Consumer borrowing defies squeeze and rate hikes

At the moment, whenever data on the housing market is released, you just know it’s going to be bad. No surprise then to hear that the number of mortgages approved for home purchase have fallen by 20 per cent since last year, and are now to the lowest level in over two years.
Maybe the [...]

Leeds unveils new fixed Isa deals

31 October 2007
Leeds Building Society has unveiled a range of fixed-rate tax-free Isa deals.
The company said the products provide an excellent guaranteed return and flexibility of access to some of the funds, without notice or penalty at any time, over a period which suits each individual customer’s needs.
The minimum investment is just £1, and the [...]

Borrowers pitch for online loans

31 October 2007
An internet firm has launched a new site will allows people looking for loans to specify how much they want to borrow – and how much they are willing to pay.
Zopa already enables people to borrow or lend money to each other in an effort to side-step the high street banks.
But the [...]

Pound hits 26-year high on dollar

31 October 2007
The pound has broken a 26-year-old record against the dollar as interest rate hopes on both sides of the Atlantic pushed the currency higher.
Sterling reached more than 2.06 US dollars as economists forecast a further reduction in rates in the US.
CMC Markets, currency expert, James Hughes said: “We’ll probably see the pound test [...]

Mortgage brokers backing rate cut

31 October 2007
Mortgage brokers are feeling more positive about the prospects of a cut in the Bank of England base rate in the coming months, new research shows.
Almost 90 per cent of brokers in the UK now believe that interest rates have peaked, with 43 per cent claiming that they believe that rates will fall [...]

Don’t download that YouTube video!

New variation of Storm worm drops ecard disguise for online movie masquerade
Sophos, a world leader in IT security and control, has warned internet users about the latest disguise being used by malware authors in their attempt to infect people’s PCs: an email claiming to point to a YouTube video.
Experts at SophosLab™ have proactively protected [...]

Stormy Halloween as hackers try to infect PCs with dancing skeleton

Cybercriminals tempt the unwary with macabre malware
IT security and control firm Sophos has warned that a cybercriminal gang is attempting to hijack the Halloween festivities to infect the PCs of innocent computer users.
Malicious spam emails sent across the internet direct internet users to a Halloween-themed website offering a download of a dancing [...]

AVG Anti-Virus Free is the Most Popular Program on CNET Download.com

AVG Anti-Virus Free and Anti-Virus Pro ranked as number one and number three antivirus programs on download.com
Orlando, F.L. – October 17, 2007 – GRISOFT, the developer of AVG Internet security software, today announced that AVG Anti-Virus Free is the number one downloaded program on all of CNET Download.com. Additionally, AVG Anti-Virus Free is the first [...]

International Development Association (IDA)

AT A GLANCE:

The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank Group that helps the world’s poorest countries- those where large amounts of the population live on a dollar a day or less.

Established in 1960, IDA works to reduce poverty by providing interest-free loans and grants for programs that boost economic growth, [...]

World Bank Financing

At a Glance:

The World Bank is the world’s leading development institution for raising private and public sector money for the global fight against poverty.

The two institutions at the core of what is known as the World Bank — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) — have mobilized [...]