eddie Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Q - What do you call a hundred merchant bankers leaping out of their boardroom windows? A - A good start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFbHFTBwem0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 13 minutes ago, reveldevil said: I've decided to take the plunge and buy some actual gold, not a massive amount, just something to hopefully pass on years down the line. Any recommendations as to the best place to purchase, preferably online? https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-coins/canadian-maple-1oz-gold/canadian-maple-1oz-gold-coin/ I usually have a quick look around the main dealers once I am set on what I want to buy but often end up buying from Bullionbypost. Will be buying the coin in the link as its on sale, always keep my eye open for sale items. BTW if they do QE4 don't expect it to be favourable short-term for gold. Gold comes good once no-one believes in QE anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralRam Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I wouldn't be seeing gold as an investment... More like a safe haven once ecerything start going to ****. However I could be talking out my arse so please do correct me if I'm wrong on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramarena Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Looks like big problems brewing in the Italian banking system, PM Renzi has not gone to Davos so he can deal with the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zag zig Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 21 hours ago, reveldevil said: I've decided to take the plunge and buy some actual gold, not a massive amount, just something to hopefully pass on years down the line. Any recommendations as to the best place to purchase, preferably online? Try Atkinsons, they are better than Bullion by post, who can be a little lax on certain things. Ask for Paul, he will gladly talk you through things and you can go in and have a chat if you want. http://atkinsonsbullion.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozza Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Absolutely gorgeous , shame i can't buy it at face value , now that'd be an investment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozza Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 i found one of these (same year , not as good nick) under the floorboards of a house i was working at today , 210 years old , worth about 99p on eBay .. i shall keep it tho .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramarena Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Just saw an interesting piece on C4 news, they had two economists on, didn't catch who the first was, but he basically said stocks have oversold, so things look worse than they are and they don't expect the global economy to suffer. In short nothing to see here. In contrast to that they had a lady on from Lombard St Research, she believe's that China has not hit 5% growth at any point in the last three years, and she believes that last year the Chinese economy grew at around 3%, way below official figures. This is the first time I've heard anyone claim that China's growth has been way below official figures over a three year period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkleyram Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 On 20 January 2016 at 19:35, Ramarena said: I heard a BBC report say that the majority of the jobs went to E.U nationals. Which begs the question how does this lower the jobless rate when there have been so many redundancies recently? Lies, damn lies and statistics. I think, but may be wrong, that unemployment is a measure of the number of people claiming job seekers allowance. EU nationals in the UK can claim benefits and it may well be correct that in a given period the majority of people coming off JSA - and therefore becoming employed/reducing the unemployment figures - are EU nationals. Redundancies work to a different timetable. For a start off it's rare that everyone is made redundant on the same day. If you are a steel worker in Middlesbrough or Port Talbot you may get a redundancy package and may not be able to claim benefits; you might get another job because employers in the area will try to recruit the best workers leaving the steel plants; you might take your redundancy package and start a business somewhere else; you might retire and take your pension. 2000 redundancies announced from a steel plant don't automatically turn into 2000 additional people on JSA and therefore an equivalent increase in unemployment statistics/numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Labour force participation is the only metric you can use to look at the job market. Gideon banging on about a record number of people working in the U.K than ever before as if it means something...well he is on track to add 2.5-3 million people via immigration alone in their 2 terms of government, what do you expect? Hear the same rubbish about GDP. Real growth (and higher living standards) comes from making the nation's current population more productive, and yet nominal growth by adding millions more people with some productivity is now the backbone of our growth figures. And productivity and living standards dont move for the whole because there is pitiful GDP growth once you adjust for population increase. What little there is, is "growth" primarily in financial services. Take a look at the manufacturing figures, that industry is in recession already. Construction next I guess. Long and short of it, you can make everyone study until they are 30, put 2M people on disability benefit, encourage them into self-employment and tax credits and create a job with negative economic value, make them give up and retire or just not face the dole for a while...and have a very low unemployment rate. That is why you can't look at government figured, there are too many vehicles now to give a figure they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 The unemployment rate in East Staffs is remarkably low, in Uttoxeter itself, its around 2% according to official figures. A new Waitrose store due to open this spring has been inundated with hundreds of job applications. We recently took extra staff on and were swamped by applicants for minimum wage jobs, mostly on unsociable hours/shifts - in an area with virtually no unemployment. Somebody is telling porkies about the unemployment figures or maybe people are in zero hour contracts and want regular hours, whatever the reason, there are a lot of desperate people out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 1 hour ago, uttoxram75 said: The unemployment rate in East Staffs is remarkably low, in Uttoxeter itself, its around 2% according to official figures. A new Waitrose store due to open this spring has been inundated with hundreds of job applications. We recently took extra staff on and were swamped by applicants for minimum wage jobs, mostly on unsociable hours/shifts - in an area with virtually no unemployment. Somebody is telling porkies about the unemployment figures or maybe people are in zero hour contracts and want regular hours, whatever the reason, there are a lot of desperate people out there. 2% is effectively 0 unemployment, basically would amount to those between jobs to allow a market to function! Otherwise we'd simply be trading jobs, not creating them! Wages would rocket! People would not be taking minimum wage if scarcity of labour was such. Anecdotal evidence is the best evidence we have now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Interesting reading over the last week or so about the gap between the rich and poor. 68 individuals have more wealth than the poorest 3.5 billion. Half the world are worth less than the richest 68. The figure in 2010 was 388 so the concentration of wealth at the top is increasing dramatically. Every government austerity measure transfers money from the lower and middle levels of society to those at the very top. In today's papers I've read about Google voluntarily agreeing to pay tax on UK earnings since 2005, £130million to be precise. It sounds a lot until you read their estimated tax bill for 2012 alone should have been £1.2billion (based on UK only revenue). If that £1.2billion is an average over the 10 years then £10billion or so should have been paid during that period, along with Vodaphone, Amazon, Starbucks etc,etc, then maybe some austerity cuts would not have been necessary and money could have been invested in the long term planning of this country instead of being allowed to sit in off shore tax havens doing absolutely **** all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GboroRam Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 1 hour ago, uttoxram75 said: Interesting reading over the last week or so about the gap between the rich and poor. 68 individuals have more wealth than the poorest 3.5 billion. Half the world are worth less than the richest 68. The figure in 2010 was 388 so the concentration of wealth at the top is increasing dramatically. Every government austerity measure transfers money from the lower and middle levels of society to those at the very top. In today's papers I've read about Google voluntarily agreeing to pay tax on UK earnings since 2005, £130million to be precise. It sounds a lot until you read their estimated tax bill for 2012 alone should have been £1.2billion (based on UK only revenue). If that £1.2billion is an average over the 10 years then £10billion or so should have been paid during that period, along with Vodaphone, Amazon, Starbucks etc,etc, then maybe some austerity cuts would not have been necessary and money could have been invested in the long term planning of this country instead of being allowed to sit in off shore tax havens doing absolutely **** all. Yet all we hear is that we must cut more, tighten the belt, waste in local government and health services - so those with nearly nothing have to contribute even more. And of course let's not forget tax cuts at the highest levels. Are we really all in this together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inglorius Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 6 hours ago, uttoxram75 said: The unemployment rate in East Staffs is remarkably low, in Uttoxeter itself, its around 2% according to official figures. A new Waitrose store due to open this spring has been inundated with hundreds of job applications. We recently took extra staff on and were swamped by applicants for minimum wage jobs, mostly on unsociable hours/shifts - in an area with virtually no unemployment. Somebody is telling porkies about the unemployment figures or maybe people are in zero hour contracts and want regular hours, whatever the reason, there are a lot of desperate people out there. Maybe they're all just thinking about the potential staff discounts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 1 hour ago, Inglorius said: Maybe they're all just thinking about the potential staff discounts Not at my place they aren't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mafiabob Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 11 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said: Not at my place they aren't! Imagine you've had plenty of biscuits in your time mind... Seriously though, you got more chance of Lord Lucan riding in on Shergar than getting owt of a 2 sisters owned company! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 1 minute ago, Mafiabob said: Imagine you've had plenty of biscuits in your time mind... I'm big boned.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 18 hours ago, uttoxram75 said: Interesting reading over the last week or so about the gap between the rich and poor. 68 individuals have more wealth than the poorest 3.5 billion. Half the world are worth less than the richest 68. The figure in 2010 was 388 so the concentration of wealth at the top is increasing dramatically. Every government austerity measure transfers money from the lower and middle levels of society to those at the very top. In today's papers I've read about Google voluntarily agreeing to pay tax on UK earnings since 2005, £130million to be precise. It sounds a lot until you read their estimated tax bill for 2012 alone should have been £1.2billion (based on UK only revenue). If that £1.2billion is an average over the 10 years then £10billion or so should have been paid during that period, along with Vodaphone, Amazon, Starbucks etc,etc, then maybe some austerity cuts would not have been necessary and money could have been invested in the long term planning of this country instead of being allowed to sit in off shore tax havens doing absolutely **** all. Trouble is, every time it's in the news they talk about revenue or sales, which is irrelevant as the tax is on profits. I'm not claiming for one minute that any of the big multinationals are paying what they should but when the Daily Mirror says "It is reported that Googles tax bill should have been £1.2bn" you've got one tabloid quoting something "reported" elsewhere and, again, based on sales not profits. Just meaningless. Why does HMRC have to "reach a settlement" with any of these companies?. They surely either pay what is legally owed or they don't - and they get prosecuted. Maybe we should all start asking to negotiate what PAYE or VAT we're willing to give HMRC and see how far that gets us. If the rules don't work, change the rules. Don't start negotiating around them. Should we reduce our corporation tax rate so it is competitive with Luxembourg / Netherlands / Ireland / wherever?. At least then we'd get a lower percentage of much higher UK profits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 3 hours ago, Wolfie said: Trouble is, every time it's in the news they talk about revenue or sales, which is irrelevant as the tax is on profits. I'm not claiming for one minute that any of the big multinationals are paying what they should but when the Daily Mirror says "It is reported that Googles tax bill should have been £1.2bn" you've got one tabloid quoting something "reported" elsewhere and, again, based on sales not profits. Just meaningless. Why does HMRC have to "reach a settlement" with any of these companies?. They surely either pay what is legally owed or they don't - and they get prosecuted. Maybe we should all start asking to negotiate what PAYE or VAT we're willing to give HMRC and see how far that gets us. If the rules don't work, change the rules. Don't start negotiating around them. Should we reduce our corporation tax rate so it is competitive with Luxembourg / Netherlands / Ireland / wherever?. At least then we'd get a lower percentage of much higher UK profits. Its about fairness between effective tax rates of persons, SMEs and Multi-Nationals. MNs just seem to have so many more options open to them in getting taxes down that you or I, or an SME don't. Amazon never turns a profit (only a small one recently). Fair enough, its a business decision to constantly reinvest back into the business for growth (and pretty successful it seems) but to make so much money in the U.K and to pay effectively nothing for UK infrastructure, training, education and services (which is all vital to their business) is not right IMO. I don't buy the "jobs" argument either, they'd possibly be more jobs if thousands of independents were providing the service (and paying tax on profits). The demand doesn't vanish. Agree, the rules need to change as they aren't doing anything wrong at present. And we should remember it was the British who created offshore banking. Another one of our fine inventions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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