NEW YORK - Santa’s on a budget this year. Toy retailers and makers plan to make the best of it by offering more deals and cut-price versions of more expensive toys that they hope will spur parents to spend even if they’re scrimping elsewhere. Two influential lists of expected hot holiday [ Read More → ]

IF YOU want to get the best return on your money and have already put all you can into a cash Isa this year, you may want to consider equity Isas – Isas that invest in stocks and shares. Equity Isas have a number of advantages over their cash counterparts. [ Read More → ]

Tipping etiquette is a very English minefield Photo: PAUL GROVER Here we go again. Back to the bad old days of restaurant-dining. Should I give that pretty Polish waitress a ten per cent tip for bringing me the food I ordered? Or twelve per cent because I think she’s cute? Or six [ Read More → ]

Pensioners Bruce and Judy Bartle have lost their case against the finance company that lent them more than their house was worth to invest in Blue Chip. However the judge has ruled that the lawyer who advised them - a Blue Chip specialist who acted for over 150 investors in the [ Read More → ]

Wealthy Canterbury families and other investors are bailing out of Pyne Gould Corp ahead of its $237 million rights issue, according to brokers. The company’s share price plunged 28.57 per cent to be 50c in afternoon trading and brokers said the volume was ten times usual turnover. The stock has fallen [ Read More → ]

Financier GE Capital is threatening Blue Chip victims with mortgagee sales as pressure mounts before a landmark court decision. Christchurch Blue Chip investor Helene Philpott says she and at least a dozen other investors have recently received notices under the Property Law Act that GE will put their homes up for [ Read More → ]

A finance company chaired by former Finance Minister Ruth Richardson has told investors not to expect all of their money back. The IMP Diversified Income Fund entered into a moratorium agreement with investors in June last year promising to make a full repayment to debenture holders. The company owed a total [ Read More → ]

For at least a generation, financial professionals have urged mutual-fund investors to put more money in stocks than in bonds. The logic: Stocks power a portfolio, while bonds provide some protection. The Journal Report See the [ Read More → ]

In a sign that green technology investing is bouncing back, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Khosla Ventures said Tuesday that it had raised $1.1 billion to spur development of renewable energy and other clean technologies. It is the biggest first-time fund in a decade and comes as venture capital investment [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — New signs of economic recovery emerged Tuesday only to be overshadowed by new worries that they won’t last. The U.S. manufacturing sector grew in August for the first time in 19 months. A gauge of future home sales surged in July to its highest point in more [ Read More → ]