ProdigalGnome

Let's hope so. I sold all my investments in November, certain that the markets would crash along with the Euro troubles, and have "lost" a notional 10% or so since. I'm itching to invest again, but need to see more obvious value first.

It's not an original point but I'll make it again. A house price crash / dip / correction -- call it what you will depending on where you live -- is inevitable and has always been inevitable. When I was a kid, I recall house prices plummeting in the 1970s. I remember the bubble in the 1980s, and the crash that stretched well into the 90s. Then another bubble, to be followed, just like night follows day, by a crash. Here is a rock-solid prediction for you that I 100% guarantee will come true -- there will, at some point in the future, once the economic mess is finally mopped up, be another boom/bubble in house prices beyond the rise in wages. This will be followed by a crash in house prices. Many people (including plenty of the holier-than-thou types posting on here, I suspect ) will make a packet out of the next property boom. And many people will find themselves priced out, or in negative equity. You see, anyone one can do it. And we can all be right. There -- aren't we clever? Er, no. Because the cleverness comes from not from stating the bleedin' obvious, but stating when it will happen. It must have been early 2005 when I started checking this forum, and the crash that would reduce us to living off baked beans in some garden shed was being forecast to begin the next day, each and every day, even back then. The reality is that something approaching the predicted financial meltdown didn't start until the run on Northern Rock which was when? Late 2007? And even now, in 2011, 6 years after those days in early 2005 when I started reading HPC, the crash is pretty patchy. I've just sold my own house for just about the price it was valued at in early 2007 (10K less) . OK, so with inflation, that represents a real fall, but I'm not losing any sleep over it. What it isn't, is a crash. Granted, many people will have benefitted from reading this forum, and not buying at the wrong time. But equally, many people wlil have lost out. A sensible house purchase in 2005 in most places, would still look like a good idea now, especially with 6 years of mortgage paid off, instead of 6 years of rent having gone into paying off someone else's mortgage. Where prices have truly plummeted, have been in the areas and property types that many of us did predict -- city-centre new-builds, and naive property newcomers in Northern Ireland and Scotland. But I'm going off the point a bit. If the best the old-timers can come up with is that "we predicted that a crash would happen sometime", then I would respectfully retort -- "Big f*cking deal, chaps". Anyone can predict that. Attach your obvious predictions to a timeline, and let's see the colour of your money. And to bring everything back on-topic, I agree totally that the Tory policy is in major trouble. We always knew this would happen if we waited long enough -- didn't we?

It's selectively right, but mainly wrong. Which was my point.

"The forum" predicts disaster of every kind, every day, and has done for at least the 6 or so years I've been dipping into it. The law of averages says that just occasionally, some people must sometime guess right. The huge majority of HPC posters, of all political colours, are wrong most of the time. The site attracts speculative bullshitters and misanthropic drones. If you filter out the mass of inaccurate crap, you can fool yourself into thinking that "the forum" is some sort of misunderstood oracle.

Sorry tallguy, but I still think he's a bit of a c**t.

Hurrah! Brothers in arms. Nice to meet you.

The answer is no, though I did find myself queuing up in the canteen behind Jeremy Clarkson one lunchtime. What's this thing about meeting my partner all about??.

Sorry, NWS2 - what's your point? Come on. Be daring. Jump in and say something.

Indeed, and the "people that fund it" are the licence-payers, and I genuinely believe that is where this media outlet is most sympathetic. You say -- The "news" tends to be selective however" Um, yes, all news is selective. Every single news organisation has to select and prioritise news for broadcast or publication. The question is, how does the BBC fare compared with Sky, Fox News, ITV, Daily Mail, Guardian, Telegraph, and so on? My answer to that is "pretty good". Other people have different views. MrPin -- what is your view? Be a bit more strident, please.

But you are just stating "this is a non-story" as though you are the bloody King and that everything you say is the law. Byron -- let me put you straight on something. You are not the King, and people are allowed to disagree with you. I am not the King either, and people are most definitely encouraged to disagree with me. So. So please don't just pronounce that "Coulson is a non story," Coulson is a BIG story. We have a guy who has been the Prime Minister's Chief Spin Doctor, resigning from his post. He resigns because he was in charge of a newspaper which is embroiled in a scandal that you know all about. This scandal occurred while he was in charge. The suggestion -- the VERY SUGGESTION -- that he was a party to the phone tapping scandal makes him an utter c**t. And puts Cameron in a very dodgy position.. So please, Byron. Don't just announce to the world: "Ladeez and Gentlemen. This is a non-story." Some of us may disagree.

Touchy! I ask you again -- demonised by whom? Let me answer for you -- Demonised by our own anti-BBC bias. If a leftie is applauded on Question Time, this is evidence of BBC left-wing bias. If a leftie is NOT applauded on Question Time, this is filtered out of your memory. It never happened. If a rightie is NOT applauded on Question Time, this is evidence of BBC left-wing bias. If a rightie is applauded on Question Time, this is filtered out of your memory. It never happened.

???? I can assure you that I am watching ALL of my colleagues' daytime output. (Note the apostrophe.)

Are you a northerner by any chance? I can just imagine your remark being sleepily intoned by someone from Bratford.

No it isn't. (Note the correctly-positioned apostrophe -- look and learn.]

No it isn't. If you think a more rational. less bigotted discussion might be mutually beneficial, do please respond. Thank you.