Its getting quite embarrassing writing about AOL because its pretty much always bad news – and believe it or not – we’d like to write something positive about AOL. Unfortunately this is getting harder and harder. With AOL already bleeding customers and falling behind in the race in just about every segment of its...
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It seems to us that actually barriers to exit in some industries are quite high. Other utility companies might be cheaper than the one you use, but do you really want the hassle of switching? It’s similar with ISPs, sometimes it feels as if life is just too short to start chopping and changing...
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After the ‘shock’ of last weeks interest increase, many banks spent the next few days deciding on what increases they would impose on the consumer. Surprisingly, few announced immediate increases and many have said they will ‘consider’ an appropriate response. Is this delay good news for the consumer? Unfortunately not. The psychology of how...
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Oil prices hit $77 a barrel after BP announced that it has been forced to close its Prudhoe Bay oilfield, one of the largest in the USA. The shutdown is due to a leak caused by corrosion in the pipelines and according to BP is indefinite. The action will affect about 400,000 barrels a...
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Whilst we were pretty much expecting a rise in interest rates in Australia, we were stunned by some of the reasons cited by the Reserve Bank of Australia in the report released by its Monetary Policy Committee Common wisdom is that rates in Australia are high because the country needs to control spending and...
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Kicking off the global trend this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased rates to 6 percent. Concern has been raised that Australia could be pushed into a recession as local banks followed the increase, with Westpac announcing an immediate increase to its standard variable rate to household borrowers of 7.8 percent. Worse...
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