Fewer Britons expected to lose homes this year

The number of repossessions forecast for this year has been reduced to 48,000
by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), who last year predicted that
75,000 people would lose their homes in 2009.

In the last three months, there have been 11,700 repossessions, up slightly
from 11,400 in the second three months of the year, but 8 per cent lower
than between January and March. However, the figure is still 5 per cent
higher than for the same period last year.

In June, the CML revised their forecast for the year down to 65,000
repossessions – a figure last seen in 1992 during the previous UK recession.

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Pension loopholes must be closed to ensure staff do not save in vain

By Damian Reece

Published: 8:56PM BST 02 Sep 2009

One is the quality of due diligence being carried out by Octopus Capital, a
firm which Lord Mandelson has appointed to make investments on our behalf.
It appears it may have failed spectacularly at the first hurdle and may need
to be relieved of its responsibilities in this area. It has certainly lost
my trust.

Second, is how on earth can such shoddy pension practices as we’ve uncovered
at KeTech still be happening? The post-Maxwell world was supposed to have
been regulated into compliance with best practice so that hard-working staff
don’t save in vain.

If Lord Mandelson is to have any credibility as an aid to small business he
must urgently review how initiatives such as his £75m Capital for Enterprise
Fund work.

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US deficit ‘to hit $1.8 trillion’

The US budget deficit will hit $1.8tn (£1.25tn) this year, a record amount, according to US Congress estimates.

The White House said the prediction by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would not alter President Barack Obama’s policy agenda. Read more

Dell sees quarterly profits slip

US computer maker Dell has seen its quarterly profits slip 5%, as customers worldwide bought fewer computers.

Dells profits in the third quarter were $727m (£492.3m), down from $766m in the same period last year. Read more

Wolseley to shed 2,300 more jobs

Building materials firm Wolseley says it is to cut 2,300 more jobs, the majority in the UK, as the housing downturn continues to bite.

The company, which operates in Europe and North America, said it had already cut 5,000 posts in the August to October period. Read more