Identity theft – protect yourself. There are a number of very simple measures we can all take to protect ourselves online. Here is a generalised list of measures we can all follow:- Create strong passwords. Keep your passwords safe. Change your passwords. Install anti-virus protection. Install internet security software. Update …

Sterling stumbles The pound fell both against the Euro and dollar yesterday (23/08/17) and continues to struggle. The pound fell to an eight low yesterday at $1.2782 Will the pound come under more pressure from ECB president Mario Draghi when he makes his speech at Jackson Hole on Friday? Fed …

Central bankers head to Jackson Hole. Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi et al, will be meeting this Friday to make their eagerly anticipated speeches at Jackson Hole. Debate about QE roll back, interest rates and inflation will presumably take centre stage. The US …

Google and Walmart go shopping. Walmart and Google are joining forces using voice enabled shopping technology to take on Amazon’s dominance in voice activated shopping. From next month US shoppers will be able to buy Walmart goods using Google Assistant. Amazon dominate online retail and now use their voice technology …

Artificial intelligence based voice shopping. Voice activated and voice recognition software has moved on at a remarkable speed. I remember my first introduction to this technology when I used a product called, ‘Dragon NaturallySpeaking’. Back then it consisted of a headset, microphone, training CD and software.  It was designed to …

Hong Kong stock markets closed As a powerful Typhoon category 10 storm Hato hit Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Stock market movements – today 22/08/17 The DOW Jones Industrial Average closed at 21899 after gaining nearly 200 points today. S&P 500 closed up at 2452 gaining 24 points. The NASAQ closed at 6297. The DAX index was up 1.4% to 12229 – adding 163 points The FTSE 100 closed …

German business confidence falls. A survey taken of German investors suggests confidence has fallen –  from a score of 17.5 to 10 in July. Looking at the performance of the DAX today you wouldn’t have thought so. The DAX closed up today at 12229 a 1.4% increase.  

Provident Financial PLC shares down. Provident Financial PLC (PFG) shares are taking a hammering again today. They have been falling all day again and at 15:00 on 21/08/17 they were down 68% at £5.51  and falling! In May this year the shares were trading at a high of £32.50 and …

Is the UK state pension system broken? It started in 1909 when approximately 500,000 people aged 70 and over, who qualified,  were given an old age pension of five shillings a week. That’s 25 pence – equivalent to £20 in today’s money. The pension we have now by comparison is …