Well, a couple of days ago we got back from Malta and found a great big crack in one of our luggages. Ok, it wasn’t a Rimowa, or anything special; but I was quite fond of it and well, it takes a pretty substantial amount of force to break a hard case. Anyway, we filed a PIR and are now waiting for feedback from Flybe. It will be interesting to see how FlyBe progress the case and how it will…
Interesting article on BBC looking into why markets around the world are still falling. I’m picking out the most intesteresting question to share with my readers: How much further down can the markets go? Spotting when markets have reached the bottom is a tricky and risky process. Many traders believe in the idea of capitulation, which broadly means a market surrender. This is when investors are prepared to get out of the market at any price because they have given…
Interesting article on BBC News about how pound shops in the UK are handling problems like rising inflation. They have an interesting view on this as they see it as a shift in the products they carry rather than something that is damaging their business. So, items they sold at £1 last year might have gone out of budget and not be on their shelves any more, but items that sold at 90p in other shops are now more expensive…
Just had a brilliant experience at Boots the other day. The customer in front of me had a big pile of shopping that she popped in front of the cashier. The girl who was serving her took a quick look over the items in front of her and split them into two piles. She explained that if she processed them as 2 transactions, the first transaction would entitle the shopper to a £5 discount coupon which could then be used…
I’ve been reading how in the US investors have access to a financial instrument called a Self-Directed IRA which allows them to invest their retirement fund into real estate or to use it to invest in a business. It’s a great idea and is particularly attractive in the current turbulent market where investing in traditional stocks and shares seems like a recipe for disaster. Here’s a diagrammatic overview of how it works The starting point of the process is your…
Came across an interesting service today that lets you verify if a VAT number someone has supplied to you is correct and valid. It’s called VIES and is managed by the European Commission‘s Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General. It looks like this: All you need to do is provide the member state the VAT number belongs to, the VAT number itself and the system returns the name and address the VAT number is registered to. Useful thing to know isn’t…