48-hours in Amsterdam
With the new daily Emirates flight from Dubai, Amsterdam is the hottest new destination for traveler from the Middle East this autumn. This is a city with many attractions from the gaudy nightlife of the…
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First time buyers desert UK house market
Any market that loses its first time buyers is in trouble. But that is what has happened in UK housing this summer. I was relieved to hear my niece Caroline and her finance Jamues have…
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One last rally for the bond bubble?
Poor old James Bond cannot get the money together to make another movie. Mr Bond is having a tough recession. It has been far better for another Mr Bond, the global bond markets, the largest…
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Top-end UK house prices start to crash
Far from being immune to recession it is the top-end UK houses that are suffering most as the second wave of the UK house price downturn begins.
Estate agents report that high street banks are…
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Hotel Review: JW Marriott, Grosvenor House, London
The super position of this 1929-vintage luxury hotel overlooking Hyde Park is just one reason for its enduring appeal to visitors from Arabia. A couple of decades ago this correspondent wrote the diary item about…
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Third Hindenburg Omen despite Friday’s rally
US stocks rallied on Friday thanks to weasel words from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke after a dismal week with a dip below 10,000 on the Dow. The S&P 500 ended lower for the third week…
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European and UK housing rental yields absurdly low
Who would be a landlord in the UK or continental Europe? Rental yields are absurdly low and not enough to cover long-term maintenance and property taxes, let alone a mortgage.
Yesterday this author visited his…
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Silver prices now rising faster than gold
August is usually a quiet month in the precious metals market but this month is different. Silver has started behaving 100 per cent like a precious metal and not as an industrial commodity, and while…
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Gold close to record high as global stocks sell-off
Gold hit $1,240 an ounce today. Investors seem to be increasingly parking money in the yellow metal as a safe haven asset class while turning their backs on stocks. Bond yields are lower than before…
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48-hours in London
Always a popular summer escape for Arabian residents, London is the best value it has been for a decade this year thanks to a 20 per cent devaluation of the pound, and the continued travel…
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