Share Sounds related to Economics

The "Santa rally" boosted blue chip stocks, lifted by a surge in the share prices of mining companies and a falling pound. The FTSE 100, closed at an all-time high on Wednesday, up by 0.54% to end the day at 7,106.08. Mike van Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets, joined Share Radio to discuss.

Sue Dougan is joined in the studio by web editor at MoneySuperMarket.com Kevin Pratt. On the agenda today they look at the state of Britain's aging railways as well as our spending trends from 2016. Plus what to do with any unwanted Christmas gifts. 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 the last episode of the year and we’re looking back on the biggest financial stories we’ve seen in 2016- the year of the unexpected. In June in a poll defying result Britain voted by 52% to leave the EU. Since then Brexit has been a nearly constant presence in the headlines being blamed for everything from disappearing marmite to an abandoned sequel to the Mrs Brown’s Boys film. The surprises didn’t stop with Brexit though. Across the pond billionaire TV personality Donald Trump beat the odds to win the US Presidential Election. Looking back on the year Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Also on the agenda they look at the ongoing woes of Britain’s housing market, the never ending story of the new plastic fiver and the third big surprise of 2016, Leicester City winning the Premier League.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by Retail expert Vix Leyton. Today on the agenda, they discuss our shopping habits despite a turbulent economic year, fire-prone tumble dryers and give a reasonable excuse for late tax returns you may avoid a fine. All these stories and more on The News Review.

As Christmas approaches many families will be spending several days in each other’s company. Now this could mean peace love and harmony, but in reality will probably mean a few rows. Roman Tagoe, head of content at music site Deezer rather optimistically thinks one way to soothe family feuds around the Christmas table is via music especially festive classics, as he told Share's Melanie Wray.

Georgie Frost hears why one Muslim-owned restaurant, Shish in Sidcup is promising to give elderly and homeless people a free three-course dinner on Christmas Day so ‘no one eats alone’. The man who came up with the idea is manager Irfan Genc and spoke to Georgie on the line.

The British medical funding firm, Assured Fertility, believes recent advances in IVF, have made this offer possible. Georgie finds out about a company specialising in In Vitro fertilisation - commonly known as IVF - is offering a ‘baby or your money back’ scheme which has no age cut off. To find out more, Georgie Frost was joined by the company's fertility specialist James Armitage.

The Payment Systems Regulator says banks are not shouldering enough responsibility when customers lose their cash after being tricked into transferring money by scams. Share’s Melanie Wray hears from consumer group Which's head of campaigns Pete Moorey told about the sophisticated payment scams they are seeing and Which’s "super complaint".

Now, we all rely on our credit card from time to time to buy the odd bits and bobs. Many people are not just using their credit card for unessential items but instead rely on their credit cards to pay essential bills. Georgie hears from debt expert Ian Williams how 7 million of us have borrowed money to pay for food, while another 4.5 million have had to borrow to pay their rent or mortgage.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by MoneySuperMarket.com web editor Kevin Pratt. Today on the agenda, they discuss broadband being set up in the most rural areas. Plus, British companies being forced to publicly disclose data breaches . All these stories and more on The News Review.