The Whitbread Share Price
Many realise that Costa Coffee is a subsidiary of Whitbread plc.
But do they realise that this Costa has nothing to do with the cruise line of the same name?
As the Whitbread share price doesn’t seem too strong, this may not be the case.
Good Riddance
I only came across the Occupy Movement’s camp outside St. Paul’s once. I was walking from the Millennium Bridge to Smithfield and to say it was an obstruction to an unsteady pensioner would be an understatement.
They may have some points about tax and power in the City, but most are just the descendants of the Hippy movement of the 1960s and just want to do what they want to do and stuff the rest of us.
There was a distinct and strong smell of tobacco and I think cannabis smoke as I passed. My son died of a disease related to that sort of heavy smoking. It wasn’t pleasant for him. Or his family!
So I’m rather pleased they have been cleared from the steps of St. Paul’s. I’m just a bit worried about where they pop-up next!
How To Create Jobs in Hong Kong
It would appear according to this article, that the Prudential, which is Britain’s biggest insurer, might be moving its headquarters out of the EU, because of regulation.
Hong Kong would seem to be the likely recipient of the jobs, as the company does 45% of its business in Asia.
Is this really what those of the left and the Occupy Movement want? After all, I’d like to see what happened to an Occupy Hong Kong?
Actually, it doesn’t bother me, as I don’t work for the Pru and I insure with a mutual.
RBS
Surely, if we paid no bonuses at the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers, then these people would walk and we’d save their salary as well.
But would that also mean they’d be able to sue for constructive dismissal, as bonuses are expected?
Bureaucracy Isn’t All Bad or How to Get a UK Pension Forecast
I am 65 in a few months and I need to find out what my State Pension is going to be, so that I can plan my life accordingly.
As I live only a short walk from my local Jobcentre Plus and they helped me with my winter heating allowance, I decided they would be the first place to try.
They couldn’t help me directly, but they gave me a list of useful numbers and told me to ring the Pension Service on 0845 606 0265. This incidentally is free from BT, but expensive from a mobile.
After I got home, I rang the number and they told me that the simplest way was to ring another toll-free number, 0845 300 0168.
It took me about ten minutes before I gave them all the information they needed, like both out National Insurance numbers, C’s Date of Death and our Date of Marriage.
The guy at the other end said, I’d get the Pension Forecast through the post in about ten days.
It was all fairly painless! And there were no charges anywhere. Not even phone ones!
Lloyds Bank Bonuses and the Greek Bailout
The two main financial stories on the BBC this morning are that Lloyds Bank has taken back a lot of bonuses and that the Greek bailout is to be finalised.
I was just wondering if the bosses of Greek banks got any bonuses.
Early Repayment Rules for Student Loans
Traditionally, there has generally been a penalty for early repayment of loans, but some of the new ethical online loan companies, like Zopa use no penalty as a selling point. So do Wonka, who I wouldn’t normally describe as ethical. Even Nationwide charges an extra 30 days interest if you settle your loan early.
So for the student loan companies to charge would be going against what is now accepted as normal and back to the bad old past, where early repayment was a major part of a loan company’s profits.
As this seems to have been a Liberal Democrat idea, who are supposed to be forward thinking or at least not backward, you can read what you like into the proposal.
I don’t need to borrow money, but if I did, I would always do it from a reputable company, that had no penalty for early repayment.
Rangers in a Pickle
Glasgow Rangers went into administration yesterday and it looks more than your average mess, if you read this article on the BBC.
If you read the comments in the BBC article, they are blaming everybody.
I suppose that as it’s the HMRC that has caused the club to go into aministration, then the UK government will get the blame.
Is the Glasgow Premier League Going to Get Smaller?
It has been reported this afternoon that Glasgow Rangers may be going into Administration, so if they did, it would affectively leave Glasgow Celtic as the only major club in Glasgow.
So does this mean the end for Rangers?
The major creditor is reported to be HMRC, who lately have demanded their money.
But whatever happens they’ll get a ten-point deduction, just as Portsmouth will in England, who’ve also gone into administration.
It is also been reported that Celtic’s Chief Executive is not worried if Rangers folds. That in my view is not a very charitable altitude.
QE is Bad For Your Pensions
I don’t mean dear old Liz, as I think the longer she lives, the better it will be for the economy and my pension. But the link is the opposite with Quantitative Easing, which according to several commenators will mean that long-term annuity rates will fall. This article is from CityWire. Here’s an extract.
On the one hand there has been uproar from some experts about the impact on people’s pensions. This is because QE is used to buy back government bonds, or gilts, which reduces their yields and in turn lowers annuity rates, which are linked to gilts and which determine the amount of pension many people receive.
However, others argue that annuity rates were already dropping before QE begun; that while we are hostage to the broader economic backdrop which includes QE, the eurozone crisis is what really matters. ‘It’s the broader backdrop that is most relevant,’ said Tom McPhail of Hargreaves Lansdown.
It doesn’t look good does it. I suppose I could put in a stove that burned paper and just put my pension in it, a bit at a time. I would at least be warm.
On the other way, I’ve sort of created my own annuity using Zopa, where I put the money I got from selling C’s Boxster.
The Anonymous Widower 