Worldwide Financial Planning

Philip Hammond seems to have got pretty good press from his latest budget, which is remarkable given how little substance it contained.

Perhaps the bar is now so low that as long as the plans don't blow up mid-afternoon or cause an immediate recession then the country will be happy enough?

When the BOE changes rates, there isn’t necessarily always a direct reaction upwards or downwards in mortgage costs from lenders, although we have seen future fixed rates creep up over the last few months.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund has announced it will sell out of oil and gas investments, subject to approval by the government and parliament.

The justify this on diversification grounds, pointing out quite rightly that the country is already highly exposed to oil as a producer. However, that was true last year, so observers are asking what has changed.

The data coming through on Trump’s first year can easily be used to create optimism that even his harshest critics wouldn’t observe, which in turn may start to play into reality. Even if you don’t like him, nobody wants to be left on the sidelines in a soaring market.

UK house prices are rising at their fastest since January, according to Halifax, but the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors suggests they are flat, with sales falling.

So what are bitcoins? Firstly, they are a payment system … for paying for things. Nothing smart about that, but one of their goals is to be sure they are decentralized ie they don’t have to use a central bank.