Trying to stifle the inflationary musings of BernankeSerious Money : The new chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, certainly has a way with wordsFri Jun 09 2006 - 01:00
Manufacturing at risk from oil supply shockLondon Briefing: Two utterly conflicting pieces of news caught the eye at the beginning of the weekWed Jun 07 2006 - 01:00
High dividends cast doubt on Vodafone growthSerious Money: One of the first companies tackled by Serious Money was VodafoneFri Jun 02 2006 - 01:00
Flight to cash comes with its own investment risksSerious Money: Many investors rightly argue that one of the most dangerous asset allocation decisions is to up the proportion…Fri May 26 2006 - 01:00
Are you a 'dolphin' or a 'pussy cat' investor?Serious Money: 'The bull market is over" screams the headlineFri May 19 2006 - 01:00
Pessimistic forecasters flummoxed by resilience of economyLondon Briefing: The last time the Bank of England sanctioned a change in interest rates was back in August, when the key repo…Wed May 10 2006 - 01:00
Analysts pretty close to saying 'we don't know'Serious Money: We are used to the idea that for markets to exist there must be at least two completely opposing views as to …Fri Apr 28 2006 - 01:00
Brown's public sector policy redolent of Soviet-era socialismLondon Briefing: "Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative…Wed Apr 26 2006 - 01:00
Rising bond yields a risk to property bubbleSerious Money : If one of the most important determinants of all asset prices is, and always has been, the humble bond yield…Fri Apr 21 2006 - 01:00
British media flies into a fit of rage over Tony Blair's mounting travelling costsLondon Briefing: There are few less edifying sights than the British media going through one of its periodic puritanical fits…Wed Apr 19 2006 - 01:00
Exchange rates present unavoidable risksSerious Money: Sooner or later, any investor has to confront the vexed issue of exchange ratesFri Apr 14 2006 - 01:00
Good ideas will always command a premiumSerious Money: The writing of investment newsletters is an ancient art, but one that has largely disappeared from the European…Fri Mar 31 2006 - 01:00
Equities still represent a solid investmentSerious Money: Old codgers like me invariably end up believing that there is nothing new under the sun - at least in financial…Fri Mar 17 2006 - 00:00
British takeover trend benefits shareholdersSerious Money: Outbreaks of sanity in British boardrooms have come as a welcome surprise to investors who have grown weary of…Fri Mar 10 2006 - 00:00
Customer choice key to British education reformLondon Briefing: Many backbench Labour MPs are planning to ambush Tony Blair's forthcoming (and seemingly umpteenth) reform…Wed Mar 08 2006 - 00:00
If you believe in the future, stick with stocksSerious Money: After a three-year bull market equities still remain undervalued and the implications of this for investors are…Fri Mar 03 2006 - 00:00
Picking on SUVs ignores the price of the low-cost elephant in the skyLondon Briefing: The energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, is taking aim at drivers, particularly those who roam around UK cities …Wed Mar 01 2006 - 00:00
Housing market comes back to lifeLondon Briefing: It's official: the UK housing market has picked upWed Feb 22 2006 - 00:00
Hedging bets the best approach on currency marketsSerious Money: Sticking to euro-based rather than diversified investment portfolio will protect investors from vagaries of global…Fri Feb 17 2006 - 00:00
Business imitating sport when it comes to winningLondon Briefing: Can cultural differences explain why economies differ? If so, how can those cultural gaps be measured and assessed…Wed Feb 15 2006 - 00:00
Wobbly market offers opportunity to buySerious Money: When words fail me, it is easy and comforting to reach for a well-worn clichéFri Feb 10 2006 - 00:00
Uncertainty surrounds Vodafone's cashflowSerious Money : One of the very first companies to be analysed in this column was Vodafone: thanks to certain, er, legacy effects…Fri Feb 03 2006 - 00:00
Subtle change to wean workers off welfare benefitsLondon Briefing: Many economists of my generation have long given up on their chosen discipline: economics can be as fascinating…Wed Feb 01 2006 - 00:00
Iranian stand-off may not affect of equitiesSerious Money : Oil price could surge again, but investors should use short-term weakness as a buying opportunity.Fri Jan 27 2006 - 00:00
Internet telephony putting screws on telcosSerious Money: Many investors will be hoping that one way in which 2006 does not end up as a repeat of 2005 will be the performance…Fri Jan 20 2006 - 00:00
Innovation keeps tech stocks buoyantSerious Money : Equity markets had a flying start to the year: stocks had a proper "January effect" during the first week of…Fri Jan 13 2006 - 00:00
Tory Cameron tries to out-Blair Tony in effort to woo centrist votersLondon Briefing: Somebody in Conservative Central Office has clearly decided that the only way the Tories can win the next general…Wed Jan 11 2006 - 00:00
Low bond yields do not portend recessionSerious Money: Of the many cliches that are used when describing financial markets, none is older than the one that suggests…Fri Jan 06 2006 - 00:00
Small shopkeepers now endangered as big boys apply competitive pressureLondon Briefing: Napoleon disliked the British for many reasons, not least because they were, according to the great general…Wed Jan 04 2006 - 00:00
European budget debacle shows up Blair's poor negotiating skills - againLondon Briefing: Tony Blair's European budget capitulation has, predictably, gone down very badly at homeWed Dec 21 2005 - 00:00
Public transport solves London's traffic problemsLondon Briefing: London City Airport has come a long way since it was first proposed by the London Docklands Development Corporation…Wed Dec 14 2005 - 00:00
Visibility improves at end of the drug pipelineSerious Money: Visibility is one of those words bandied about by investors that can mean different things to different people…Fri Dec 09 2005 - 00:00
Telephony converging on net for 'triple play'London Briefing: Most people will, by now, be aware that free telephony is available via broadband internetWed Dec 07 2005 - 00:00
Asian equities still smart bet for investorsSerious Money: We have almost grown used to China's astounding growth in recent yearsFri Dec 02 2005 - 00:00
Free internet services to disrupt MicrosoftSerious Money: Regular readers of technology pages will be familiar with Web 2.0Fri Nov 25 2005 - 00:00
Keeping a weather eye on oil pricesSerious Money: Markets, according to the textbooks, are supposed to be driven by a wide range of complex factors, most of which…Fri Nov 18 2005 - 00:00
Telco merger hype carries echoes of bubble daysLondon Briefing: The decision by Telefónica of Spain to buy a relatively small-scale British mobile phone operator, O2, provides…Wed Nov 02 2005 - 00:00
Analyst data has passed point of no returnSerious Money: The world's largest fund manager made headlines the other day when it announced an experiment that chilled the…Fri Oct 28 2005 - 01:00
Brown's pension deal with unions leaves private sector holding the billLondon Briefing: New Labour's ability to mess things up has been apparent to many of us for quite some timeWed Oct 26 2005 - 01:00
Winter headwinds set to batter retail stocksSerious Money: According to most reports, the English-speaking consumer is doomedFri Oct 21 2005 - 01:00
Europe ignores Brown's proposals at its own perilLondon Briefing: Gordon Brown, the British chancellor of the exchequer, is not a popular figure in European corridors of power…Wed Oct 19 2005 - 01:00
Working longer will remedy pension deficitLondon Briefing: The idea that many countries are facing a demographic "time bomb" has become familiar.Wed Oct 12 2005 - 01:00
Executives prove best insider dealersSerious Money: There is a cottage industry in tracking activity of directors/managers who buy or sell company stockFri Sept 30 2005 - 01:00
Ahern's support for Cap fuels British cynicism about EuropeLondon Briefing: Readers of the London-based Financial Times were surprised to open a recent edition to find Bertie Ahern extolling…Wed Sept 28 2005 - 01:00
Energy and commodities a good betSerious Money: Like many other European stock market indices, the UK FTSE 100 and the FTSE All-Share currently stand at four…Fri Sept 23 2005 - 01:00
Politicians are unable to stop process of globalisation in brave new worldLondon Briefing: When Margaret Thatcher began restructuring the UK economy in the early 1980s she did so without having asked…Wed Sept 21 2005 - 01:00
Oil price will be a key factor after Hurricane KatrinaSerious Money: That the economic and financial consequences of Hurricane Katrina will be enormous is now widely acceptedFri Sept 09 2005 - 01:00
Mandelson going native will not play well at homeLondon Briefing: It's not easy to feel sorry for Peter Mandelson, one of New Labour's least attractive foundersWed Sept 07 2005 - 01:00
Speculation has inflated bubbles in Irish property and oil marketsSerious Money: What are the similarities between the Irish property market and oil prices? Both assets have risen further and…Fri Sept 02 2005 - 01:00
Contrarians turn away from dividends and buybacksSerious Money: The next popular counterintuitive investment could be companies focusing on capital spending.Fri Aug 26 2005 - 01:00