The Bank of England has cut UK growth forecasts.

[mattinvestor]

...and it's not just in the UK either as we all know - we just have to hope NZ stays quaint and it doesn't get out of hand here....we have enough to contend with - our retailers being ripped off by offshore suppliers - remember the Adidas All Blacks shirt saga.

cheers,

Donna

.....I can't but feel we're in for some pretty nasty news as soon as the Olympics is off the radar. It's got to be UK and Europe's last party aye.

Donna, maybe you're right.. I wonder if the Olympics are just a temporary distraction from what's to come

[Ahar]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...owth-forecasts

The finance markets in the UK are a mess. "Mis-selling" (I'd call it fraud) of Personal Protection Insurance (for mortgages, credit cards and life insurances) - .......................

No wonder this society is very high consumer protection section. They need it. The average Joe Blow doesn't stand a chance against the endemic corporate theft and corruption.

Funny you should mention this....I've been reading a book which exposes some of the dirty tricks foistered on the unsuspecting by the financial system

If you want a good read go to the library and get ..... "MaxedOut" by James D Scurlock.

Now, I've just got my credit card statement and have my own version of the credit card folk pulling a swifty

Confirmed their nasty little trick this morning when I phone and asked for clarification .... "why was I being charged interest on a cash withdrawal when I didn't withdraw any cash this past month AND I paid the previous month's bill in full" As far as I was concerned there should be no interest charges!

As I suspected it harked back to a cash withdrawal in May....was overseas at the time

So how the system works is.......

• you make a cash withdrawal
• you recieve your statement which is dated on say the 4th of the month
• you have to the 18th to pay.....which is paid in full, i.e. the total as per the statement
• BUT if the card is used between the 5th and the 18th, the bank decides that the cash advance has NOT been paid off. In other words they move the cash withdrawal to the bottom of the list of amounts to be paid....so you didn't actually pay that bit off!
• Hence the following month you get charged more interest

BASTA*DS ....yeah I'm hopping mad....that was my 4cents

So to get around this you need to pay of the account in full, that is the total as is from the 18th

Actually swore at the chappie

He was quick to point out that this "anomally" will be corrected by the banking industry by years end

Looks like the Banking Ombudsperson has earned their keep

[donna]

...and it's not just in the UK either as we all know - we just have to hope NZ stays quaint and it doesn't get out of hand here....we have enough to contend with - our retailers being ripped off by offshore suppliers - remember the Adidas All Blacks shirt saga.

cheers,

Donna

.....I can't but feel we're in for some pretty nasty news as soon as the Olympics is off the radar. It's got to be UK and Europe's last party aye.

[essence]

Bank of England cuts UK growth forecast

Sir Mervyn King warns there is still some way to go before economy recovers as Bank predicts growth will flatline this year

8 August 2012 21.21 BST

The Bank of England's governor Sir Mervyn King hinted at further action to boost the ailing UK economy on Wednesday after the Bank slashed its 2012 growth forecast to zero and said inflation was under control.

King said there was no urgent need for fresh stimulus, but signalled more money creation through the Bank's quantitative easing (QE) programme in response to an economic performance that has "continually disappointed expectations of a recovery".

Against a backdrop of a worsening crisis in the eurozone and tighter lending conditions imposed by UK banks, the Bank's quarterly inflation report cut its growth forecast for 2012 from the 1.25% pencilled in three months ago and believes the bounce-back next year will be weaker than previously anticipated.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...owth-forecasts

The finance markets in the UK are a mess. "Mis-selling" (I'd call it fraud) of Personal Protection Insurance (for mortgages, credit cards and life insurances) - £bn's put aside to recompensate the public, NatWest and other banks stuffing up accounts and people not being paid for two-three weeks, RBS/HSBC et al involved with LIBOR (London InterBank Offered Rate) deception, Standard Chartered laundering £bn's for Iranian dictators (still to be prove - yeah right!)

Barclay's paid out ex-CEO Robert Diamond, £40m as a golden handshake when he "retired" yet the British Government can't find enough money to keep their military services fully manned. Pathetic.

No wonder this society is very high consumer protection section. They need it. The average Joe Blow doesn't stand a chance against the endemic corporate theft and corruption.