State of the Market

[SchumiStars]

Well that's a good sign, the banks have started looking again.

[Bluenose]

Even a bear market doesn't go down in a straight line, even bear markets bounce, it's the overall line of travel over time which is the problem.

Let's see what it's like 2nd week in January.

[Snooky]

Of course if Starmer and Hermer weren't slave to any "international" court ruling that comes up in the Guardian it wouldn't matter. And we would most likely not be spending several billions renting back our own property...

I assume you refer to the Chagos Islands deal, which was negotiated entirely by the previous Conservative government? All that was left was for the new Labour government to sign the already agreed deal and bear the brunt of all the criticism for it, when they had no part in its creation.

[oliverson]

Well that's a good sign, the banks have started looking again.

Trouble is, it's both inside and onsite most of the week.

Is that £ 900 umbrella really as good as £ 600 outside?

[TheDude]

Well that's a good sign, the banks have started looking again.

If the role exists of course...

I have seen one advert for a contract role at a bank that has been posted daily for the past six months.

[SchumiStars]

Trouble is, it's both inside and onsite most of the week.

Is that £ 900 umbrella really as good as £ 600 outside?

I don't know, don't care TBH. As long as it's an income.

[TheDude]

Is that £ 900 umbrella really as good as £ 600 outside?

I doubt many people are in a position to care.

[malvolio]

I assume you refer to the Chagos Islands deal, which was negotiated entirely by the previous Conservative government? All that was left was for the new Labour government to sign the already agreed deal and bear the brunt of all the criticism for it, when they had no part in its creation.

In May 2025 the agreement was signed off by Parliament to meet the demands of the (somewhat suspicious) international ruling and the USA weren't stopping us. However, the payments involved were "negotiated" rather later...

More to the point, we were not in any legal sense required to hand over the islands to Mauritius, and we could perhaps have excluded DIego Garcia from the deal. It's not like Mauritius could do anything with it - other than allow the Chinese to build their own air base on an adjacent island of course...

It is a trivial matter anyway - if it wasn't costing us £90bn for no good reason.

[TheDude]

Two interviews yesterday, both Inside IR35 and both around half the day rate of my previous couple of roles. The upside is that both are largely remote with occasional travel to the office.

Both roles I could do in my sleep but I don't feel that either interview went particularly well so let's see what happens.

[Smartie]

Trouble is, it's both inside and onsite most of the week.

Is that £ 900 umbrella really as good as £ 600 outside?

£900 umbrella is an excellent rate, particularly given the recent market conditions.
You could put the max £60k in your pension and still be complaining about having to pay the cliff edge 62% tax between £100-125k.