Forget Property, Buy Shares - Guardian Money Front Page Headline!

[Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Could hardly believe my eyes!!!!!!!!!

Can't find the link - headline appears to have been discarded on on-line Guardian (different editor no doubt).

And was feeling happy until I read this shi*e in the Indy

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/mo...ticle332953.ece

"New hope for first-timers?

The options for buyers who want to get on the ladder are growing all the time ..............Two options are 100 per cent mortgages, and graduate and professional mortgages, which allow borrowers to take out mortgages for greater sums than normal income multiples allow." etc.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH what shocking advice!

Anybody feel like writing to the editor?

Here's another Indy article

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/mo...ticle338424.ece

Also, though totally unrelated to house prices - do you remember the riot in Basra and that Brit soldier on fire clambering out of the tank - I remember being surprised when John Reid told us that no soldiers were seriously injured in the rioting - he said - "I am pleased to say that they [the injured soldiers] are being treated for minor injuries only and are expected to return to duty shortly."

One soldier suffered 37% burns and is still in hospital. Says it all really - lying b*******!

[Jason]

I don't know why young people expect to get a house.

If she can't save while living with her parents, what hope will she have if she had a mortgage? I never even considered buying a house until I cleared my student debts (apart from student loan).

[MrB]

The idiot who wrote the first article makes the usual assumption that rising prices make it easy to move into a better property by using the 'equity' from rises, when in fact the exact opposite is true. The better property rises more in value than the crappy property.

The Open Market HomeBuy scheme works by letting qualified buyers apply for a 75 per cent mortgage. The mortgage lender and the Government each take a 12.5 per cent stake in the property. This is an interest-free loan, but 25 per cent of the sale price, including any gains, goes to the Government and the bank.

This could make it harder for buyers to move up the ladder, as they will have less equity. But the greatest drawback is that relatively few people stand to qualify. "These schemes are usually a long time in coming into operation. You could wait, and then find that you still do not qualify," warns Helen Adams, managing director of the information service, FirstRungNow.

And to top it off a quote from Helen Adams, on top of the tacit advice to buy now with a 100% mortgage.

One in four first-time buyers now asks a parent for help, Adams says. This, and buying with friends, schemes from developers, and existing social shared ownership programmes, will have to bridge the gap until the Government's plans become reality.

Either:

1. Get your parents to remortgage

2. Buy half or 1/3rd of a house with friends

3. Borrow 100% of the property value.

I hate the Independent.

Edited January 14, 2006 by MrB

[BandWagon]

When a newspaper is printing headlines that it's time to buy shares, you know it's probably a good time to get out of the market.

How many newspapers were printing headlines telling people to buy when the footsie had slumped to 3500?

Sell at the bottom, buy at the top.

[frugalstar]

Long time lurker learning alot.

I have been wondering for a while, what newspapers are reliable for a. News and b. Financial News? So many articles seem to get ripped to shreads on here, and for the first time in my life I am learning not to blindly believe what I read. So...are there any and if there are not what do you all read to give the nearest to non biased news?

[kempstar]

I read moneyweek to get a round-up of the weeks financial press and a relatively non-biased commentary. I find it a brilliant read, its very 'bite-size' and easy to read. They have a free three week trial too which is great

[Flash]

When a newspaper is printing headlines that it's time to buy shares, you know it's probably a good time to get out of the market.

How many newspapers were printing headlines telling people to buy when the footsie had slumped to 3500?

Sell at the bottom, buy at the top.

Spot on Bandwagon.

Does it mean that it's time to get out, or are we at the start of a big jump caused by the return of the private punter to the market?

Volumes on the UK stock market have really picked up this year, especially in the small cap stocks. I take this to mean that the private buyer is back.

The market has put in a stellar performance since mid-2003. I have found it amazing that the media (and hence general public) has ignored it. Now they are just waking up.

One thing's for sure - the market is overdue a pull back after such a long bull run.

Edited January 14, 2006 by Flash

[BuyingBear]

Long time lurker learning alot.

I have been wondering for a while, what newspapers are reliable for a. News and b. Financial News? So many articles seem to get ripped to shreads on here, and for the first time in my life I am learning not to blindly believe what I read. So...are there any and if there are not what do you all read to give the nearest to non biased news?

You just have to be selective and question what you read, all organisations tend to have at least one decent business journo on staff, the Beeb are almost laughable in their business coverage yet Evan Davies knows what he's talking about, same for Jeff Randall in the Telegraph, outlets like Bloomberg or CNBC have some interesting guests hidden amongst the hype, you just have question who's saying it and why they're saying it now.

You can tell a good bear because they halt themselves when saying "crash" but use the word "correction", and round about phrases like "asset prices out of line with fundamentals", it's very subtle as it's best to appear measured. Those who have been around the markets for long enough have been humbled on more than one occasion.

Edited January 14, 2006 by BuyingBear

[algor]

Long time lurker learning alot.

I have been wondering for a while, what newspapers are reliable for a. News and b. Financial News? So many articles seem to get ripped to shreads on here, and for the first time in my life I am learning not to blindly believe what I read. So...are there any and if there are not what do you all read to give the nearest to non biased news?

No such thing as a reliable unbiased newspaper. In the UK the Independent probably has the most editorial freedom but that could be because it's stance helps it sell papers. It does however seem to have a fairly wide range of views although I find a lot of them pretty whiney. Best thing to do is hit a combination of some aggregate of main stream sources like google news and also some "alternative site". If you can learn to disregard most of the weird, anti-semetic and rascist stuff then you'll occasionally find links to stories that will blossom onto headlines in weeks, months or even years time. eg many "alternative" sites where pushing gold heavily 3-4 years ago, luck or sense I do not know. Rupert Murdoch's outlets apparently have a pretty close editorial view whereever they are published in the world (i.e. his).

Remember that a free press means freedom for the owners of the newspapers to print (almost) whatever they want in whatever terms they see fit and freedom for you to buy/ignore/remain sceptical. Remember though that a lot of media is owned by big business and this will undoubtably affect what stories are carried and the stance of the paper on many issues.

Also Britain still maintains a degree of censorship the most notorious being the D-notice which was recently issued over the "Bush wanting to bomb Al-Jazeera" story even though he denies having made such comments.