1.1898 against the Euro

Sorry to add to the gloom. I don't suppose any of us would have predicted this. What are George and Dave doing?

Low is better for exports, up against the dollar though

I think you must mean 1.1898. Assuming that I always thought the pound would be up to 1.25 by now.
Its not gloom if you are bringing money back to the UK.
As for David and Gideon, running out of ideas and excuses.

But more importantly the FTSE is up

thx for that, I've changed the post.
You would have thought with the Olympics this year there would be increased demand for the pound!

So true, my pension fund needs rebuilding.

Snap.

And my shares are up for a change.

paying a) bankers bonuses (in the case of RBS- the taxpayer is), b) paying for homes for all of the illegals

Its down on the back of news Friday that Greece is close to a deal with its creditors. Kicks the Euro problems down the road for a little while longer.

Why don't some people and the media in general stop banging on about bankers' pay & bonus's?
What about premiership footballers and their earnings and bonus's? The general public keep quiet on that and their dodgy tax dealings.
We've just had a 1 million pound Big Brother winner. And for what? Doing absolutely nothing. Generating no money or jobs for the economy. But of course that doesn't matter as long as the class war mongers continue with their belief that making the rich less wealthy makes the poor richer. It doesn't.

They are trying to keep the pound low as it is better for exports.

Well said Biffta....nominate you for best post this month

Entrepreneurs have every right to make good money. They create wealth and prosperity for all including themselves.

However, bankers earning multi-million bonuses are not creating wealth or jobs, they are simply skimming a few pence from all of our accounts to pay themselves while adding no value

Bankers rob from the poor to make themselves rich

As do many CEOs who enter into a company to over-leverage it with debt while paying themselves bigger and bigger salaries and bonuses for no reason whatsoever. Take a look at the case of Mothercare over the past 5 years

I was listening to the great Jose Luis Sampedro last night on Salvados. Believe it or not, he lives in Cala de Mijas He said that capitalism has run its course, its served its purpose and we have to patient to wait for something new to come along. He also said that there is no point telling the bankers that, it would be like going to the Kings and Nobles in the middle ages and telling them that fuedalism isnt the future

Of course what private banks pay their people is entirely up to them, but even then they are paid bonuses even when they lose billions. If the shareholders are happy with that, seeing the share price drop like a stone, that's fine, everybody is happy. Especially those getting huge bonuses, being rewarded for failure. I was always under the impression a bonus was a reward for a company being successful. Completely different with an almost nationalised bank, there the government owns nearly all the shares, obviously they should have a big say in bonuses. The whole bonus culture has encouraged bankers in the recent past to take huge risks with other people's money, they can't lose, they get bailed out if they do.
Footballers, yes, crazy money, however if they cock up like bankers do and don't perform, they are out. Plus by thirty, most are finished. It seems crazy to me as well that they get such silly wages, but it's paid on performance generally, if people didn't want to watch the games live or on TV, there would be no wages. Big Brother? no idea, I'll have to take your word for that, but again whilst there are millions of saddos that are prepared to watch it, they can continue to pay those amounts. ¡Al pueblo, pan y circo!