Total food sales plunged 4.1% in April, their largest monthly fall in almost two years. So because the weather was a little cool we purchased less food. Or is it more like because of inflation we are wasting less and eating simpler in an attempt to restrain the spiraling cost of living.

Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society has announced that its share of the mortgage market has reached a new record high. It now has a 15.1 per cent share of the mortgage market, up from 13 per cent, after seeing gross mortgage lending rise by 17 per cent in the year to April 4th 2013 to £21.5 billion.

"The International Monetary Fund called on Britain's government on Wednesday to do more to speed up slow economic recovery, hinting that the country might be able to afford to borrow more to fund investment". Meanwhile...Christine Lagarde jets back to Paris to be questioned over Tapie payout, you couldn't make it up! Maybe Christine is lining herself up for a job in the EU?

Barratt Homes already seeing the benefits of taxpayers money ... nice one George!

'In words that will underline his status as a monetary activist and fuel speculation that he will try to relaunch quantitative easing (QE) when he arrives in the UK, Mr Carney applauded Japan’s “bold policy experiment” to boost dramatically its own QE programme. He said: “Europe can draw lessons from Japan on the dangers of half measures... Europe remains in recession. Deep challenges persist in its financial system. Without sustained and significant reforms, a decade of stagnation threatens.”'

Posted by hpwatcher @ 09:19 AM 15 Comments

The latest poll of Morgan Stanley's top clients from across the world says it all … Just a quarter expect a return to trend growth. Some 57pc think there will be no escape from the "twilight" conditions afflicting the western world, and 20pc expect an full-blown global recession. That is a remarkably bearish set of views. Yet the same investors are overwhelmingly bullish on stocks and property. This schizophrenic exuberance seems entirely based on the assumption that QE and central bank largesse will keep the game going, flooding asset markets with liquidity. Indeed, 80pc think the ECB will cut rates again, and half think it will have to swallow its pride and join the QE club in the end.