Share Sounds related to Economics - UK

The London Stock Exchange's big merger with its German counterpart, Deutsche Boerse, appears to be over - but what's finally pushed it over the edge? And the pound has dropped on fears of another Scottish independence referendum. For more on the day's key economic stories, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher spoke with Alastair McCaig from Fern Wealth.

We're just a few days away from March 1st and that means the new '17' registration plate. If you're thinking of buying a new car, what kind of car should you buy and how should you pay for it? That's what we're discussing in today's programme. Joining Sarah Pennells are Faith Archer who's a freelance personal finance journalist, Amanda Stretton who's from comparison website Confused.com and Stuart Milne who's editor of carbuyer.co.uk.

Do you have a cash ISA? Government figures show that cash ISAs are one financial product that's more popular among women than men. These savings accounts pay interest without tax taken off - and, although a bit of the gloss has been taken off them in the last year or so because of tax changes to savings and low interest rates, many women still have them. And from April there will be a new ISA - a LISA or lifetime ISA. Sarah Pennells was joined by Helen Saxon, chief product analyst at Money Saving Expert, Harry Rose, editor of Which? Money and by Claire Walsh, who's head of advice at Unbiased.

Sarah Pennells was joined by Deborah Hargreaves, Founding Director of High Pay centre and former Business Editor of the Guardian. Today on the agenda, they discussed the relaunch of the Nokia 3310, after 17 years. Plus they look into why O2 unveiling their plans for a new voice recognition technology, to encourage people to speak to a new artificially intelligent robot rather than contact its call centres.. All these stories and more on The News Review.

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio Podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. It’s been a mixed week of results for the banks with HSBC seeing sliding profits whilst Lloyds has undergone something of a comeback with a rebounding share price. Is it fair for HSBC to point the finger at market conditions or does the success of its rivals prove it’s scapegoating? Meanwhile we’re also seeing a divide among savers as the gap between the richest and poorest households grows. Looking through the figures Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Plus we look at the domestic challenges for the UK car industry and find out how to spot a rare coin.

RBS has today recorded nine years of losses, with the latest £7bn loss taking the bank's total losses since 2008 to £58bn. That's more than the £45.5bn taxpayer-funded bailout. But can the bank reverse the trend and turn a profit next year? Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, joined Share Radio's Ed Bowsher on the day's big company news, including BA’s parent group and betting company William Hill.

Despite RBS announcing a huge £7bn loss, more than expected, could underlying performance for banks be on the up? Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined by Guy Foster, head of research at Brewin Dolphin, to explain this and more of the day's big economic stories.

Georgie Frost was joined by Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief at Money.co.uk. Today on the agenda, they discussed how the Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a massive £7bn annual loss, for the ninth year in a row. Plus they look into why workers in the UK are putting in billions of pounds worth of unpaid overtime every year. All these stories and more on The News Review.

An "extraordinary" interview with the conservative MP Michael Gove reports the "confessions" of the former cabinet minister, including an admission he "was wrong to stand for PM". Plus Eastern Europeans are leaving the UK in "record numbers", as the number of those returning to eight EU countries "more than trebled to 39,000" in the year to September. To discuss all these stories and the main story of the morning of Copeland electing its first Conservative seat since 1935, Georgie Frost was joined by Ryan Heath, Senior EU Correspondent at POLITICO.

Joining Georgie Frost to discuss the latest market headlines was Share Radio's very own Nigel Cassidy. A busy morning of Company Announcements starting with numbers from RBS and Standard Chartered this morning. We also had the news last night that John Lewis would be cutting up to 400 jobs.