2132 days ago
In this podcast I look at the utterly useless coverage of the LCF scandal provided by the Sunday Times which seeks to blame the poor old FCA for daring to trying to stop a ponzi. I then look at the bloodbath on the high street and the madness and denial of some. There is comment on Patisserie Holdings (CAKE) and Pizza Express and also on house prices in New York and what that tells us about Brexit.
4296 days ago
One of the early initiatives of our pathetic Government was to bring in Mary Portas to “save the High Street.” Amid great fanfare £1.2 million of taxpayers cash was handed to 12 flagship local authorities to fight this brave battle. And now we discover what has happened.
Most of the cash has remained unspent. The cash that has been spent appears to have gone largely on consultation exercises, newspaper adverts and in one case in hiring a man to walk around dressed as Peppa Pig. In other words it has either been pissed away or not spent. What a frigging surprise.
If you want people to use shops more you tax them less so that they have a greater disposable income and will allocate the money they earn as they wish. If you want money to be spent in the most inefficient way possible you give it to someone else to spend, preferable someone with not a commercial brain cell in his or her brain employed by Local Government.
That is the stupidity of this. But the worse crime is vanity.
4300 days ago
I cannot figure out the consumer spending patterns in Bankrupt Britain – something does not add up
I have to admit that consumer spending patterns have me rather flummoxed. And this makes life, certainly when it comes to investment recommendations, just that little bit tougher. My problem is that empirical data does not seem to be backing up what has been a core macro-economic assumption for me. Well, it is in parts.
My assumption was that with most of our fellow citizens in this green and pleasant province of the EU still heavily indebted and, with a psychic sixth sense, aware that interest rates are bound to increase (something the bond market is telling you pretty explicitly); consumer spending would be pretty soggy this year.
In the run up to and after Christmas, things seemed to be going to plan. Trading across the High Street was pretty weak. Indeed, it was bad enough to push a number of high profile retailers with flawed business models over the edge. I see that Republic has now joined Jessops and HMV in retail heaven today. Surely this would only add to the consumer gloom?
4334 days ago
Camera store chain Jessops is appointing an administrator as it is effectively bust. What caused this privately owned firm to go under and who is next? As it happens I bought a camera from Jessops just before Christmas and as I did so I wondered why on earth this store existed in the first place. That should not detract from the issues the entire High Street faces.
