DebtReliefHelp.ca

Recession Bites in Britain

Its now official. The UK economy is officially in recession. Confirmation of this widely known fact came today (23rd Jan) from the Office for National Statistics whose figures showed that the economy has shrunk by 1.5% in the final quarter of 2008.

This latest fall follows the previous fall of 0.6% in the third quarter of 2008. This is the most significant fall since 1980 and exceeds the predicted fall of 1.2%. Sterling continued its downward fall, losing another 3 cents against the dollar. The exchange rate was only $1.357 to the pound at 09:30 this morning (23rd Jan).

Many economists are saying that this drastic fall in GDP is staggering. Some economists are saying that complete financial meltdown has been averted but there is an expectation that this latest recession will be deeper than that experienced in the early 1980s.

The current economic crisis started with the 2007 US housing market debacle. Almost every sector of the UK economy is now adversely affected. There is no longer any debate regarding whether the UK will enter a recession. Discussion is now focussed on how deep the recession will be and how long it will last.

Early predictions suggested that the recession would match that experienced in the 1990s but new estimates are saying that this latest recession will be equally as bad as that experienced in the 1980s and likely to be a lot worse. The big difference between previous recessions and now is that this economic crisis is worldwide. There is no market sector that is unaffected.

It is expected that the recession will push unemployment to levels that have not been seen for decades. Falling demand for products and services is already resulting in many employers having to lay off employees, many of whom would have considered their jobs to be safe.

If you’re travelling anywhere you will be acutely aware of the current exchange rate. When flying from Gatwick or Luton be sure to book your Gatwick Parking or Luton Airport Parking in advance and you will make some great savings.

With the financial news being as bad as is it today, people are wondering why one should even bother learning how to invest in the stock market  Isn’t that just putting your money at risk?

Yes and no.  Of course, to make any money, you have to accept some level of risk, but it doesn’t have to be as much as you think.  The key to weathering the market storms is diversification.  If you spread your wealth across many different asset classes, you will get yourself a lot further than simply investing in individual stocks. 

Having a diverse portfolio will help you be able to weather the ups and downs of the market.  If the asset classes are somewhat unrelated, you will be afforded protection since many classes will move in opposite directions from each other depending on their relationships.  Choosing this asset allocation is responsible for most of your gains and losses in the market.

The easiest way to achieve a diversified assets allocation is to invest with index funds.  Index funds represent a larg segment of the market with a single security that is easy to by and sell.  Index funds make it really easy to pick a target asset allocation and achieve it, greatly reducing your risk.

Another way to reduce risk and maximize return is to do dollar cost averaging when purchasing stocks.  What this means is that you set a fixed amount of money aside each month to buy stocks with.  If the market is up, you’ve earned more money off of the stocks you have.  If the market is down, you just got more stocks for your money.  Since it is impossible to predict the stock market, this approach can really reduce your exposure to risk.

Of course, no investing strategy is risk proof, but using the above strategies get you about as close as you possibly can.  Get a good discount broker, and start investing in the stock market today!

Do you know how much the bailout is costing US you and I? Not to mention the international prospectors around the world who are being hit by the global economy crisis? I would consider myself very informed to financial news. For many years now I have been earning a livelihood as a writer on international living matters. It’s nothing new to me that the USD is falling. But I just did some calculations today that I just couldn’t believe!

A shocking Economic Report

The following, and startling, facts are all based on a new report out from the National Bureau of Economic Research:

Simply put, the 2008 Economy bailout has cost the United States so far $8.5 trillion. Of course, this isn’t exactly news to many people. These figures exceed beyond most people’s understanding… which is how the US government got away with this whole sham in the first place. To truly comprehend these figures, though, this article seeks to put them in context by comparing them side by side to other major wars and government proclimations since the American Revolution. This is where my jaw really dropped.

If we add it all up in today’s dollars, the total cumulative cost of all of the following major US government capital outlays since the American Revolution, they come to $8.1 trillion. Yes, the end cost for the list below is less than the total cost of this year’s bank bailout.

Here are the wars and initiatives we are talking about, shown in order of price the most expensive on top and the least expensive on bottom:

1. The Second World War
2. The complete budget of NASA
3. The Vietnam War
4. The Iraq War
5. The New Deal
6. The Korean War
7. The First World War
8. The Savings and Loan Crisis
9. Afghanistan/GWT
10. The Marshall Plan
11. The Gulf War
12. The US Civil War
13. The American Revolution
14. The War of 1812
15. The Louisiana Purchase

Yes that’s correct, you add up together the total price of all those things on the above list and the total is still less than the money the US has just spent on this year’s bailout! Read this report for yourself to get more info on the real financial crisis.

Protecting your Wealth Offshore: What to do

How does that make you feel? Shocking I know! I knew that economic conditions were rough, but doesn’t that just put it all in context in a more coherent, if disturbing way? (In addition to this, it was also informative to see the price of the Iraq war in comparison to other conflicts - way above the Gulf War but still less than the cost of Vietnam).

There are dire events ahead, but if you seek out a reliable guide, there are great opportunities to profit from the crisis and you can protect your assets more than ever before!