Cobalt Capital - Monty's Mortgage Blog

Andrew Montlake, Cobalt partner and ‘Mortgage Personality of the Year 2008’, gives his views — honest and no holds barred — on the latest developments within the mortgage and property markets.

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21.11.08

Government V Banks – Seconds Out, Round 2

This week HSBC / First Direct finally got round to announcing changes to their variable rate by cutting 0.81%. Many may say thanks for nothing!

18.11.08

Money Makes The World Go Around...

Last night I settled down to watch a very interesting programme called “The Ascent Of Money”. This is basically an entertaining historical examination of how money and more importantly lending and banking began.

17.11.08

Light In The Gloom

It’s been a weekend of depressing stories in the press, quite apart from England’s cricket / rugby exploits, Cherie Lunghi leaving Strictly Come Dancing, and also the fact that we all work hard for a living whilst a young Hannah Montana is set to be a billionaire by age 20 !

12.11.08

Buy Property & Cut Up Your Credit Cards

With mortgage rates easing back into the realms of affordability, attention is moving back onto the wider economic issues, namely how to stop house prices falling further, rising unemployment and credit card rip-offs.

11.11.08

Key To Recovery Now In Lenders Hands

With the recent sharp cuts in Bank Base Rate to 3%, and the fact that 3 month LIBOR has also now plummeted to 4.42%, it is tempting to believe that the credit crunch is now over. Unfortunately it is not as simple as that.

07.11.08

What lenders did next...

Wow. What a day yesterday. The biggest cut in rates since 1981 and the lowest rate since the 1950's took everyone by surprise even though we knew it was needed.

05.11.08

A New Generation...Now For The Hard Work

It was hard not to get dragged in to the emotional outpouring that the historic election of Barack Obama caused, not just in the US, but around the world.

04.11.08

Vote Obama

Here we are on November 4th, a day that could be historic not just in the eyes of the US, but in the eyes of the world.

03.11.08

The New Frontier

I woke up later than usual this morning as I have a week off trying to remind my son what I look like. But the requirements of a blog, and the fact that I actually enjoy writing it anyway, means I am on the computer whilst the young man is eating and throwing his mango porridge about the room!

28.10.08

“Sipping down Raki, and reading Maynard Keynes”

For many people of a certain age John Maynard Keynes is a bizarre mention in the classic Deacon Blue song Dignity, but this most unfashionable of economic theorists is making a comeback.