BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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This is a definite case of beware the banks!...
The last bank in the Isles of Scilly, Lloyds, is closing its last branch. It's had the cheek to send a letter to its customers there saying they can still carry out face to face transactions at its Penzance bank 44 miles away. The head office staff must have no idea about travel to and from the Isles. A return ticket from St Mary's to Penzance Harbour is over £100, the Scillonian sails once a day and on most days doesn't arrive until 19.15, long after the bank has closed so the customer would have to stay overnight in Penzance. On most days the return trip leaves too early in the morning for a person to get to the bank before it opens so that means a second overnight stay is needed. As if that isn't bad enough the the ferry is sometimes fully booked in advance. A hotel owner on the Isles points out that he had a fraud on his business account last week and had to visit the local branch immediately to get it sorted - once the branch closes it would have been too late to stop the fraud. Of course there is the Skybus flight but that goes to Lands End, Exeter and Newquay and is even more expensive.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

That's surreal Peter. It makes you wonder how the Lloyds head office assesses the cost of the reputational damage of shutting that last bank. Surely it must be greater than the annual cost of maintaining the branch?
Why don't the banks get together and cooperate to have banking 'hubs' on high streets where more than one bank can have a presence? They would get the best of both worlds, contact with customers and no reputational loss. God knows they are making enough money!
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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The Bank of England have raised their interest rates to 1%. On the face of it this means very little to savers who get next to nothing on their meagre savings. The big losers are the people with mortgages who may see their Standard Variable Rate mortgage pay £30 per month more on a £150,00 loan. This rise is intended to stem inflation by taking money out of the pockets of those who may have little left in the first place theredby reducing demand through more austerity. The whole logic seems at odds with trying to increase the economy by getting people to spend more money and even stranger when the current inflation crisis is said to be down to global events that the government says it can do nothing about.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

You're right Ken and of course the rise in mortgage rate isn't a simple following of the BofE rate, it varies between providers. We are caught in the dreadful trap of stagflation and the government is in the shit whatever it does!
See this LINK.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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The chap in front of me at Sainsburys last night paid by holding his wrist watch, still attached to his wrist, over the scanner. Very cool.

My card was declined with the unhelpful terse message 'please use another card'. "How do they know I have another card " I cried?

I suspect that the fact the card I used is from Tesco may have something to do with it all. :smile:
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

You've reminded me of the time I was with my friend Roger Paas at the checkout of a big hardware store in the States. All his cards were refused so I had to pay. Turned out his wife was arranging her mother's funeral in Alabama and had maxxed the cards out!
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

See THIS BBC report on the widespread collapse of crypto currencies. These have been touted as a safe and stable alternative to normal currencies but this is not the case and investors brushing to get out has forced the catastrophic drop in values world-wide.
(I wonder what this did to energy consumption to drive the block chain operations needed to handle these trades?)
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by plaques »

Measuring the rate of inflation can become one of those statistics which can easily be abused to give a false impression depending on how gullible the writer thinks his audience is. The two common methods are..
1) To take the rate from some fixed base at some the in the past.
2) To take it as a year on year moving target.
The chart below shows the fixed base measurement at a time point in 2015 when inflation was zero. All measurements are taken against this point. Should inflation climb to 10% in June this year then that would be the total from the base level.

.
Inflation 2 .jpg
.

If we chose to use the year on year measurement the number will be reduced by the increase up to June last year ie: 2.5% making the apparent rate 7.5 % instead of 10%. The further along the time scale you go then the bigger the reduction. Its a common ploy by politicians to use year on year measurements to prove the inflation is going down while in fact it is still rising.

Don't fall for this con trick which will be trotted out ad nauseam by the Buffoon and his team
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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Don't worry Tory MP's are on the case - helpfully suggesting that poor people buy 'own brand' rather than more expensive stuff. Now I see that Aldi four packs of Corale baked beans (which are as good as any other) have gone up form 99p to £1.09. That's about 10% so in line with the expected rate of inflation.

But you'll help to save the planet. . .

Aldi is removing plastic shrink wrap from its multipacks of its Corale baked beans in a bid to further reduce plastic waste.
The move will save 78 tonnes of single-use plastic from going to landfill each year, while still offering shoppers a multipack discount when they buy four tins.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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I also noted this..... "A Tory minister has been labelled “out of touch” for suggesting people who are struggling with the cost of living crisis should simply work more hours or get a better job. Safeguarding minister Rachel MacLean said more “help is coming” after making the claim on the morning media rounds. But her comments have been criticised with both Labour and trade union bosses describing the view as “out of touch”.
If you need more, see THIS for nine examples of recent car crash interviews by Tory MPs on the subject of inflation and how to survive it.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by PanBiker »

How do you work more hours if you are stuck on a zero hours contract?
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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PanBiker wrote: 18 May 2022, 09:49 How do you work more hours if you are stuck on a zero hours contract?
And most jobs are not paying much more than Min Wage now, while still needing an armful of paper qualifications.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I would say with difficulty Ian. Another class of people I think of when lower thresholds for NI or tax cuts are mentioned is that this automatically excludes anyone without work from the relief.
Image result for Resolution foundation
Torsten Bell is the Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation. He is continually repeating that the best way to give relief to those who need it most is through the Benefits System but Sunak continually avoids any mention of that.
I saw something yesterday which triggered one of my old bugbear subjects. I know that you all get fed up with Peter and me droning on about the dangers of Equity Release and the drawing of capital from pension pots. This is good for the GDP as it injects money into the system, that's why the regulation of the market is soft touch. But both are incredibly expensive for the borrower and in the case of Equity Release could result in a nasty shock for your heirs if the property market slumps in what some see as an inevitable recession. As prices rise the amount drawn in order for families to survive will rise. The modern equivalent of selling the family silver....
PS. Have you noted what is happening in the stock markets? See THIS BBC report.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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See THIS Reuters report on Elon Musk and Tesla. CEO Elon Musk has a "super bad feeling" about the economy and needs to cut about 10% of salaried staff at the electric carmaker, he said in emails seen by Reuters. A message sent to executives on Thursday laid out his concerns and told them to "pause all hiring worldwide." The dire outlook came two days after the billionaire told staff to return to the workplace or leave and adds to a growing chorus of warnings from business leaders about the risks of recession.
Are storm clouds gathering?
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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But according to most other news reports the US economy and stock market are booming and other business leaders say Musk is trying to make people believe it's going the other way because it disguises his wish to divest a lot of his stock to swell his Facebook war chest.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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Who knows Peter? He wouldn't tell us anyway unless there was something in it for him I suppose....
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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See THIS Financial Times report that Wall Street is officially a Bear market. Dark clouds are gathering on the horizon and this is the latest of them. Tin hats on lads.....
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

Keep your eye on the US. We are already being warned that the weakness of Sterling is affecting holiday spending as the Pound tumbles against the Dollar and yesterday the US Fed put the rate up by .75%, the biggest rise since the 90s. This will strengthen the US Dollar but in turn, weaken the Pound Sterling. Notice the absence of Sunak telling us we have the strongest currency and growth in the G7. Like all lies, this one has caught up with him and it is becoming clear how badly we are doing. This at a time when the same economists are debating whether we are in a depression or not. The answer to that is going to become painfully clear..... especially to mortgage holders.....
Later.... The BofE is widely expected to jack up its rate by .5% today.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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See THIS report on the interest rate rise yesterday. This directly affects mortgages but eventually everything else, Inflation is forecast to reach 12% and food prices even higher at 15%. There is no light on the economic horizon at all. Tin hats on......
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THIS Reuter's report makes interesting reading. It suggests that relations between Sunak and Bailey at the BofE are hardening as the realities of inflation bite at the Treasury.
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"When the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.... "
That's what most economists believe. Digest that and then look at THIS opinion that basically says the US is already in recession and further rate changes by the Fed won't arrest its progress.
So what does that mean for Mr Sunak's 'robust' economy? He's been very quiet lately.....
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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See THIS BBC article: 'Why is the UK economy suffering more than other countries?' It is based on what Andrew Bailey said: On Wednesday, Mr Bailey told a European Central Bank forum that "the UK economy is probably weakening rather earlier and somewhat more than others". He said: "I think that's been somewhat evident now for a few months."
Johnson may be looking for threats to his government from inside Parliament and even inside his own Party but it's worth remembering "Events dear boy". In the end the fate of the economy will decide what happens and at the moment it's looking particularly dodgy, largely due to two things, both of them down to the Tories.... Brexit and a failed Austerity policy both brought in by Cameron and Osborne. (Funny how they sank without trace.....)
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by plaques »

Is Mr Bailey trying to muddy the waters? Obfuscation would be a better adjective. The main line seems to be that the UK is seeing an inflationary spike later than the European countries because we capped the initial rise in energy. But our inflation rate has always been higher than Europe even with this capping delay. In effect the continent have reached their peek barring further Russian action which incidentally will affect the UK if this is so there must be other factors for trailing behind. Don't mention Brexit. Subsequently we can now expect even higher and more long lasting inflation. This of course will drive the £ Sterling down against the dollar, oil is priced in dollars, and against the Euro, our biggest importer source adding more inflation. Strangely, the other main European countries have compensated for the affect of inflation by increasing wages. No mention of a wage / inflation spiral. Investment in infrastructure and new machinery is at low which suggests we going through the phase of making labour cheaper through lower wages to compensate for our lack of action. If the UK is to lead the field in innovation and exports this is the wrong way to go about it.
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Post by Stanley »

"If the UK is to lead the field in innovation and exports this is the wrong way to go about it."
Exactly right Ken, the same mistakes being made over and over again right back to the aftermath of the Great War 1914-19. The classic Tory way, keep wages low and keep the workers sweet by running a cheap food policy, that was the the formula under 'Empire Preference' but unfortunately that can't work any more. The Tories have embraced the global economy as that way they can 'attract inwards investment' (AKA sell the family silver) and this means that regardless of what people like that nice Mr Eustise say or do global food and energy prices do affect us. In other words, by choosing to walk away from responsibility for the commanding heights of the economy we lose control and that's what we are looking at now, a government that has lost control, even of its ethics.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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It's case of `anything goes' now - after all, prime ministers and presidents are forever lying!...
`Wirecard forged client details to secure €900mn investment from SoftBank: Collapsed German payments group fabricated data to reassure Japanese investor' LINK
Wirecard forged client data and lied about internal records to secure a €900mn investment from SoftBank that was seen as a vote of confidence in the German payments group after the Financial Times started to raise questions about its business in 2019. Details of the deception, which is central to Munich prosecutors’ criminal case against former chief executive Markus Braun, show the lengths Wirecard went to in order to secure investment from the Japanese investment conglomerate.

At first sight this trouble seems to be simply the banks messing up. But then you find that the people affected are having their Covid-19 tracing app turn red despite their not having been in contact with any Covid cases..
`Henan: Violent clashes after hundreds show up for China bank protest' LINK
`Hundreds of people in China's Henan province attended a banking protest on Sunday which turned violent after a clash with a group of unidentified men. Protesters said the banks had frozen their deposits because of supposed upgrades to their internal systems, but had not been in communication since. Some 39bn yuan ($5.8bn; £4.9bn) is believed to have been frozen, leaving hundreds of thousands affected.'...
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