#prize bond 1 February 2021

[chakytron]

1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500

1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500

1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500 Category Main Description: 7500PrizeBondResult #1February2021 #PrizebondDraw 1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500 I have started this … TopTrengingTV Hunting the most trend video of the moment, every hour every day 24/7. Youtube Video Data Published At: 2021-02-01T04:15:19Z   Tags: …

[workforcemanagementhub1]

05 Unique Team Building Activities For Post Valentine’s Day | Cheer Up Your Employees

Valentine's day has gone already! February has always been the perfect time to express your love to your near and dear ones. The month of giving and taking chocolates & flowers! But apart from that, Valentine's day is even said to be a great time to show your appreciation towards your employees. Well, yes, do not miss this excellent opportunity to celebrate the strong bond between the coworkers. 

Wait! Do you remember those old days when we used to gift chocolates, candies, and flowers to our schoolmates? Obviously, how can we forget those golden days! But now we all have grown up! So, this time, we can celebrate our happiness and care towards our coworkers and employees too. So,, make sure to be a bit nicer with your hardworking employees as well in this season of love.

Sadly, a staggering 85 percent of workers do not seem to be involved at work that day! So, instead of playing the blame game, why not use this month in a fun and appropriate way to recognize your team? Why not look for some exciting post Valentine's day team building activities? Well, by making the team feel highly appreciated, companies can definitely increase the engagement level! In fact, employees that are highly engaged are said to be more productive and will do everything to achieve the targets.  

Why Is It A Perfect Opportunity To Celebrate Post-Valentine's Day At Work?

Since not convinced? No worries! We will not let you move on. Given below are some of the 05 on how celebrating Valentine's day can positively affect your team.

1-Enhance Friendship

Celebrating altogether and participating in group events will raise the morale of the team, light up a sense of teamwork, and make workers feel more involved.

2-Cheerful Environment

Employees will feel motivated and rewarded when TLs or HRs will take that extra step to make them understand how much their work is appreciated. 

3-Improves Positivity

Simple team activities, such as distributing cookies and candies and playing bingo, can minimize the level of stress, foster innovation, and, most importantly, increase workplace positivity.

4-Builds A Caring Environment

Well, we just need a reason to celebrate any occasion and why not celebrate valentine’s day the whole month! Companies can actually create a loving and caring environment. Employees will treasure every moment, and this will definitely boost up employee productivity. 

5-Brightens Up The Mood: 

For many people, this time of year may be particularly demanding, coming shortly after Blue Monday. You can lift the mood and spread some joy by planning some fun games for this month’s post valentine’s day celebrations.

05 Unique Post Valentine’s Day Celebration Ideas To Make Your Employees Feel Joyed 

Okay, so this 2021, we will make it much easier for you to celebrate this month with your entire team. Just check out those 05 ideas listed below and level up the employees productivity with the right team building activities!

1-Host Or Try Ordering Some Delicious Breakfast

Grasp some fruits, bagels, and pastries, or order their favorite breakfast dishes for your squad. Adorn a table with a beautiful tablecloth, roses, and scattered paper hearts if you take the official route. Distribute some sweets and wish everyone a happy Valentine's day. 

2-Gift Goody Bags

Fill every employee's goody bags with sweets, gift cards, and a beautiful handwritten note. Don't tighten your hands while spending a bit on your employees. Make sure to gift them the best this Valentine's day. Also, don't forget about the team's dietary restrictions and preferences!

3-Make Charitable Donations

Do one thing, make a list of charities. Place a jar in the lunchroom for each charity you wish, along with a brief summary of the charity. Send a red paper heart to each employee with the amount written on it. Now, ask the employees to put the paper with money in the jar.

4-Play Bingo And Select Prizes For Different Winning Categories

Set up bingo game sheets and distribute them to the employees who are willing to participate and play. Now, prizes can be anything, like cash amounts, gift cards, to a special opportunity to have lunch with the CEO. 

5-Recognize Good Work In Front Of Everyone

Appreciate your employees work and make them feel valued this Valentine's day. Reward them for their good work and share their achievements and in front of other employees.

Also watch : :EmpMonitor- Best Employee Productivity Management Solution For Your Business

Time To Sum It Up

[365days365movies]

February 11, 2021: The Bridges of Madison County (1995)(Part 1)

Y’know, if you were going to tell me that one of the most famous American romances of all time was directed by this guy...

I would be very surprised. And surprised I am, because The Bridges of Madison County is indeed directed by Clint Eastwood, who also acts as one of its leads alongside one of the most famous actresses of the time. That, of course, would be Meryl Streep, who’s going to get yet another Best Actress nomination for this role. Believe it or not, this is going to be her 8th for BA, and 10th nomination overall, with only 2 wins included (one for Actress and one for Supporting Actress).

Finally, this is another period piece, also taking place in the 1960s. I guess historical romances were real popular in the 90s to 2000s. Go figure! This will probably be the last, as I have a hankering to move onto another subgenre. So, shall we? SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

At a home in what I can only assume is Madison County, Iowa, siblings Carolyn (Annie Corley) and Michael Johnson (Victor Slezak) arrive at their now deceased mother’s home for the execution of her will. They learn that she has wished to be cremated, and for her ashes to be scattered over a local bridge, which they are...NOT happy about, goddamn! Respect your mother’s wishes, guys, dear Lord!

They uncover an envelope containing photos from 1965 that they’ve never seen, all of which show her posing near various The Bridges of Madison County. Upon looking at them, Carolyn has a realization, and asks Michael to come along. They ask the lawyer and Michael’s wife to leave them, and they go through it in private.

The letters

See, they’ve found letters to their mother from Robert Kincaid, a photographer for the magazine National Geographic, seemingly confessing to an illicit secret love affair. However, he’s also dead, and has asked for his ashes to be scattered off of the same bridge. Michael (whom I REALLY don’t like, by the way, he’s an ABSOLUTE dick) believes that he influenced her to do the same, but Carolyn’s not sure. Also amongst the letters is a key.

The key opens a chest, within which is a camera and a collection of other items, as well as a letter addressed to them both. Written in 1987, it’s addressed to Carolyn because she knew that Michael would be a little pissbaby about it (look, I REALLY don’t like him, he’s being an ass). In the letter to them, she confesses to them the affair, which took place when Robert Kincaid went there to photograph The Bridges of Madison County. The entire affair is documented in three notebooks, which they begin reading.

1965! Italian immigrant Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep) is cooking dinner for her husband Richard (Jim Haynie) and her two teenaged kids, all of whom are on the way to the Illinois State Fair to exhibit Carolyn’s prize steer. The marriage is passionless, and the kids aren’t exactly opened up to her mother. 

It doesn’t seem like a bad life, but it is kind of a dull one. Or, y’know, complacent and stable because not every relationship has to be a sequence of whirlwind passion and glory, and one shouldn’t abandon a good loving situation for a WEEKEND-LONG FLING GODDAMN IT I AM SICK AND TIRED OF INFIDELITY IN THESE GODDAMN MOVIES HOLY SHIT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE LAST FOUR FILMS HAS FEATURED IT AND I AM SICK OF IT

For the record, I’ve never been cheated on, nor have I cheated on anyone, but this trend in romance movies...troubles me. Seriously, I get that the last few, especially In the Mood for Love, have looked at infidelity as a serious issue, but...just one. Just one great romance movie that doesn’t require infidelity for its main couple to get together. Please? I mean, if you include the never seen Rosaline or betrothed Paris in Romeo + Juliet, that movie also had infidelity in it, meaning the only ones WITHOUT ANY FORM of infidelity in 11 DAYS have been Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman. Guys. C’mon.

Yeah, yeah, OK, moving on. Sorry, that rant’s been building for a bit.

Anyway, the kids and Richard take off, leaving Francesca by herself at the house. As she’s doing chores, who should pull up but photographer Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood), who’s looking for Roseman Covered Bridge to photograph it. But, he’s lost, and he asks Francesca for directions.

However, the directions there are pretty complicated, and even Francesca seems to get them mixed up. She agrees to show him there in person, and the two take off in his car.

In the car together

The two get to know each other a bit over the course of the drive. Robert notes that he’s been to her hometown in Italy, having been there once because he considered it pretty. She’s fascinated by the decision, but I’m not sure if its because she thinks he’s crazy, or because she thinks he’s intriguing

They make it to Roseman Bridge, where Robert takes some preparatory photographs and Francesca walks along the bridge itself. I will say, I live in a place with some covered bridges, and is it weird that I feel like visiting a nearby one tomorrow? Honestly, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. Maybe do some birdwatching nearby, contribute to the Great Backyard Bird Count, something, y’know?

Out of appreciation for her help, he picks her some flowers, which she claims are poisonous. The two bond over this, and he drives her back home. And that SHOULD be it, as the two part and introduce each other by first name. But, she offers him some iced tea, and he accepts. HERE we go.

In the house, the two continue to bond, and Francesca begins to reveal some frustration with her home life, as well as her life in Iowa as compared to what she had dreamed of. To that, Robert says the following, which he claimed he wrote one day on the road.

The old dreams were good dreams. They didn’t work out, but I’m glad I had them.

That is...that is a nice line WAIT. Am I buying into this coupling? ALREADY?

So, here’s the thing thus far about this month. Some couples have had great chemistry, and some haven’t been perfect. On the top for me so far are Richard and Vivian from Pretty Woman, Johnny and Baby from Dirty Dancing, Emma and George from Emma, Yuri and Lara from Doctor Zhivago, and the highest being Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan from In the Mood for Love (although, that one amounts to wishful thinking). But all of those took a little bit to build up. so HOW IS IT that I’m already shipping these two (despite the infidelity, of course)?

Francesca seems to agree with me as she watches Robert wash up outside, after having invited him to stay for dinner. He helps her prepare dinner, then charms her (and me, incidentally) with charming stories and dinner jokes. Real talk, I like Robert, he’s a charming guy.

After dinner, she notes that she was once a schoolteacher, but her kids and husband didn’t approve of her working. 1960s, after all. She brushed this off, and asks the location of the most exciting place he’s ever...been...shit, this is an example of excitement being introduced into a boring life, huh?

That trope is one of the most annoying to me in these movies. The Notebook had a bit of that, and I wasn’t a fan, but this is the first time that it’s a straight-up example of that trope. And...I’m buying it? WHY AM I BUYING THIS

Francesca becomes a bit conflicted at this point, and the two share some brandy together. But we’re shot back into the present day, where Michael (UUUUUGH) accuses Robert of trying to get her drunk to take advantage of her. However, Carolyn sympathizes with them both, citing her own currently faltering marriage.

Back in 1965, the two have a slight disagreement about how they live their lives. Robert leaves for the night, and they surprisingly don’t do anything untoward. However, I’m ore than willing to bet that Francesca’s now thinking about it. She gets a phone call from Richard in Illinois, but begins to tear up as Robert leaves. She steps outside in a bathrobe and flashes the wind.

That night, she writes a message to Robert, and drives out to the bridge, where she leaves it for him. She tells him to give her a call, inviting him over the following day. The next morning, he sees the note while taking a picture of the bridge, then calls her afterwards and accepts the invitation. He also invites her to come along with him to take pictures of the bridges, which she accepts in turn.

OK, let’s go for a Part 2! See you there!

[kicksaddictny]

Dim Mak x Street Fighter Apparel Collection

In celebration of this year’s Capcom Winter Update and Prize Fighter event, Steve Aoki is proud to announce a triple knock-out collaboration, featuring an apparel drop “Dim Mak x Street Fighter,” a limited edition counter-cade in partnership with Arcade1Up, and an official remix of Ryu’s iconic theme song. The Dim Mak x Street Fighter apparel and counter-cade collaboration releases today, February 11th, 2021, and will be available at dimmakcollection.com and NTWRK 

Growing up, Steve Aoki would pop into the local pizzeria arcade every day after school with a pocket full of quarters to play Street Fighter. The rules were simple - play until you lose - and that understanding brought together friends and strangers alike. Kids from all ages and backgrounds would gather in front of the single Street Fighter arcade machine, bonding over combination moves and cheering one another on for the ultimate prize: bragging rights! Fast forward to today, Street Fighter remains one of the most beloved games worldwide, bringing fans together to challenge one another on bigger, more competitive stages.  

Working closely with Capcom’s creative team, DJ and fashion designer Steve Aoki reinterprets iconic Street Fighter artwork through the aesthetic vibes of his streetwear fashion label, Dim Mak. The Dim Mak x Street Fighter apparel drop, retailing for $38-$75, showcases twelve styles ranging from t-shirts, long sleeves tees, and hoodies, complete with bold graphics and colorways inspired by the arcade classic.

Accompanying the apparel drop is the Street Fighter 2 Player Counter-Cade - a limited-edition, 4-in-1 arcade system made in partnership with Arcade1Up. With only 30 units available, the exclusive counter-cade features collaborative artwork and designs including side art by Steve Aoki and a Dim Mak-inspired marquee. As the first ever 2 player counter-cade to be released by Arcade1Up, the Street Fighter 2 Player Counter-Cade is equipped with 4 Capcom games -  Street Fighter™ II: World Warriors, Street Fighter™ II: Champion Edition, Super Street Fighter™ II: Turbo, Final Fight®. Each counter-cade is personally signed by Steve Aoki, and will be available for $199. 

“I am so excited to be combining my style and the classic 16-bit aesthetic. I can’t wait for you guys to see it, it's a Hadouken Banger!” - Steve Aoki

In addition to the Dim Mak x Street Fighter apparel and Counter-Cade drop, Steve Aoki  celebrates the 30th anniversary of Street Fighter II with a festive remix of Capcom Sound Team’s iconic “Ryu’s Theme.” Aoki honors Ryu’s legacy with an uptempo epic, inspired by his childhood spent Street Fighting at the local pizzeria arcade. Aoki's “Ryu's Theme (The Moe’s Pizzeria Steve Aoki Remix)" comes out through Dim Mak Records on February 19th, 2021 and is available to pre-save now:  https://ffm.to/ryustheme.

The Dim Mak x Street Fighter apparel and counter-cade collaboration releases today, February 11th, 2021 at 9AM PST, and will be available at dimmakcollection.com and NTWRK.

[a1unscripted]

February 5, 2022

Discussion with Alison McDowell on the Metaverse and the big picture.

Some key words that serve as prime examples of doublespeak in this context:

1. Self-Sovereignty 2. Disruptive Tech 3. Decentralization 4. Sustainable development 5. Stakeholder Economy 6. Social Nudges

Important information and links:

1. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v8n_VJ0fk4TVxi9txMgEAZrfGhW_EBRuMobvskr2FWw/edit?usp=sharing from Alison’s discussion with Jason Bosch https://youtu.be/J_2sBImR9-A “Opportunity Youth: An in-depth follow-up to questioning the Greater Reset III.” 2. Steven T Newcomb “Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Discovery.” 3. https://www.media.mit.edu/research/?filter=everything&tag=politics 4. Every Student Succeeds Act: https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn & https://www.everystudentsucceedsact.org/ 5. Melanie Swan, founder of Founder of the Institute for Blockchain Studies http://book.itep.ru/depository/blockchain/blockchain-by-melanie-swan.pdf & https://www.blockchainstudies.org/index.html 6. Smart Toilets Data Collection https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/04/smart-toilet-monitors-for-signs-of-disease.html 7. Disruptive Technology https://www.christenseninstitute.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAuvOPBhDXARIsAKzLQ8GJHO0GGQiqH4yutrNboSq0t75-9LiuGPf7JH4xsdNSCnuscFV-fegaAnnDEALw_wcB 8. Blockchain Founders Fund https://blockchainff.com/ 9. Shaun Conway of ixo, system of credits, South Africa, https://www.ixo.world/collaborate 10. Enigma Protocols https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/enigma/overview/ 11. Patrick Wood https://muckrack.com/patrick-wood-7 author of Technocracy Rising: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation 12. West Virginia Gov offers prizes for compliance last Spring https://governor.wv.gov/News/press-releases/2021/Pages/COVID-19-UPDATE-Gov.-Justice-West-Virginia-offering-100-savings-bond-to-residents-age-16-to-35-who-get-vaccinated.aspx 13. Alison’s latest presentation, a wealth of information which can be found at this link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v8n_VJ0fk4TVxi9txMgEAZrfGhW_EBRuMobvskr2FWw/edit#slide=id.p

Timestamps for YouTube:

00:00:00 Intro 00:02:00 Welcome Alison, basic agenda for discussion 00:07:41 Joe Rogan Clip with Ben Shapiro on Metaverse Fair Use 00:10:00 Joe’s Point 00:10:48 Alison’s thoughts on linking Facebook to the Meta and renaming it, beta testing 00:11:30 Difference between virtual reality and mixed reality. How will people respond? 00:12:00 VR Headsets, tech growing smaller such as headsets as small as contact lenses 00:12:31 How would mixed reality look to the average person. Digital world and physical world have integrated censors. 00:14:15 Smart toilets, censors, data collection and subsequent permissions or restrictions based on your data and ‘threat level.’ Digital IDs. 00:15:50 Digital Education and Blockchain credentials, the Learning Economy Foundation, Skills Badges, partnerships such as Lego and MIT. Targeting kids for the training of AI. 00:20:17 NFTs, choice, and augmented reality. Another aspect of the two-tier society. 00:23:03 Social Capital, how Alison’s Research Began. Read about Shaun Conway and “The tokenized impact economy, metadata, social capital https://www.ixo.world/collaborate 00:27:00 Tokens minted, splinterland, Blockchain Founders Fund, Health Hero, NFT that represents your well-being. Example: West Virginia teachers have devices to count their steps and this determines fines on insurance. And gathers personal data. 00:32:00 Interoperability and Digital ID. Capitalizing on our wellbeing of lack of wellbeing. 00:34:40 Air sensors to detect virus in air? https://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2021/Pagsuyoin-Trinity-Challenge-Award.aspx 00:36:05 Jailbreaking the Code of Life. The education and Health Space-the Gateway. Melanie Swan, nano machines, the hive mind. 00:44:58 E-Government and AI assistants/digital twins. “Radical Democracy.” All linked to the Build Back Better agenda, the infrastructure agenda, and creating neural networks. 00:58:00 Some of the key players carrying the agenda out. 01:04:00 Cognitive Dissonance. The future of computing, AI, energy consumption, and where do people think all this energy is going to come from? Will they have to earn credits? 01:08:00 Dispossessed people, social impact markets, ESSA, Pay for Success, ESL, E-Learning and machine learning 01:13:00 Japan’s Moonshot, timeline is 2050 for the goal of living without physical body. 01:18:57 Digital labor, dual-use, is crypto really a silent revolution. 01:26:50 Self-Sovereignty contracts with Blockchain technology 01:28:17 Augmented reality, the narrative that its about empowerment, freedom. The Enigma Protocols from MIT negates those concepts. Compliance data, IoT sensors to control movements, self-policing 01:22:26 Mormon Transhumanism conference in Utah. Libertarian context. 01:45:00 Judith Rodin, pay for success, circular economy is the circuit. Pay as you go. Patrick Wood on Technocracy 01:53:13 Social Nudges, how to draw people into system through incentives and punishment. Example is WV Gov with vaccine prizes https://governor.wv.gov/News/press-releases/2021/Pages/COVID-19-UPDATE-Gov.-Justice-West-Virginia-offering-100-savings-bond-to-residents-age-16-to-35-who-get-vaccinated.aspx 02:03:00 Freedom or reciprocity? 02:06:51 How would Alison introduce the reality of the Metaverse to a classroom of high school students? 02:24:16 The testing regime 02:29:40 Two-Tier Society, we’re all waiting on the Heroes, the Leaders, to lead us but are the leaders of the resistance really leaders? Steve Kirsch promoting SSRIs and a regimen of “early treatment.” What’s to gain? Are his intentions altruistic? 02:39:00 Operation Collective Strength, then financial war games, happened in December so what comes next? 02:41:28 Wrap up: IoT, IoB, Meta, Spatial Web, Digital Twinning 02:46:25 What progress does Alison foresee this year for the establishment? We can beat this challenge. 02:53:47 The system wants violence. Inspired by India farmer Protests\ 03:00:00 Positive, resolved, we cannot fracture under the pressure of whatever they throw our way.

[dom8888]

Premium bond winners for December 2021 revealed

Two lucky premium bond holders are ending the year £1 million richer having scooped the top prize in the December premium bond prize draw.

The first £1 million winner lives in West Sussex and won with the bond number 306VK958372. The holder has £46,000 invested and the winning bond was purchased in July 2017.

The second winner lives in Lancashire and has £14,725 invested in premium bonds. The winning bond number 437QD081540 was purchased in February 2021.

As well as the two £1 million winners, this month’s prize draw saw 3.3 million other prizes handed out to premium bond holders.

The December prize draw has resulted in six premium bond holders winning £100,000, 10 scooping £50,000, 23 receiving £25,000 and 56 winning £10,000. The remaining winners received prizes ranging from £5,000 to £25.

Commenting on this month’s prize draw, Jill Waters, NS&I Retail Director, said: “A massive congratulations to our Premium Bonds jackpot winners in West Sussex and Lancashire. A month on from the 65th anniversary of Premium Bonds going on sale, ERNIE has gone back to his roots and picked a winner from Lancashire where he is based.

“With more than 3.3 million other prizes being dished out in December, Christmas will definitely be coming early for those Premium Bonds customers up and down the country. This Christmas, you can also choose to give children the gift of Premium Bonds, sharing the potential for them to be surprised and delighted each month, and helping them to start a savings habit with one of the nation’s favourite savings products.”

[valuentumbrian]

The Invisible Hand Will Sink These Markets

Image: Nan Fry

By Brian Nelson, CFA

Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand” is often thought to be a blessing by the capitalists of the world. The free-market economy will find the right answer, they may say. Self-interest and greed will inevitably push humankind to new horizons and achieve levels of greatness no person before thought possible. What fools we are to believe.

Irrational behavior around shares of GameStop (GME) continued Friday, February 26, with the company trading in a huge range of $86.00-$142.90 on the session. We re-released our 16-page report on the stock and peg a fair value estimate of just $4 per share, with the high end of the fair value estimate range of $7. A Bank of America analyst reiterated a $10 price target. GameStop shares closed at ~$102.

There’s clearly no reasonable basis for owning GameStop’s stock at current price levels, in our view, and there certainly was no reasonable basis when the stock was trading as high as $483 per share earlier this year. An equity capital raise by management would result in a fair value estimate increase (perhaps a material one depending on how many new shares the market can stomach), but the takeaway is the same:

These markets are nuts. The iceberg is coming, and we’re still going full steam ahead.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) noted February 26 that “as part of its continuing effort to respond to potential attempts to exploit investors during the recent market volatility,” it had suspended trading in 15 more stocks—all “because of questionable trading and social media activity.” We applaud the SEC for its swift action, though much more is needed, and it may be too little too late.

Unlike the dot-com bubble roughly two decades ago, the fervor of the price-agnostic trading frenzy of 2021 has an aura of permanence to it. This “craziness” is here to stay. Where during the dot-com bubble, sell-side analysts were in a race to set the highest price target, regardless of their underlying opinion of the firm, there was a solution to the problem. Get rid of the bad apples. But today, we have a fraction of the sell-side analysts we used to; they’ve been out of a job for some time now.

Fired – in favor of underperforming statistical quant work or the fantasies of artificial intelligence and machine learning. More than 60% of trading in the marketplace is now driven by indexing, algorithms and quant traders chasing momentum or following trends--or moving stocks higher or lower based on simple P/B or P/E ratios. The quants know statistics, but of finance they know little.

Moreover, there are trillions in indexed products, and their overseers believe we still operate in an environment like that of even a few decades ago—when sell-side analysts were pulling seven-figure salaries because the invisible hand rewarded price discovery. We are not operating in such an environment. The price setters have almost all left. Shown the door, even.

The best finance schools aren’t teaching how to responsibly evaluate the fundamentals of a company and haven’t been doing so for decades. Heck, they think they’ve “solved the market” with backtests and “made up” factors. They are teaching coding or indoctrinating students to believe that any share price is as good as the next (GameStop at $450, for example – what a deal! – yes, sarcasm), or that the market simply knows best. Maybe years ago, the market was once a decent price-setting mechanism, but today, it is most certainly not.

GameStop is just one of at least a few dozen rather large stocks whose share prices make no sense--and I’m not talking about Tesla (TSLA). There's actually some reasonable basis to Tesla’s valuation. It’s not just the two dozen or so companies that the SEC suspended trading today either. This nonsense is everywhere. Do we really believe that a $7 trillion asset manager like Vanguard, or the trillions in indexed products today that pay little attention to intrinsic value are not also distorting market prices?

Pretty straightforward, no? But some of the brightest minds on the Street today may say in disbelief: “Full Steam Ahead!” Of course, some of them are just stubborn. They’ve been singing the same tune for decades, finding different ways to say the same thing over and over again, and they can’t change it now. They’d be wrong, and their egos couldn’t take it for one second. The invisible hand is yet still working overtime.

Elon Musk tweets out a Clubhouse app and a completely different company with the ticker CMGR soars. The same situation happened to another company called Signal Advance (SIGL) over another one of Musk’s tweets. Yet another instance like this but without a Musk tweet occurred with confusion of ZOOM last year. There’s no fix to this, and these are just the distortions we see clear as day.

You can’t convince a die-hard index aficionado that’s hauling in $20 million a year on a book of business that he’s built based on the faulty efficient market hypothesis and underperforming modern portfolio theory to all of sudden care about the greater good of society. What did Upton Sinclair say: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

Nobody cares that these markets are going straight to the bottom of the ocean like the Titanic, no more than uninformed nations can heed the warning of climate change before it's too late. We’re headed for disaster one way or another. The incentives have been in place for a long time. “Sell index funds. Look – random factors can explain these returns.” Most of what’s coming out of finance today is nonsense, padding the wrong pockets.

How many people celebrate when they get the fair value of a company, correct? Where’s that on the news? Pay a man twice as much to not do individual due diligence on stocks, and just mechanically rebalance assets every six months or so and not give a damn about the health of the marketplace, what do you expect? You don’t think Jack Bogle is hailed as a hero by advisors for saving individual investors money, do you? Jack hasn’t saved the prudent stock picker a plug nickel.

Adam Smith’s invisible hand of active management used to result in the optimization of price discovery, where participants would do their very best work to buy and sell to “uncover” the best market price, creating a positive externality for all investors--even those quants and indexers that are now polluting the system. Today’s invisible hand is leading us off a cliff. Incentives are in place to continue to discourage price discovery, and to no surprise, we’re seeing just a glimpse of it.

Iceberg ahead, and very few see it. Sure, there are perma-bears that have been bearish for the past two decades that are right twice a day like a clock, but we’ve been bullish. The ship is damaged, the markets are going to sink, and it’s not the “little guy’s” fault. The distortions in the financial markets are clear when viewed through the lens of a $6 billion company GameStop, but they are no less evident than implicit distortions caused by a bunch of index funds piling into the same name at once.

We didn’t hand out Nobel prizes just for Long-Term Capital Management to blow up. We didn’t hand out Nobel prizes for EMH just to witness what’s happening in the markets with stocks like GameStop doing what they’re doing. We didn’t hand out Nobel prizes to provide excuses for why modern portfolio theory in the form of the 60/40 stock/bond portfolio has failed investors for the past 30 years relative to a monkey throwing darts at the WSJ pages.

Why are we handing out Nobel prizes -- and why doesn't Warren Buffett have one? You get the type of academic work you incentivize, and incentives are out of whack. I’ve said jokingly that finance for the past 60 years can easily be summed up by two developments: 1) Oh, you can’t do stock analysis? Well, here’s indexing. 2) Oh, you can’t beat the S&P 500? Well, here’s some quant jargon.

Indexing and quant jargon are doing far more damage than a few traders on social media. Believe you me. These markets are not well, and the invisible hand is guiding through a fog of misinformation to disaster. Markets have bounced right off the high end of our fair value estimate range on the S&P 500, and we’ve raised cash. The violins are playing on the Titanic. The “unsinkable” ship we call the price discovery mechanism of the markets can sink. Let us not be fools to think otherwise.

There will be an epilogue to Value Trap, and you and I both know that I don't want to write it. Let's keep playing the violin for now.

Tickerized for GME, CMGR, SIGL, TSLA, ZM, ZOOM

Temporarily Suspended Trading: Bebida Beverage Co. (BBDA); Blue Sphere Corporation (BLSP); Ehouse Global Inc. (EHOS); Eventure Interactive Inc. (EVTI); Eyes on the Go Inc. (AXCG); Green Energy Enterprises Inc. (GYOG); Helix Wind Corp. (HLXW); International Power Group Ltd. (IPWG); Marani Brands Inc. (MRIB); MediaTechnics Corp. (MEDT); Net Talk.com Inc. (NTLK); Patten Energy Solutions Group Inc. (PTTN); PTA Holdings Inc. (PTAH); Universal Apparel & Textile Company (DKGR); and Wisdom Homes of America Inc. (WOFA),  Bangi Inc. (BNGI); Sylios Corp. (UNGS); Marathon Group Corp. (PDPR); Affinity Beverage Group Inc. (ABVG); All Grade Mining Inc. (HYII); and SpectraScience Inc. (SCIE)

-----

Valuentum members have access to our 16-page stock reports, Valuentum Buying Index ratings, Dividend Cushion ratios, fair value estimates and ranges, dividend reports and more. Not a member? Subscribe today. The first 14 days are free.

Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, QQQ, and IWM. Some of the other securities written about in this article may be included in Valuentum's simulated newsletter portfolios. Contact Valuentum for more information about its editorial policies.

[chakytron]

1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500

1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500

1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500 Category Main Description: 7500PrizeBondResult #1February2021 #PrizebondDraw 1-2-2021 I 7500 Prize Bond result I Prize bond Draw 1 February 2021 I 7500 I have started this … TopTrengingTV Hunting the most trend video of the moment, every hour every day 24/7. Youtube Video Data Published At: 2021-02-01T04:15:19Z   Tags: …

[phgq]

Is mobile gaming good or bad?

#PHnews: Is mobile gaming good or bad?

MANILA – We hear some parents complain that their kids are always glued to their mobile phones, "addicted" to gaming. Does that mean mobile gaming is bad? Does it bring any good? For mom of two, Glenda Flaviano, mobile gaming is actually one of her platforms to bond with her kids. "Yhana (8) and Kuya Math (14) are very fond of playing mobile games, every day except during school time. I guess they are both responsible gamers because when I ask them to help in household chores, they respond immediately," she told the Philippine News Agency. Her rule, she said, is that her kids could play as long as they follow her orders. She plays with them but confiscates their gadgets or cut the internet connection whenever they abuse their time to play. The 34-year old mom said she appreciates another positive side of gaming, which is enhancing her kids' creativity. "They became imaginative and have developed a tactical mindset. Also, somehow, gaming enables them to escape reality. So for me, it's a good hobby," Flaviano said. She sees to it that her kids prioritize school activities and sleep. "They should finish their seatwork and offline activities first, then they can do what they want. Gaming should end at least before 10 p.m. so they could sleep," she said. They join small tournaments, "clans" or teams. She would allow his son to join bigger tournaments, as long as this won't create conflict with his studies. Some e-gamers are more serious and are even competing internationally. Just this week, Mineski has announced national tournaments for "Valorant" and "League of Legends: Wild Rift". Winning teams could receive up to PHP10 million in total prizes, and the best team would compete with other top gamers across Southeast Asia. For Get Entertained Tribe vice president Jil Bausa-Go, connectivity and the available options for smartphones and other devices are a huge contributor to why many are into mobile gaming. There are firms such as Globe Telecom, which offers scholarships for e-gamers, Go said. In an interview with the PNA on Friday, psychology professor James Philip Ray Pinggolio explained that most likely, people are into gaming because of the reward system, and the excitement that one feels when winning and leveling up. "Our brain releases a hormone called dopamine each time we feel excited. This motivates us to continue playing, because the more rewards we get, the more we get excited. We are urged to do more and get more rewards because of the positive feeling that we get," he said. Since the reward system gives pleasure to the player, the more that he or she gets engaged in playing, to the extent that he or she loses the sense of time and forgets to do other important matters, Pinggolio continued. Then it becomes repetitive and habitual, he said. Flaviano also admitted that gaming is "addictive" for her because it exercises her brain. "In just one game, you have to think of so many things, including tactics and techniques," she shared. 

Glenda Flaviano (left), says she plays with her kids as they could either team up or play against each other. She says they join small tournaments and finds mobile gaming a good hobby. (Photo courtesy of Glenda Flaviano) 

 Pinggolio, meanwhile, clarified that there is nothing wrong with playing mobile games. "But if it affects the different aspects of your life, such as self-care, school, work, even the way you connect with your loved ones, then it becomes problematic," he pointed out. For those who are having a hard time controlling gaming, Pinggolio suggests they seek mental health professionals' advice, and so they could get proper treatment options. "Counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists will help them understand addiction and how to control it. In severe cases, they can also be provided with medication if it is already hard to control," he said. The professor also noted that one should not self-diagnose. How can a person control himself/herself from getting addicted to mobile gaming? Pinggolio suggests time management. The time being spent for gaming must be balanced with the time spent on other chores. One way is to set an alarm so that the player becomes aware of when the gaming should be halted. Finding other activities, such as reading, cooking, learning other skills such as dancing and painting, is another way to divert the gamer's attention. They could also spend time exercising, so the time for gaming would be lessened, Pinggolio said. Can we or can we not consider excessive mobile gaming an "addiction" for kids since they are still young to understand things? Pinggolio said this depends if the child is more into mobile gaming than into doing important things like household chores. "Children can be taught easier in terms of setting a schedule or limiting the use of gadgets. It is important for parents and teachers to guide the kids on the right use of gadgets, and just give them a little time to play," he said. (PNA)

   ***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Is mobile gaming good or bad?." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1130518 (accessed February 13, 2021 at 03:25AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Is mobile gaming good or bad?." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1130518 (archived).

[jeffhirsch]

Profit from History – MoneyMasters Course

On February 17 at 10:30am ET I am giving a full 2-hour course at the MoneyShow Virtual Expo.

Profit from History* Tuesday, February 16, 2021 | 10:30 am - 12:30 pm *Course purchase required. If you miss the live course, you can always watch it on demand at a later date.

Here’s a course summary. Click here for the details.

Part 1 – Trading Discipline & The Major Investment Cycles Part 2 – Beyond “Sell In May” Part 3 – Stock Screening Part 4 – Managing Positions

J.P. Morgan’s classic retort “Stocks will fluctuate” is often quoted with a wink-of-the-eye implication that the only prediction one can make about the stock market is that it will go up, down, or sideways. Many investors agree that no one ever really knows which way the market will move. Nothing could be further from the truth.

After over 30 years in the business and with 54 annual editions of the Stock Trader’s Almanac in my quiver, I have discovered that while stocks do indeed fluctuate, they do so in well-defined, often predictable patterns. These patterns recur too frequently to be the result of chance or coincidence.

I hope you can join me for my Profit from History MasterClass and learn how the stock market's historically proven cyclical and seasonal tendencies can be applied to today’s markets to make you a more successful investor and trader using historical patterns and market seasonality in conjunction with fundamental and technical analysis.

During the MoneyShow Virtual Expo, February 16 - 18, 2021, over 60 of the country's most sought-after financial experts will assemble to share in-depth intelligence about the markets—and the catalysts and trends driving them—to help you chart your path to growth and prosperity in any market environment!

View the Complete Schedule Here

Claim your pass to join us online to profit from real-time access to dozens of world-class financial experts, including Steve Forbes, Peter Schiff, Eric Balchunas, Stephen Biggar, Kristina Hooper, John Mousseau, Louis Navellier, Keith Fitz-Gerald, Stephen Schork, Nicholas Vardy, and Danielle Shay, just to name a few!

View All 60+ Speakers Here

Whether you're an investor or trader, you will benefit from in-depth analysis and specific advice on everything from stocks, bonds, and ETFs to commodities, currencies, options, and more! Plus, you can chat directly with the pros to ask your most pressing questions, win great prizes, and visit interactive virtual booths packed with research, tools, and educational videos.

Reserve Your Pass Now

I hope to see you there!

[farrukhnawaz]

Rs. 7500 Prize bond Draw list Monday 01st February 2021 (01.02.2021) check online www.savings.gov.pk. Search Prize bond 7500 lists Monday, February 2021 held at Lahore.

[brajeshupadhyay]

Want better savings rates? Ditch the Big Six banks

Last week, I asked savings expert Anna Bowes if she could come up with five tips to ensure savers don’t fall victim to paltry savings rates of 0.01 per cent or below. She went one better and offered six. ‘Don’t leave your cash with Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC, Halifax or Santander,’ she said. 

I laughed out loud although Bowes, co-founder of rate scrutineer Savings Champion, was making a serious point. If you have hard earned money sitting in an easy-access account with any of these six major high street banks, you are more than likely to be earning no more than 0.01 per cent in annual interest. Run for the hills, I say. 

To put that rate into pounds and pence, squirrel away £50,000 in an Easy Saver account with Lloyds or a Flexible Saver account with HSBC and you will earn the grand sum of £5 in annual interest. An amount just sufficient to go on Amazon and buy your loved one a personalised ‘happy birthday’ 110gram bar of milk chocolate. I’m not sure how the prezzie will be received (badly, probably) but that’s a discussion for another day. 

Scrooged: The big High Street banks will only pay you enough interest to buy this £5 chocolate bar if you save £50,000 a year

The same goes for NatWest Instant Saver and ‘everyday’ accounts offered by Barclays, Halifax and Santander. Five pounds of annual interest on £50,000 saved: £8.50 on £85,000 – the limit above which savers lose the comfort blanket provided by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Scrooge-like. Six banks, six Ebenezer Scrooges (before he saw the error of his ways). 

A modern-day savings scandal? In my eyes, yes. Especially as it was announced this week that inflation had shot up from 0.6 per cent to 1.0 per cent. 

Although the Bank of England base rate sits at a record low of 0.1 per cent – and appears to be heading only in one direction (downwards) – it doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that this is ten times the rate that the big banks are prepared to pay millions of their customers, most of whom have a sense of misguided loyalty to their bank (‘I bank with them so I should have my savings with them’ – garbage).

‘Don’t assume your bank is paying a fair rate,’ Bowes told me rather politely when discussing the broken savings market. I’d put it more bluntly: ‘Assume your bank is NOT paying you a fair deal.’ 

A few days ago, number crunchers at Moneyfacts spelt out the parlous state of our savings market. It said that average savings rates had fallen for a fifth month running. 

In March , before lockdown sent the economy into a tailspin, the average rate available on an easy access account was 0.56 per cent. Last month, it was 0.24 per cent and this month 0.22 per cent. Below 0.2 per cent by the end of the year? I wouldn’t bet against it. For savers, it is the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts. Or as Moneyfact’s Rachel Springall puts it, Covid-19 and cuts to the base rate have triggered a ‘rate-cutting trend’ among savings providers. ‘While this is expected to slow down,’ she argues, ‘there are few signs of the market making a U-turn any time soon.’ 

Sadly, the base rate will not be going up in the meantime. Banks, rightly concerned about a forthcoming tide of bad debts (both consumer and business based) heading their way, are keen to keep as wide a gap between the cost of their borrowings (our savings money) and the interest they charge on mortgages and personal loan rates. That will result in suppressed savings rates. 

Also, the Government is understandably keen to get the country spending again, rather than hoarding. So, there is no political will to encourage a better deal for savers. 

This all means that poor savings rates are here to stay – and probably for a lot longer than most people imagine. According to James Daley, managing director of campaigning website Fairer Finance, ‘savers should probably strap themselves in for at least another decade of poor returns’. Perish the thought. 

So, what options – if any – are available to savers keen to secure a better return on their cash? Here are five super tips – on top of the six already mentioned by Bowes.

Use the Government’s own savings arm

National Savings & Investments, the Government’s savings bank, has been alone in striving to give savers a fair deal. 

In April, in response to the pandemic, it suspended rate cuts announced in February that were scheduled to be implemented in May. 

Then, in July, the Treasury announced a massive increase in the amount of money it wanted NS&I to raise from the public – from £6 billion in the year to April 2021 to a whopping £35billion. That meant the savings organisation could continue to offer some of the best savings rates in the country, rather than being forced to choke off demand by reducing rates. 

The result is that NS&I is offering two easy access products – Income Bonds and Direct Saver – that are paying annual interest of 1.15 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. ‘The best easy access rates available anywhere,’ says Bowes. In other words, grab them while stocks last. The difference these accounts could make to your savings income should not be scoffed at. On a £50,000 deposit, you will earn annual interest of £575 from Income Bonds and £500 in Direct Saver. Given a choice between £5 and £500 of savings income a year, or between £5 and £575, I know what I would opt for every time. 

Direct Saver can be managed online or by phone with deposits accepted from £1 up to £2million, and interest paid in April. The minimum deposit in Income Bonds is £500 and the maximum £1 million. Interest is paid monthly and the account can be run online, by post or phone. Interest for both is paid without tax being deducted and savers can mitigate any tax by using their annual personal savings allowance of £1,000 (basic rate taxpayers) or £500 (40 per cent taxpayers). 

Premium Bonds are also worth considering, with monthly tax-free prizes ranging from £25 to £1million. The prize rate is equivalent to an interest rate of 1.4 per cent and bonds can be bought online, over the phone or by post. The minimum purchase is £25 and the maximum holding is £50,000. 

Says Bowes: ‘Although there is always the possibility of not winning any prizes, you never know just how much you could win.’ For the record, I’ve been buying £100 of Premium Bonds every month for nearly two years, making additional purchases whenever I have felt flush. So far, I’ve won £25 on £2,600 deposited. Granted, it’s not life changing, but a better result than if I had put the same amount in a Lloyds Easy Saver account and allowed it to fester. Bowes tells me that her partner Tim won £5,000 five years ago, and another £575 last month, albeit with a much bigger holding than mine. My middle son, Mark, also swears blind by them, winning a prize more months than he doesn’t. 

Bond holders can download the Premium Bonds ‘Prize Checker’ app, which allows them to check every month if they are a winner. 

One word of warning. The interest rates on Income Bonds and Direct Saver are variable – and are likely to come down at some stage. As is the effective interest rate on Premium Bonds. So, enjoy the rates while you can.

Put savings into a fixed-rate bond

Though rates on new fixed-rate bonds have come down sharply since March, savers can still lock into rates above 1 per cent. 

For example, a one-year bond from Charter Savings Bank will pay interest of 1.22 per cent on maturity. Its two- and three-year bonds pay 1.31 and 1.33 per cent respectively. The minimum deposit is £5,000 and all money is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. 

To put these figures in perspective, Moneyfacts says the average one-year fixed-rate bond currently pays 0.63 per cent, compared with 1.15 per cent in March. 

Says Bowes: ‘Locking some of your cash away in such a bond will mean that at least some of your money will not see a rate cut until the end of the fixed term.’ Reassuring. 

Those with maturing NS&I guaranteed income bonds or guaranteed growth bonds would be wise to roll them into follow-on bonds offered by the savings organisation. New rates for one- and five-year guaranteed growth bonds are 1.1 per cent and 1.65 per cent respectively. For the guaranteed income bonds, the respective rates are 1.05 per cent and 1.6 per cent. These ‘roll-over’ bonds are not available to new customers.

Make squirrelling away cash a habit 

Regular savings accounts offer higher rates than most other types of savings account. But there are limits on the amount that can be saved each month. 

The best deals are available to current account customers of First Direct, HSBC and M&S Bank who can all earn 2.75 per cent interest on 12-month term accounts. The maximum monthly saving is £250 for M&S and HSBC – £300 for First Direct. 

Coventry’s Regular Saver (2) is available to non-customers of the building society. Although its rate is less generous at 1.85 per cent, the maximum monthly deposit is higher at £500. The account can be opened online, by post or phone. 

One word of warning. Coventry’s rate is not fixed – unlike the others – so there is nothing to stop the building society reducing it at the drop of a hat. 

Think about taking out a lifetime Isa 

For those with an eye on buying their first home or committed to long-term saving (and I do mean committed), a Lifetime Isa is an option, primarily because of the 25 per cent incentive provided by the Government. 

This means that if the annual maximum of £4,000 is saved, this is boosted by a Government contribution of £1,000. Anyone aged from 18 to 39 is eligible for a Lifetime Isa – but penalty-free withdrawals are only permitted to either purchase a first home or after age 60. Any other withdrawals are subject to a 20 per cent penalty (25 per cent from next April). A bonus is paid on any contribution up to age 50. 

Providers include Moneybox, Paragon and building societies Newcastle, Nottingham and Skipton – with interest rates from 0.35 per cent (Newcastle and Skipton) to 1.1 per cent (Moneybox). 

Arm yourself with more information

Rate scrutineers such as Savings Champion and Moneyfacts offer information online on best savings deals and free weekly emails on best buys and new savings offers. 

Money apps such as MoneyDashboard allow savers to see details of all their accounts in one place, making their management easier. 

Good luck. 

THIS IS MONEY’S FIVE OF THE BEST SAVINGS DEALS

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

The post Want better savings rates? Ditch the Big Six banks appeared first on Shri Times News.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2FFma9d via Blogger https://ift.tt/3aOF1dp

[brajeshupadhyay]

Last week, I asked savings expert Anna Bowes if she could come up with five tips to ensure savers don’t fall victim to paltry savings rates of 0.01 per cent or below. She went one better and offered six. ‘Don’t leave your cash with Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC, Halifax or Santander,’ she said.  I laughed out loud although Bowes, co-founder of rate scrutineer Savings Champion, was making a serious point. If you have hard earned money sitting in an easy-access account with any of these six major high street banks, you are more than likely to be earning no more than 0.01 per cent in annual interest. Run for the hills, I say.  To put that rate into pounds and pence, squirrel away £50,000 in an Easy Saver account with Lloyds or a Flexible Saver account with HSBC and you will earn the grand sum of £5 in annual interest. An amount just sufficient to go on Amazon and buy your loved one a personalised ‘happy birthday’ 110gram bar of milk chocolate. I’m not sure how the prezzie will be received (badly, probably) but that’s a discussion for another day.  Scrooged: The big High Street banks will only pay you enough interest to buy this £5 chocolate bar if you save £50,000 a year The same goes for NatWest Instant Saver and ‘everyday’ accounts offered by Barclays, Halifax and Santander. Five pounds of annual interest on £50,000 saved: £8.50 on £85,000 – the limit above which savers lose the comfort blanket provided by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Scrooge-like. Six banks, six Ebenezer Scrooges (before he saw the error of his ways).  A modern-day savings scandal? In my eyes, yes. Especially as it was announced this week that inflation had shot up from 0.6 per cent to 1.0 per cent.  Although the Bank of England base rate sits at a record low of 0.1 per cent – and appears to be heading only in one direction (downwards) – it doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that this is ten times the rate that the big banks are prepared to pay millions of their customers, most of whom have a sense of misguided loyalty to their bank (‘I bank with them so I should have my savings with them’ – garbage). ‘Don’t assume your bank is paying a fair rate,’ Bowes told me rather politely when discussing the broken savings market. I’d put it more bluntly: ‘Assume your bank is NOT paying you a fair deal.’  A few days ago, number crunchers at Moneyfacts spelt out the parlous state of our savings market. It said that average savings rates had fallen for a fifth month running.  In March , before lockdown sent the economy into a tailspin, the average rate available on an easy access account was 0.56 per cent. Last month, it was 0.24 per cent and this month 0.22 per cent. Below 0.2 per cent by the end of the year? I wouldn’t bet against it. For savers, it is the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts. Or as Moneyfact’s Rachel Springall puts it, Covid-19 and cuts to the base rate have triggered a ‘rate-cutting trend’ among savings providers. ‘While this is expected to slow down,’ she argues, ‘there are few signs of the market making a U-turn any time soon.’  Sadly, the base rate will not be going up in the meantime. Banks, rightly concerned about a forthcoming tide of bad debts (both consumer and business based) heading their way, are keen to keep as wide a gap between the cost of their borrowings (our savings money) and the interest they charge on mortgages and personal loan rates. That will result in suppressed savings rates.  Also, the Government is understandably keen to get the country spending again, rather than hoarding. So, there is no political will to encourage a better deal for savers.  This all means that poor savings rates are here to stay – and probably for a lot longer than most people imagine. According to James Daley, managing director of campaigning website Fairer Finance, ‘savers should probably strap themselves in for at least another decade of poor returns’. Perish the thought.  So, what options – if any – are available to savers keen to secure a better return on their cash? Here are five super tips – on top of the six already mentioned by Bowes. Use the Government’s own savings arm National Savings & Investments, the Government’s savings bank, has been alone in striving to give savers a fair deal.  In April, in response to the pandemic, it suspended rate cuts announced in February that were scheduled to be implemented in May.  Then, in July, the Treasury announced a massive increase in the amount of money it wanted NS&I to raise from the public – from £6 billion in the year to April 2021 to a whopping £35billion. That meant the savings organisation could continue to offer some of the best savings rates in the country, rather than being forced to choke off demand by reducing rates.  The result is that NS&I is offering two easy access products – Income Bonds and Direct Saver – that are paying annual interest of 1.15 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. ‘The best easy access rates available anywhere,’ says Bowes. In other words, grab them while stocks last. The difference these accounts could make to your savings income should not be scoffed at. On a £50,000 deposit, you will earn annual interest of £575 from Income Bonds and £500 in Direct Saver. Given a choice between £5 and £500 of savings income a year, or between £5 and £575, I know what I would opt for every time.  Direct Saver can be managed online or by phone with deposits accepted from £1 up to £2million, and interest paid in April. The minimum deposit in Income Bonds is £500 and the maximum £1 million. Interest is paid monthly and the account can be run online, by post or phone. Interest for both is paid without tax being deducted and savers can mitigate any tax by using their annual personal savings allowance of £1,000 (basic rate taxpayers) or £500 (40 per cent taxpayers).  Premium Bonds are also worth considering, with monthly tax-free prizes ranging from £25 to £1million. The prize rate is equivalent to an interest rate of 1.4 per cent and bonds can be bought online, over the phone or by post. The minimum purchase is £25 and the maximum holding is £50,000.  Says Bowes: ‘Although there is always the possibility of not winning any prizes, you never know just how much you could win.’ For the record, I’ve been buying £100 of Premium Bonds every month for nearly two years, making additional purchases whenever I have felt flush. So far, I’ve won £25 on £2,600 deposited. Granted, it’s not life changing, but a better result than if I had put the same amount in a Lloyds Easy Saver account and allowed it to fester. Bowes tells me that her partner Tim won £5,000 five years ago, and another £575 last month, albeit with a much bigger holding than mine. My middle son, Mark, also swears blind by them, winning a prize more months than he doesn’t.  Bond holders can download the Premium Bonds ‘Prize Checker’ app, which allows them to check every month if they are a winner.  One word of warning. The interest rates on Income Bonds and Direct Saver are variable – and are likely to come down at some stage. As is the effective interest rate on Premium Bonds. So, enjoy the rates while you can. Put savings into a fixed-rate bond Though rates on new fixed-rate bonds have come down sharply since March, savers can still lock into rates above 1 per cent.  For example, a one-year bond from Charter Savings Bank will pay interest of 1.22 per cent on maturity. Its two- and three-year bonds pay 1.31 and 1.33 per cent respectively. The minimum deposit is £5,000 and all money is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.  To put these figures in perspective, Moneyfacts says the average one-year fixed-rate bond currently pays 0.63 per cent, compared with 1.15 per cent in March.  Says Bowes: ‘Locking some of your cash away in such a bond will mean that at least some of your money will not see a rate cut until the end of the fixed term.’ Reassuring.  Those with maturing NS&I guaranteed income bonds or guaranteed growth bonds would be wise to roll them into follow-on bonds offered by the savings organisation. New rates for one- and five-year guaranteed growth bonds are 1.1 per cent and 1.65 per cent respectively. For the guaranteed income bonds, the respective rates are 1.05 per cent and 1.6 per cent. These ‘roll-over’ bonds are not available to new customers. Make squirrelling away cash a habit  Regular savings accounts offer higher rates than most other types of savings account. But there are limits on the amount that can be saved each month.  The best deals are available to current account customers of First Direct, HSBC and M&S Bank who can all earn 2.75 per cent interest on 12-month term accounts. The maximum monthly saving is £250 for M&S and HSBC – £300 for First Direct.  Coventry’s Regular Saver (2) is available to non-customers of the building society. Although its rate is less generous at 1.85 per cent, the maximum monthly deposit is higher at £500. The account can be opened online, by post or phone.  One word of warning. Coventry’s rate is not fixed – unlike the others – so there is nothing to stop the building society reducing it at the drop of a hat.  Think about taking out a lifetime Isa  For those with an eye on buying their first home or committed to long-term saving (and I do mean committed), a Lifetime Isa is an option, primarily because of the 25 per cent incentive provided by the Government.  This means that if the annual maximum of £4,000 is saved, this is boosted by a Government contribution of £1,000. Anyone aged from 18 to 39 is eligible for a Lifetime Isa – but penalty-free withdrawals are only permitted to either purchase a first home or after age 60. Any other withdrawals are subject to a 20 per cent penalty (25 per cent from next April). A bonus is paid on any contribution up to age 50.  Providers include Moneybox, Paragon and building societies Newcastle, Nottingham and Skipton – with interest rates from 0.35 per cent (Newcastle and Skipton) to 1.1 per cent (Moneybox).  Arm yourself with more information Rate scrutineers such as Savings Champion and Moneyfacts offer information online on best savings deals and free weekly emails on best buys and new savings offers.  Money apps such as MoneyDashboard allow savers to see details of all their accounts in one place, making their management easier.  Good luck.  THIS IS MONEY’S FIVE OF THE BEST SAVINGS DEALS Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. The post Want better savings rates? Ditch the Big Six banks appeared first on Shri Times News. from WordPress https://ift.tt/2FFma9d

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/08/want-better-savings-rates-ditch-big-six.html