How to Speculate on the FTSE 100

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

The FTSE 100 is a share index comprising the 100 most capitalised companies on the London Stock Exchange. As such, it gives a fairly accurate reflection of what is happening to the LSE on any given day. The FTSE started in 1984 with a base level of 1,000 and the highest level it has reached to date, was 6,950 on 30th December 1999. After that the FTSE dropped to 3,277 in March 2002 before climbing up to 6,754 in June 2007. In March 2009 the FTSE 100 hit a low of 3,457 and then rose to 6,137 in May 2011.

One possible way to speculate on the FTSE 100 would be by signing up for an online spread betting account. This way, while you would not actually be buying any of the shares on the index, you would still have the opportunity to make the same profits and losses as you would if you actually owned them. Continue reading →

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Housing market remains reasonably strong despite summer lull

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

Although a summer decline in figures throughout the property and mortgage markets within the UK has been seen, the mortgage broker will today be boosted by evidence to show that housing market activity has remained relatively robust. The latest Housing Market Activity Report by Connells has shown residential mortgage valuation activity increase year on year, increasing confidence within the market that economic life is set to improve.

Although the total number of valuations conducted throughout July rose by a sharp 47% compared to this time last year, there was still an 18% drop in residential valuations seen from last month’s figures, although the usual summer lull in valuation activity ensured that this was expected. Continue reading →

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Smokers will find it costly to insure their life

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

If you’re thinking about insuring your life and don’t even consider giving up smoking then prepare to pay up because insurance companies don’t like smokers. To be more precise, it’s not a matter of “liking” someone because of their habits. Smokers are considered to be a high risk group of policyholders and there’s a hole set of reasons for that, which we usually call smoking-related health conditions.

Lung, throat and mouth cancer are probably the most common health conditions that come into mind when we mention smoking, but besides these devastating illnesses there are also plenty of health conditions such as heart diseases, arthritis, eating disorders and many others that are linked to smoking. So it’s pretty much evident why insurance companies charge higher rates if they find out that the person is smoking – because the risk of serious and life threatening health conditions is much higher in this group of customers. Continue reading →

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