Archive for January, 2012
Misguided pitchforks for ‘Mr Fred’
By James Mackintosh, investment editor Arise, Mr Fred Goodwin. The banker who single-handedly brought down the British banking system has had his knighthood stripped away, and no one is sorry. Politicians, the public and the press are united in supporting …
ABI calls for action on flood insurance
The Association of British Insurers has warned that time is running out to ensure that UK home owners in areas at risk of flooding can afford to insure their properties in the future.
A voluntary flood agreement between the government and the insurance industry expires in June 2013.
Under the current agreement, which started in 2000, insurers are required to provide flood cover as standard for properties built before 1 January 2009, where the risk of flooding is low.
They must also allow households in higher risk areas to automatically renew their cover with the same insurer, as long as there are plans in place to build flood defences within five years.
Unless this agreement is extended around 200,000 homes at risk from flooding may find it difficult to insure their properties.
Households in Boston and Skegness, and the Vale of Clwyd face the greatest risks, according to research carried out by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
ABI’s director-general Otto Thoresen said: “”We are frustrated with the progress of our talks with the Government on this issue and want it to look urgently at a model that would allow flood cover to remain widely available and competitively priced.
“No country in the world has an entirely free market providing universal affordable flood insurance, and action is needed now to avoid 200,000 high-risk homes struggling to afford cover.”
Government agencies are unable to agree over who is responsible for flood defences, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) claiming that it shares the responsibility with the Environment Agency and local bodies.
However no structure is in place to alert Defra when local flood management is adequate and it needs to take action.
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “We want flood insurance to remain widely available and as part of these discussions, over the next few months we are looking at feasible, value for money ways of targeting funding support to those most in need.”
The Environment Department has published a report suggesting that flooding is the worst climate change threat facing the UK.
Up to 3.6 million people in the UK are at risk by the middle of the century and the cost of damage caused by flooding could increase to between £2 billion and £10 billion a year by 2080.
Millennials Will Gladly Take A Stranger’s Opinion On How To Spend Over Mom And Dad’s
A new study by Brazaarvoice and The Center for Generational Kinetics and Kelton Research shows just how differently millennials use outside input from others to sway their spending habits.
More than 40 percent of consumers in their 20s and 30s said they would trust other shoppers over their own friends and family before they make a purchase, especially on big ticket items like electronics (44 percent), cars (40 percent) and credit cards (29 percent).
On the opposite end of the spectrum, nearly 70 percent of boomers said they’d turn to relatives and their buddies for advice before anyone else.
“Millennials have grown up in a world where word of mouth is shared and found just as easily on a blog or in a product review as it is around the water cooler or at a dinner party,” said Brett Hurt, Founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “The result is that this generation expects to have access to opinions from people like them no matter where they are or how they shop.”
But it’s not like the young ones are hitting up mallrats with consumer satisfaction polls or anything.
They’re turning to user-generated review sites like Yelp!, tracking “Likes” on Facebook and prowling the comment section on Amazon.com products before they click “Buy.” A whopping 84 percent said comments from complete strangers have at least some influence on where they do business.
But why?
Nearly two-thirds said they simply find user comments more trustworthy and genuine than anything they’d find online or from the company itself.
And with 42 percent of millennials saying they’ll share positive and negative feedback via social channels before going directly to the companies themselves, it’s clear they’re aware of just how powerful social media can be in catching the attention of the higher-ups.
See the infographic below for the rest of the findings:
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See Also:
- More Americans Are Realizing They Can Do All Their Shopping At A Dollar Store
- Women Might Be The Smarter Car Shoppers After All, Study Says
- Putting Mandatory Down Payments On Mortgages Might Be The Worst Idea Ever, Report Confirms
CHART OF THE DAY: Your Dreams Of A Housing Rebound Just Got Smashed
Maybe Robert Shiller — who just told us that there’s no housing rebound on the horizon — is right.
His own housing index, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, came out this morning, and it will dash the hopes of people who think we’re on the cusp of a rebound.
After a little blip upwards, prices resumed their downward slide in November.
Depressing.
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- CHART OF THE DAY: Why Is The Baltic Dry Index Getting Crushed?
- CHART OF THE DAY: A Completely Random Correlation That Tells You Everything About This Market
- CHART OF THE DAY: ‘Core Economic Growth Slowed Sharply In Q4′
BLIND ITEM: Hedge Fund Portfolio Manager Gets Five Lap Dances Before 5 P.M.
A portfolio manager from a large hedge fund that we won’t name (yet) insisted two guys cancel their afternoon meetings one day last week so they could all go to a strip club.
They pair agreed with the PM’s request and hit the club at 3 p.m. Of course, there wasn’t the usual strip club crowd at that time of day. In fact, it was pretty much empty.
A spy says group imbibed on gin and tonics and vodka sodas, while strippers danced completely nude to “smooth R&B” music.
We’re told the club charged 10% fee on the credit card and gave the group a cash advance so they could tip the dancers. Obviously, strippers don’t accept credit for lap dances.
We also hear the hedge fund PM had about five champagne room dances for about $40 a pop.
Here are some pictures taken from inside the club.
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See Also:
- GASP! Paul Tudor Jones Called Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner A ****
- Bill Ackman Says Hedge Funders Wouldn’t Mind A Higher Tax Rate On Carried Interest Income
- David Einhorn Tells His Side Of The Story On The FSA’s Insider Trading Fine