Be wary of the vaccine stock market boost

Stock-index futures were already on the rise after Democrat Joe Biden was projected the winner of last week’s presidential election over the weekend — all but eliminating one source of uncertainty. Then, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech early Monday reported what was...

Landlord dilemmas

Private rents in Britain’s cities have fallen by as much as 15% over the past year as tenants quit urban areas for a new life in the suburbs or the countryside, data shows. What has been described by some as an “exodus” from the cities sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic...

Capital Gains Tax reforms

The capital gains tax (CGT) system could be made simpler and fairer by reducing the annual exempt amount and raising rates to match income tax, according to a recent report from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). This comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak asked the...

UK stock market: The upside to a lack of confidence

There are plenty of reasons for investors to be fearful about buying cheap UK shares just now. After all, the outlook for the global economy remains very uncertain. And the domestic economy could face a particularly challenging period due to Brexit. However, low...

Second mortgage holidays

Homeowners whose finances have been affected by COVID-19 will be able to apply for mortgage payment holidays of up to six months, despite plans to end this type of financial support on 31 October. The move follows the announcement of a month-long lockdown in England...

What does the close US election mean for investors?

After a much closer contest than the polls had forecast, markets have been forced to align with a new reality and not the one they were probably expecting. The recent election did reveal one thing. It showed the Democratic “blue sweep” of America the pollsters had...