Member Info for MY21

we are spending 32% of our time on iOS and Android connected Devices on Gaming according to Financial Times. The next most popular activity is using Facebook by 17% of the users.

Imperial Tobacco: Our income pick, Imperial Tobacco is a classic defensive share, with a healthy prospective dividend income of 5pc that is expected to increase by more than 10pc in the year ahead. The company showed it can manage falling cigarette volumes and revenues by increasing prices and cutting costs, leading to a healthy jump in profits. Now trading on a forecast price-to-earnings ratio of 13.9 times, they are cheaper than BAT on 17 times earnings, and marginally above their long-run average PE of about 12 times. Imperial’s balance sheet is strong and the company looks attractively priced. Questor Says “Buy”.

Ministers launch delayed loan guarantee scheme for housebuilding: Ministers have belatedly launched a multibillion-pound loan guarantee scheme for housebuilding, more than two years after it was first announced.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.49% or $0.28 higher at $57.61 per barrel. On Wednesday, the contract declined 0.9% or $0.57, to settle at $57.33 per barrel. However, losses were capped after the Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories declined 1.75 million barrels in the week ended 26 December 2014.

I am a small investor here and I understand Pitch International who are an institutional Investor in GFinity will assist the company in 2015 to get into the lucrative Brazilian market and in due course the rest of South America. The strategy is to build a global presence rapidly over the course of the next 12-18 months. Whilst this is a young company; it has great potential to deliver outstanding returns for shareholders over the course of the next couple of years. ATB

2014 was a year of two halves - in the first part of the year, house prices spiralled out of control. In the second, the Bank of England's cooling measures began to take their effect, dampening that growth. Will it be the same story in 2015? Savills has predicted more muted growth - a rise in prices of just one per cent during the year. For Prime Central London, traditionally seen as a "safe haven" for the likes of Russian oligarchs (who, at the moment, are looking for a way to get rid of their roubles), the news is less encouraging: a 0.5 per cent fall in prices, thanks to the government's stamp duty changes. So not quite the excitement of this year - but then, what goes up must come down. Albeit only slightly.

This year has been a roller coaster for the world of energy. The American shale gas revolution led to falling prices and reshoring of industry while the price oil has plunged below $60 per barrel. The fall in the price of oil has been cheered by industry and consumers while countries such as Russia and Venezuela have been on the sharp end of the price decline, suffering a massive fall in revenues. The predictions of the Scottish National Party that an independent Scotland would reap a huge oil dividend lie in tatters and those who predicted a couple of years ago that we had reached peak oil, once again have egg on their face. Looking ahead to 2015, energy consultancy Cebr Energy has laid out a series of predictions for the year ahead in energy. First off, the dramatic fall in oil prices experienced over the last few months will not continue and the oil price will bounce back, the organisation believes. However, Cebr adds the caveat that "this will be limited because of the substantial over-supply against weak demand, unless the Saudis are forced under pressure to make a major cut in output". Unfortunately for the UK, 2015 will not be the year it replicates the US shale gas revolution in any significant way. In 2014, very few wells were drilled and this is expected to continue next year. Natural gas prices are expected to slide and the organisation believes nuclear power will return to Japan. Returning to Scotland, North Sea oil will decline further and "decommissioning will be the new business in Scotland". After the general election, Whitehall will be in for a major shakeup as the government looks for fresh efficiency savings. Cebr Energy believes one of these will be to merge the Department of Energy and Climate Change with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. This could result in a major conflict over the future of climate change policy.

Will there be a fall in the value of London super-prime property? Yes. Prices will fall by about 10 per cent in 2015 because of an oversupply of new build super-prime properties — although this will mainly be felt outside the traditional top-end residential stamping grounds such as Mayfair and Knightsbridge. Some new build super-prime properties — such as Neo Bankside and Battersea — will struggle to hold their value. The former may have remarkable views across the Thames to St Paul’s Cathedral and easy access to the City but it is a far cry from Mayfair. And while Battersea power station has some surface glamour, its immediate environs are still more Battersea dogs’ home than super-prime. The threat of Labour’s mansion tax also hangs like a sword of Damocles over well-heeled property buyers. “Adjustments” and “corrections” will continue until the May election. Jane Owen

Will the oil price drop below $50 per barrel? Yes. There are two reasons for thinking that the oversupply in the global oil market that caused the Brent benchmark price to drop by almost 50 per cent between June and December this year will persist into the first half of 2015 at least. First, supplies are likely to grow. The US shale oil industry, widely seen as the most immediately vulnerable sector in the downturn, will be able to increase production despite of the financial pressures it faces. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia and other members of Opec, the oil producing countries’ group, are unlikely to make anything other than a notional cut in their production. Second, demand growth will remain as torpid as in the second half of 2014. A substantial rebound in growth in China and other emerging economies could change that but is months away at best. In those conditions, oil can be expected to fall below $50 a barrel. Over time, market forces will work. Lower prices will stimulate demand and choke off supply, especially in the US, and oil prices stand a good chance of being higher at the end of the year than at the beginning. One thing is for sure: the further prices fall, the greater the damage to investment in oil production — and hence the steeper the bounceback will be. Ed Crooks

Energy lawyer pushes Chancellor for oil tax cuts: One of Scotland’s top energy lawyers has played down fears of a meltdown in the North Sea industry, but has called for the Chancellor to cut taxes for oil and gas operators “without delay”.

House prices end year in stable state – but only if you’re outside London: The worrying boom in house prices has cooled since the summer, boosting hopes that the market will soon return to stable growth, according to Britain’s second biggest mortgage lender.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.14% or $0.66 lower at $57.24 per barrel ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil inventory data to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract climbed marginally or $0.02, to settle at $57.90 per barrel, amid speculation that supply disruptions in Libya would cap losses that has pressurized the commodity to five-year lows. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude oil inventories rose 760,000 barrels last week.

In December growth in UK house prices slowed to 0.2%, as expected, with the pace of annual house price growth softening for a fourth consecutive month from 8.5% in November to 7.2% in December. A slight cooling of the still-frenetic London market was a key reason for the fall, with annual house price inflation in London decelerating to 17.8% in the fourth quarter from 21.0% in the third. Prices increases are being restricted by tighter bank lending, with mortgage approvals retreating over the last five months to an 18-month low in November. House prices were up 1.1% in the final quarter of the year compared to the previous year, which was the smallest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2013 and down from gains of 1.6% in the previous period. Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, said he expected the housing market to regain momentum in 2015. "The slowdown in housing market activity is surprising given further steady gains in employment, a pick-up in wage growth (albeit from low levels) and the continued low level of mortgage rates. "If the economic backdrop continues to improve as we and most forecasters expect, activity in the housing market is likely to gain momentum in the months ahead. Supply side developments will be crucial in determining the trajectory for prices. "There are encouraging signs that construction is starting to pick up. Hopefully, this will set the stage for house price growth gradually converging with income growth in the quarters ahead." Economists elsewhere agreed that there will be some pick-up in housing market activity during 2015 from current lows, with possible extra impetus from the increased likelihood that the Bank of England will not lift interest rates before late-2015. Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said he expected house prices to rise by a "solid but unspectacular 5% in 2015", compared to the double-digit annual house price increases seen this summer, as the weakening of buyer interest in houses bottoms out and consumer confidence and employment levels increase. "Looking ahead, significant restraint on house buyer interest and prices is still expected to come from more stretched house prices to earnings ratios, tighter checking of prospective mortgage borrowers by lenders and the prospect that interest rates will eventually start to rise in 2015. "Many people may also be deterred from buying houses because they look pricey in a number of areas after recent sharp rises." Archer added that there were also some signs that the limited supply of houses is currently easing as an overall factor pushing up house prices, though it is likely to remain a "significant influence in some regions" for some time yet.

Third of listed U.K. oil and gas drillers face bankruptcy: A third of Britain’s listed oil and gas companies are in danger of running out of working capital and even going bankrupt amid a slump in the value of crude, according to new research.

Better Capital backers not feeling first class: Jon Moulton used to joke that investing in tech start-ups was an “expensive hobby” because so few of these businesses became profitable. John Caudwell may feel the same about backing Mr Moulton in his best-known guise as a private equity specialist. The entrepreneur and philanthropist is the biggest investor in the Better Capital fund that owned delivery group City Link before it plunged into administration. However, it is wrong to blame Mr Moulton for the collapse of City Link, a business that was in trouble when Better Capital bought it for £1. Without turnround investors, there would be fewer turnrounds. If anyone has a bone to pick with Mr Moulton, it is backers such as Mr Caudwell. The value of a well-selected portfolio of distressed businesses should rally in an economic recovery, not plummet.

Sky and BT: grudge match: From January, the reigning champions of televised football, Sky, face upstart BT in a contest worth billions of pounds for the rights to televise the English Premier League. Well, gents, Sky needs a win in this London match. BT are flying after snatching away a quarter of the live football matches per season in their last meeting on this ground in 2012. All I know is you can’t win anything with kids. Sky will want to hold the line at the number of games they now cover: 114 games per season. Otherwise, the key is how they defend. If you can’t protect your goal, you’re nothing. Sky may well have to park the bus and just bid for the minimum: the key Sunday games. Sky’s Manager Jeremy Darroch does have plenty of experience in this league. And that counts for me. Thanks, gents. It seems that content remains key to keeping the fans happy. For now BT has the money to make its owners’ dreams come true. Sky may need to find a richer partner. The game is changing.

Stamp duty switch puts brake on house prices: House prices in prime central London dipped in December as property owners grappled with the Chancellor’s shake-up in stamp duty, which sharply increased the tax paid on buying luxury homes.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.19% or $0.11 lower at $57.77 per barrel ahead of the American Petroleum Institute weekly oil stockpiles data to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract declined 2.64% or $1.57, to settle at $57.88 per barrel, as investors speculated that the global oil supply glut would persist next year and as news emerged that fire at three of six tanks at Es Sider, Libya’s largest oil port, had been extinguished

How downturn in oil price could benefit Scotland's offshore sector: The 45% collapse in oil prices to a five-year low of $60 per barrel in just six months led to a barrage of warnings earlier this month from industry groups and trade unions that Scotland's offshore oil and gas ­industry is "close to collapse" and that up to 35,000 jobs could be lost

Troubled times ahead for Russia with an economic crisis that has 'no end in sight' as plunging oil prices and international sanctions continue to bite: Russia's economic crisis has ‘no end in sight’ as the country is hit by the plunging oil price and international sanctions. The OECD’s chief economist Catherine Mann said over the weekend that ‘it is very difficult to tell what will get Russia back on track’.