Gold Madness
The value of gold has been going through the roof. Its price has quadrupled since 1999, and in March this year it reached $1,000 an ounce for the first time.
With uncertainty in the markets and turmoil in the banks, more and more people are turning to gold.
“Since the financial crisis erupted last August, there’s been a flood of investment into gold, really because of its safe haven properties,” says Jill Leyland, economic advisor to the World Gold Council.
“Gold is no one’s liability and that means it is the ultimate defence against unforeseen contingencies.”
High Street Sales Hit Three-Year Low
The High Street suffered its worst performance for three years in April as retail sales fell for the second month in a row.
Clothing and footwear stores were worst hit as like-for-like sales fell 1.5%, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
This followed a 1.6% drop in sales in March - and the BRC believes the trend is likely to continue.
BRC Director-general Stephen Robertson said higher fuel and utility bills were partly to blame.
They were “eating away at people’s spare cash” and shoppers were putting food before other items.
“Retailers will look to the recent sunny weather to provide some boost, ” said Mr Robertson.
“But with the economic fundamentals remaining weak, there seems no reason for these tough trading conditions to improve soon.”
Source: Sky News Read More