In 1973, my wife and I answered an advertisement in The Sunday Times for a holiday home in Lot-et-Garonne, then a very rural département in southwest France. Following through proved..

Asia Pacific shares reached two-month highs on Wednesday as the US president-elect Barack Obama said he would spend more than his government received in tax for years to make sure the..

Nationwide reports further fall in house prices for December that wiped out previous gains and pushed the average decline for 2008 to a record low for more than 50 years

Councils are increasingly using bailiffs and court summonses to collect unpaid council tax resulting in thousands of householders being made bankrupt it has been reported.

It is scarcely a role they can have wished for, but Dorothy Whittaker's family might consider themselves the exemplars of Derby's credit crunch. One of her sons, who runs a property..

The rates roulette for savers and borrowers

Demand for staff is falling at a record rate, according to a report by Britain's recruiters.

Q I was on benefits, receiving a small amount of income support (£14 a week) and help with interest on my mortgage of approximately £280 a month. Now that the Bank of England base..

So this is what good news looks like. Debenhams' like-for-like sales fell by "only" 3.3% over the Christmas period. Genius. Comparable sales in Next stores plunged 7% in the five months to..

HSBC raised its best-buy tracker mortgage rate yesterday amid expectations that other lenders will follow suit after tomorrow's much-anticipated cut to interest rates.The decision by HSBC..

UK car sales figures for the past year are expected to be more than 10% lower than sales in 2007.

Few things are ordinary about Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn fraud – including the way it is being ­investigated.

Millennium Management, the $11bn New York hedge fund run by Izzy Englander, has appointed an independent administrator to provide worried investors with reassurance in the wake of alleged ..

A German billionaire industrialist plagued by financial mayhem and ­struggling to ­rescue his business empire has killed ­himself, his family announced today.Adolf Merckle, who was..

The typical saver will lose out on £300 worth of income a year as a result of reductions in interest rates over the past 12 months new research has shown.

The passing of 2008 has brought an apparent rush of optimism to one area of the markets – traders are betting on sharp declines in ­interbank lending rates over the next few weeks and..

Reykjavik hopes court of human rights will award damages after Gordon Brown froze Icelandic banks' assets

Ashton Bradbury the highly regarded fund manager has started to rebuild his exposure to retailers including HMV.

Several EU countries report major disruption to their gas supplies from Russia as Moscow accuses Ukraine of shutting pipelines.

Changes are coming to the US government repurchase market as the industry hopes that new steps in self-regulation will spare this crucial sector of finance from greater official super�..

Governments face their first big tests over plans to raise record levels of debt this year as fears rise that the vast amount of issuance could lead to a sharp jump in yields.

Matthew Elliott: There is plenty of scope for the Tory leader to make his proposed £5bn cut in public spending without affecting frontline services

The difference in the share prices of Chinese companies listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong has narrowed dramatically in recent weeks and may disappear if the Chinese economy proves..

Chinese officials on Tuesday gave concerted signals that the government is moving towards implementing a long-awaited plan to allow mainland property developers to raise capital through..

Britain's biggest building society today said house prices crashed by 16% in 2008 - and refused to make a prediciton for 2009

Pressure is mounting on the Bank of England for a full one percentage point cut in interest rates when the MPC concludes its meeting on Thursday

More than 12 pensioners could die every hour during the current cold snap Britain's largest pensioner's organisation has warned.

Families will see their energy bills fall below £1000 in the next three months experts predict.

Ireland's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, hinted today that the country's public-sector workers may face pay cuts as the government plans to plug a €12bn (£11bn) gap in the state's..

Plunging car prices are leaving thousands of motorists in 'negative equity' on their vehicle loans, experts warn

David Black, banking consultant at Defaqto, answers readers' questions on how this week's interest rate decision will affect mortgages, savings accounts, credit cards and investments on..

British home owners could have to pay more for their energy as a result of the Russians turning off the gas supply to much of southern Europe.

Technology stocks were among the big favourites on Wall Street on Tuesday as the market hit a fresh two-month high.

House prices fell by record 15.

A quarter of mortgage deals are available only to borrowers with a 40% deposit, it has been revealed

Cowboy garages that rip off customers - particularly women - with over-priced and incomplete services are being targeted in a crackdown

We could all be saving up to £500 a year simply by making sure we are paying the best price for the calls we make from our home phones

You have to hand it to the Nationwide, and, indeed, the Halifax.Both lenders, in producing their monthly reports showing prices fell more than 2% in a single month in December, are saying..

David Cameron said today that he would introduce league tables for prisons to cut reoffending rates with an increased emphasis on rehabilitation and follow-up care after release.The Tory..

Homebuyers are being offered 18 months of free gas, electricity and water bills in what is likely to be the first of many bribes offered by desperate housebuilders this year.Barratt Homes..

Julie Salt looks back to 1979 to compare how her father's generation coped with mass unemployment.

I was ill and missed mortgage payments. Now my lender is threatening to take me to court unless I clear the debt in 18 months

I am owed thousands by my former employer after being made redundant but there seems no way of getting the money. What can I do?

Russia ups ante in bitter gas dispute with Ukraine

Oil prices hit the the $50 a barrel level on Tuesday amid escalating violence in the Middle East as fighting between Israel and Hamas showed little prospect of ending quickly.

The euro weakens against the pound and the US dollar as data suggests that a eurozone interest rate cut next week is likely.

Who is Julian Hodge and would you entrust your life's savings to his bank? Or how do you feel about handing over fistfuls of spare dollars to FirstSave, Nigeria's finest? Maybe, as a soft..

Car manufacturers provided a focal point for European equities on Tuesday after news that Porsche had achieved a majority holding in Volkswagen boosted both companies’ share prices.

Moody’s Investors Services on Tuesday lowered its outlook on Bahrain’s debt rating to negative from stable as oil prices have declined “well below” the Gulf island’s budgetary..

Inflation in the eurozone falls more than expected to 1.6% in December, which is the lowest level for 26 months.

Administrators take control of perfume retailer