Ombudsman referral rights. Amazingly, nearly 31% failed to demonstrate fair outcomes for customers. (2) Most people just get an overdraft for January, but to start the year with this sort of wallop is not good reading.

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Easiest way to invest

2:29pm Wednesday 26th January 2011

I have been advised to invest into a tracker fund but have also read about exchange traded funds (ETF) as they are cheaper. Is that wise?

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Money for nothing, but it can be for free

8:02am Monday 24th January 2011

I read a column recently explaining that if I used a direct broker for my investments that I was losing out as they were effectively charging me but not giving advice. Is this correct?

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£96m in savings lost in fake stocks and shares

10:18am Wednesday 15th December 2010

I have been contacted by a financial adviser who wants to sell me some shares which apparently are' under the radar of the stock market' and are 'set to fly'. Do you have any thoughts? I can let you know the name of the two shares they have said are well worth it.

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Reading the market more complicated

2:22pm Thursday 9th December 2010

It used to be really easy to understand the markets. You could read sentiment and marry that with reasonable economic data but today it’s a great big bun fight that makes it suitably complicated for some.

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