DAILY MAIL
Nest eggs lose hundreds in value over ten years as interest rates hit rock bottom
By Becky Barrow
Savers’ nest eggs have lost hundreds of pounds in value over the past five years because of rock bottom interest rates and the rising cost of living, a report has revealed.
The damning analysis looked at the impact of this toxic combination on a sum of £10,000.
Since 2007, the nest egg’s ‘spending power’ has dropped to just £9,248, a loss of £752, the study by finance information firm Moneyfacts found.
DAILY EXPRESS
More deals for first timers
By Esther Shaw
First-time buyers could find it easier to get on the property ladder as a raft of new deals are launched for those with small deposits.
New findings from Moneyfacts show there has been an increase in activity from lenders introducing mortgage deals at a higher loan-to-value (LTV).
SKY NEWS
Olympics Games Makers Get Jobs Chance
By Lulu Sinclair, Sky News Online
Thousands of games makers at this year's London 2012 Olympics are being invited to a jobs fair organised by Jobcentre Plus aimed at helping volunteers get a permanent job.
The event at Stratford Town Hall is the first in a number of events being put on for those who helped to make the Olympic and Paralympic Games such a success.
There are approximately 3,000 jobs available.
BBC.CO.UK
UK inflation rate eases in August, ONS says
The pace of price rises slowed in August compared with the previous month, official figures have shown.
The annual rate of inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), fell back to 2.5% in August from 2.6% in July, the Office of National Statistics said.
The fall was partly due to smaller rises in furniture and gas prices.
THE TELEGRAPH
Inflation change could deliver £3bn windfall
By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has unveiled plans to consult on whether the retail prices index (RPI) should be calculated in the same way as the consumer prices index (CPI) in a move that could have major implications for the £280bn inflation-linked government bond market.
Bringing the two measures of inflation into line would reduce RPI by 0.88 percentage points. According to official estimates, the change would lower government borrowing costs by almost £3bn next year and by up to £6bn in 2016 – helping the Chancellor to cut the bloated budget deficit.
THE SCOTSMAN
Chances raised for Bank of England to print money as inflation falls
By Scott Reid
The central bank is hopeful that the figure will ease below its 2 per cent target early in the new year, though a renewed rise in oil prices and higher commodity costs threaten to push prices up again.
Business leaders welcomed the latest dip in inflation while analysts said there was scope for further money printing in the coming months as policymakers attempt to kick-start the ailing economy.
THE INDEPENDENT
Osborne wants two-year freeze in state benefits
By Andrew Grice
George Osborne is pressing for state benefits to be frozen for two years as he struggles to find a further £10bn of cuts in the welfare budget.
The move provoked controversy yesterday amid warnings that such a policy would harm the most vulnerable. The Treasury argues that benefits, which increased by 5.2 per cent in April in line with inflation, have been rising faster than wages, reducing the incentive for the jobless to find work.
FINANCIAL TIMES
BP in talks to sell Texas City refinery
By Guy Chazan and Anousha Sakoui
BP has held talks to sell its Texas City refinery to Marathon Petroleum, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest stage of a big asset disposal plan to cover the costs of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
While it is unclear if a deal will be reached, one person familiar with the matter said BP and Marathon had been in talks for months. A sale could raise up to $2.5bn, a second person said.
THE SUN
Pressure point
By Steve Hawkes, Business Editor
The scale of the “cash for sales” bonus culture at Lloyds was laid bare last night — triggering calls for radical change at the bank.
Memos seen by Sun City show staff in branches can earn ten times the bonus points for convincing customers to take out paid-for current accounts.
THE GUARDIAN
Greek economy to shrink 25% by 2014
By Phillip Inman and Helena Smith
The ailing Greek economy is on the verge of a 1930s-style Great Depression, as the Athens government predicted a 25% fall in GDP by 2014, putting intense pressure on the EU to relax the terms on the country's €130bn (£105bn) bailout package
The finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, said a decline in tax revenues and spiralling unemployment will deepen the country's four-year recession, which critics of the EU's stance said could lead to a recession as long and deep as America's pre-war decline.
CITY A.M.
Regulator: I’ll shoot first, ask questions later later
By Tim Wallace
The City’s regulators will get much tougher next year, the incoming boss of the new Financial Conduct Authority warned yesterday, telling financial services firms he will take a “shoot first and ask questions later” approach to the role.
Banks could see products banned from sale even before regulators have decided whether they are safe or not, Martin Wheatley said, following up recent pledges to be a more “interventionist” leader.
DAILY MAIL
BAE to abandon EADS merger unless French and German governments loosen grip on company
By Rob Davies
BAE Systems will abandon the £30bn mega-merger with EADS unless the French and German governments loosen their grip on the European giant.
It is understood BAE will not put the bid to its shareholders unless the Franco-German stake in EADS is removed.
THE GUARDIAN
Mass slaughter of farm animals set to push food prices up 14%
By Rupert Neate and Josephone Moulds
The mass slaughter of millions of farm animals across the world is expected to push food prices to their highest ever levels.
As well as hitting consumers' pockets, the predicted 14% jump in food prices will also dash the Bank of England's hopes of pushing inflation down to 2% by next year.
Farmers across the world have begun a mass slaughter of their pig and cattle herds because they cannot afford the cost of feed, which has soared following the worst US drought in living memory, according to a report published on Wednesday.
HAPPENING TODAY...
The expectation is that the Bank of England’s rate setting Monetary Policy Committee will still go ahead with another round of Quantitative Easing - although it’s unlikely to be til November. QE 4 is likely to be for another £50 billion bringing the grand total to £425 billion. These minutes will show if anyone has joined Andrew Sentance and Spencer Dale in taking the stance against more QE.
Results from housebuilder Redrow are likely to be relatively strong but what everyone’s going to be talking about with the results is whether Steve Morgan, Wolverhampton Wanderers owner, and chairman and founder of Redrow will have his £562m takeover approach for the housebuilder accepted.
Today’s trading statement from ASOS will show whether it’s still outperforming the rest of the retail sector. In July it reported sales up 31% to £136.9m. Most people think it will with its US, Australian and Asian businesses showing very large growth, and the UK business still up.
4th Anniversary of the bailout of the U.S. financial system by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 proposed by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. It allowed th US treasury to spend up to £700bn buying up assets and giving the cash to the banks
