London Stock Exchange Suspended
September 8, 2008
Trading was suspended this week after a technical problem prevented the trading system operating at The London Stock Exchange. 
The problem was “connectivity issues” a spokesman said, so traders were not able to connect to the LSE trading platform. Though the problem is being rectified as quickly as possible, no share trading has been done today with no orders at all.
The American based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was also halted temporarily on Monday.
Though both markets were suspended, connectivity was resumed again after a few hours in both cases.
However, the LSE market is still not fully functioning, trades can be entered and deleted, but no trades can actually be implemented. This has meant because no trades have been finalised the trade prices are not accurate.
Continuous trading is where the buy and sell orders match on the system and this automatically executes the trades. It won’t be until the system is fully up and running that prices will be restored.
Food Prices Soar
September 5, 2008
In the news today an index compiled by the BBC showed that supermarket prices in the UK have risen by 8.3 percent since January.
The biggest price increase seen was in the meat and fish sector which went up by 22.9 percent and fruit and vegetables also increased by a massive 14.7 percent. Verdict Research, a retail analyst found that some food items had risen in price by 50 percent, such as pre-packed croissants.
We have all been feeling the pinch recently and these figures have been published, showing that food products have risen in cost far, far above the official level of inflation.
The BRC, British Retail Consortium said that inflation of food prices was 10 percent, that’s more than twice the official stated figure by the Consumer Price Index of 4.4 percent. The BRC also said that fresh food items had increased was even higher by 11.9 percent. 
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept interest rates at 5 percent. Fears over the forthcoming recession in the UK economy has urged the MPC to cut interest rates, though this has not yet happened and is unlikely to in the immediate future.
The Pound Weakens
August 14, 2008
The pound has hit its lowest point in nearly two years, making fears worse of the pressing recession.
Having fallen further against the dollar it now stands at $1.8619 which is at a 22 month low.
It was Wednesday that the Bank of England gave its grave assessment of the UK’s economy and since then it has dropped sharply. 
With inflation steeply rising and the economies stunted growth it looks like British purses will be in trouble.
Though the dollar has been in real trouble against the pound and euro over the last few years it looks like the benefit of shopping abroad is no more. It is not after all just the UK that is in economic trouble, it is the fear of poor European growth that has aided the dollar in bouncing back from its troubles.
Though the American economy is still struggling with their own credit crisis, it does look like they are on their way back, if nothing else due to the deterioration of the rest of the World.
Last week saw the Euro at a six month low of €1.48, worsened by the Georgian military conflict.
So it not just the UK government that are struggling with its finances. The Bank of England said that it could be two years before we get out of the recession.
We should all brace ourselves for the gloom and look forward to better fiscal times!
Windfall Tax Considered by Government
August 1, 2008
In the news today it said that the government is considering implementing windfall tax. This comes after record increases in the cost of fuel. The revenue generated would be used to aid poorer families that are struggling to pay fuel bills.
The main energy companies targeted are BP, Shell and British Gas who have announced recently multi million pound profits. Richard Lambert of the CBI has said however that this could be bad for consumers. So, it rests on Alistair Darlings’ shoulders to weight up whether this will be positive for our flailing economy.
The problem is that the government does not want to discourage investment into our economy. Business Secretary John Hutton has said:
“We’ve got to have a fiscal and a regulatory climate that encourages all of that investment because, quite simply, it will go elsewhere if there’s not confidence in the UK market. But the chancellor has to make these calls - very difficult calls - and he has my full support in looking at all of these issues.”
Though ministers have to look at the full picture, it is difficult for consumers to feel anything but resent against these Global Conglomerates. From April to June, Shell announced a £4 billion profit, this is up by 4.6 percent on the same time last year. Centrica, the parent company for British Gas made over £900 million in the first half of the year.
Looking at the figures there was a 20 percent fall, but then the day after British Gas customers were given a 35 percent price increase. I could go on with figures from BP, but I think you get the idea…
Something must be done to prevent energy poverty, especially for when the winter kicks in. It is now in our government’s hands to decide what course of action to take and whether the windfall tax will be the best plan.