CockneyTrader

Gold to complete with Bitcoin. see Glint MasterCard

The government won't crash the market, but this will. Welcome to the world of the driverless car. Still not convinced, then google Tony Seba.

Please don't let this deter you from finding a great career with good money. If you don't, I assure you that it is something you will regret for the rest of your life. Trust me, please.

I know someone who's help to buy repayments are about to kick in at the 1.75% rate which equates to £60 per month. However, the main problem comes as many of the people who acquired this product are unable to pay off the capital, and therefore will only pay interest. The capital must be paid off when the mortgage ends or the house is sold. IMHO, HTB has only been of benefit to the builders.

Without IP there would be no private investment in technology. Take drugs, research and trials for a single drug will often run into hundreds of millions (yes hundreds). Investors will only put that money up for a future return. Typical patent life is twenty years, but remember that isn't twenty years from the point of marketing. Some drugs coming to market may only have a few years of patent life remaining. No IP, no progress.

You could take out an offset mortgage. Pay down large deposit, borrow a small about and offset the rest of the savings against mortgage and pay zero interest. The advantage is you can still get at your savings in an emergency as it is not all locked into the house. This is a good hedge against the unknown. Woolwich do a cheap offset.

On the 1st Jan 2010 everything (food, childrens clothes excluded) will increase by 2.2%. I will be keeping a close eye on price hikes. For example, a small coffee at Costa is currently £2, add VAT hike and it should be £2.044. I'm betting it will increase to £2.10, £2.15 or even £2.20. On the other end of the spectrum, a Porsche Cayman retails for £36479, add price hike and it should be £37281.538. I believe retailers will hike beyond 2.2%. The result on consumer confidence will be negative, people will just stop spending. What prices are you keeping an eye on?

Human psychology is hugely powerful – it really does drive markets. Greed drives the up, fear drives the down. Will the market (housing) return to normal? Look at the FACTS!!! Majority of UK banks (semi) nationalised! Credit only available to the few (40% deposit anyone!) Jobs still being lost at a rate of knots! What recovery plan? (Printing money!?) And when is pay back time, bailouts don’t grow on trees! Taxes will have to rise! Now please calm down, I suggest that this spring bounce is really just that (a return to normal phase, better known as a 'bull trap'). House prices still have a way to fall.

Just a list of dates which could prove interesting! 19th Feb Full year results Barclays 27th Feb Full year results HBOS 28th Feb Full year results RBS 3rd Mar Full year results HSBC 12th Mar Darling's 1st budget