Northen Rock [Merged Threads]

Jake'sGran

I emptied two accounts a couple of weeks ago as I really disliked their site. But I still have 500 NR shares. A few people on TV and radio have mentioned the possibility of NR being taken over by a bigger institution so it will be interesting to see what happens. The shares were free but I still don't like the fact that they have more than halved in value.:D

oshoshitzu

I know how to get log on to my NR internet account every time

Flynn_2

KTF wrote: »

I feel really sorry for Northern Rock in all this. With any luck they will launch a high interest account in a few weeks to try and get some of the cash back

For the staff who must be as worried as anyone but not quite so sorry for the board that got it wrong but as usual will still keep their bonuses. The CE, Adam Applegarth, drew £1.3 million last year including £600K bonus for his good work. When he gets the boot he'll likely be entitled to a healthy compensation package.

If they're taken over wouldn't be surprised to see a small loyalty bonus to savers as some have done in the past.

shokadelika

Money as Debt!!



If you want to know what banks actually do with the money that you save ( actually lend!) TO them you might be interested in watching this free video, it is really entertaining cartoon format you might get a suprise as I we did kids included!.:eek:

Money As Debt!


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279



[SIZE=-1]"Paul Grignon's 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it ... all » is being created. It is an entertaining way to get the message out «"[/SIZE]

tomstickland

That's the video I linked to earlier in the thread. A very interesting video and one that left me fascinated with some of the concepts.

Speculator

KTF wrote: »

I feel really sorry for Northern Rock in all this. With any luck they will launch a high interest account in a few weeks to try and get some of the cash back

I think they've already launched a fixed rate bond paying 6.71%

JayTee99_2

i managed to login to the online account after several attempts so maybe it's calming down a bit now

i just wanted to take a look, i'm leaving it there even though it's not fully covered.
Don't see any reason to transfer it atm.

nilrem_2

Jem8472 wrote: »

I like the story about the guy trying to withdraw his million pounds.

Like you can just walk into any bank and ask for your million quid and they will hand it over. If this had been another situation he would not have been going to the media about it.

Especially as the bloke had an online account and the branch in question is not a normal branch, it is just a mortgage shop, AFAIAA they don't handle savings there at all!

MarkyMarkD

tomstickland wrote: »

That's the video I linked to earlier in the thread. A very interesting video and one that left me fascinated with some of the concepts.

It's interesting but it's rubbish.

Banks do NOT create money. They can only lend money which they've borrowed from someone else, whether that is a retail depositor or another bank.

The supposed claim of the video, which is that banks lend money which "they do not have" is missing the point.

Banks DO lend money which is not their own. That's the business of banking. A bank may very easily, as the video suggests, lend out hugely more money than its initial capitalisation. There's nothing wrong with that.

But they are NOT creating money by doing so - they are simply lending out money they have in turn borrowed from others (depositors or banks).

Obviously there are limits on how much they can do this, which are intended to protect depositors against the risk of a run on the bank. And there are other protection measures - such as the Bank of England stepping in as a lender of last resort.

You will note that the video is promoted by a socialist website. IMHO it is trying to make a political point rather than trying to truthfully explain how banking works.

tomstickland

Yes, the video left me wondering whether I believed everything, but intrigued all the same.
However, fractional reserve banking does allow a bank to lend more than it's got, as far as I understand.