salamander

And also for those who don't want to shell out a fortune for buggy, expensive, insecure cr*p

All I could think about when I first found this site was whether it was a good idea to buy a house or not. If someone had told me back then that by now I'd have what amounts to a (small) treasure chest full of gold, and be learning the intricate details of weapons of financial mass destruction I'd have laughed in their face. I find it astonishing to consider the impact of clicking a web link at the bottom of a BBC news 24 article 6/7 months ago. Glad I did though

This is getting silly now. Up $25 in under 24 hours

Can burst open... Worms everywhere... But it is all tremendously exciting, isn't it !

Just seen it over 830 now . What a day! Wish I'd had more money available earlier today to buy more sovs than I did Edit: Beat me to it 9FOI11

4) Please follow that security guard over there. Yes, the one carrying the box holding all of your stuff. Merry Christmas

Sovereigns now £100 each to buy Still, couldn't stop myself from buying a few more

Ok. Here we go.... Bump!

It's a (sale and) repurchase agreement. A security is sold at one price with an agreement to buy it back a later date for a different (higher) price. It's like a kind of secured loan More details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repurchase_agreement

But... don't you understand? This is fantastic news for the stock markets. Now that the banks have started to admit the *cough* full scale of the sub-prime problems, demonstrating just how well contained the problem is, they can start making money again and so stocks will soar. Hooray!!

Apparently he didn't resign. He "retired". On a Sunday.

The resignation is the top story on BBC News 24 ahead of martial law in Pakistan. Crikey! Edit: Spelling typos

Give or take a few points, so's the FTSE

*cough* 19 *cough*

Old enough to remember that one. Classic!

Welcome to the site. For what it's worth, people on here get the piss taken out of them all the time for grammar and spelling so please don't take it too personally. In your posts you did say that you were seeking advice from a variety of sources and so I hope that during your time here you will take the opportunity to fully investigate the wisdom of your proposed semi-purchase before making what many here (including myself) consider to be a dangerous move. I wish you well in your decision.

Couldn't have put it better myself!

Some more 'problem' sales. My old flat (I sold last December at 230K) was done up by the builder who bought it and was 'Sale Agreed' at 285K (I know because I am on good terms with next door ) from Feb until about a month ago when it went back on the market at 300K. It's still there with no evidence of any offers yet. I'm told the reason for the sale going t*ts up was officially a dispute about availability of off-street parking, though apparently the vendor was unhappy with the agreed price anyway, because even with a 55K (=24%) increase he 'wasn't making any money on it'. Serves the greedy f*cker right! I must admit I'm rather enjoying this drawn-out show as the guy who bought it from me dicked me around for months, during which time (unknown to me) prices in the area shot up Whatever happens to him, I bought it in '97 at errm.. somewhat less than 230K so even if I lost out a bit on the sale, I'm left with a reasonably healthy STR fund. In other news, two doors down from where I'm renting has been on the market for about 2 months, and they have already had to drop the asking price by 10K. Only 2.5% but it's a start.

Thank you so much for that. Had me in stitches for ages

No worries. Just thought you should know. One of the great things about this site is that you get to learn heaps of stuff that you probably never even considered before. It's very instructive and great fun. Again, welcome

Just wondering why your profile says that you are a Bull. Edit: Just noticed that was your first post. Welcome to the site. Just in case you don't know, a bear thinks prices will go down, while a bull thinks they will go up. Your post suggests you fall into the former category, so you might want to update your profile.

Lower gilt yields are actually a direct consequence of a 'flight for quality'. Gilts have a fixed interest rate and when they are issued have a nominal or face value. The interest payments periodically made to holders of the gilt are always determined by the interest rate and the face value. When gilts are subsequently traded, the sale price will likely include an element based on demand (as well as other elements) and so will likely differ from the face value. In a 'flight to quality', gilts are perceived as very safe (if somewhat boring) because they are guaranteed by the government and not some dodgy investment bank (sorry couldn't resist that!). Therefore demand is higher and so potential purchasers must offer more, perhaps substantially more than the face value to secure them. This means that the effective interest rate (or yield) is lower because subsequent interest payments are made based on the face value and not the most recently traded price. [Edit: Thought I had an article to link to that explains the unusually low yield of the UK gilts which back the affected NS&I bonds. I was wrong (article was over a year old), and would be grateful to anyone who can either confirm or deny the claim by NS&I that low gilt yields have brought about the rate reduction] Just to be clear on this, NS&I have not reduced rates on existing bonds. They can't. They are bonds. What they have done is reduced the rates on newly issued bonds, which will affect new investors but not existing ones.

That is probably the most concise yet complete explanation of the fundamental problem with fractional reserve banking I have seen to date. Great stuff!

Sorry. Couldn't resist

It SO isn't. At the moment the number of available mortgage products is being hugely reduced and the number of people having mortgage offers rejected (or later withdrawn) is massively on the increase. In short, the supply of money is drying up. Positive sheeple sentiment is all well and good when interest rates fall, but if buyers can't find the money, the pyramid scheme will collapse. The only question that remains is how long it is going to take for it to get through to vendors that stubbornly refuse to drop the price that it is different this time . Once that happens, the floodgates will likely open as panic quickly spreads.