Alan Hawkins

摘要

Firstly, let me start by wishing all our members a Happy Christmas. Even if it is not so happy on the retail front, I wish you both health and happiness over the festive period. The biggest issue, of course, remains the state of the economy and the credit crunch. The problem of writing a monthly article with a 15 day or so lead in is that it cannot be too topical as, by publication time, something major has intervened. However, I suspect that the 1.5% cut in interest rates is not likely to be surpassed by any further cuts before the end of the year and, in that sense, it is welcome.