The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned that the availability of mortgage finance is set to reduce; in other words, that it is going to become even harder for house buyers to get a mortgage than it is already. Bad news for anyone trying to buy a house; bad news for anybody trying to sell a house; and bad news for anyone whose business is affected by the housing market. DIY retailers, for instance. ... Read entry

Those clever people at KPMG have warned us that some retailers may use next month's VAT increase as an opportunity to mask price increases. Well – as I gather young people say these days – duh.... Read entry

Predictably, most coverage of last week's quarterly trading statement from Kingfisher has been from the investor's point of view. But even if you're not a Kingfisher shareholder, the statement is worth studying, simply because the performance of the UK DIY market leader must be an indicator of the performance of the UK DIY market as a whole.... Read entry

Presumably someone at the Daily Telegraph thinks that putting business stories on a page headed 'business' is dull, because the Telegraph has led its coverage of Kingfisher's quarterly trading statement with a big picture of children tobogganing - and with the news that B&Q has ordered another 10,000 sledges.... Read entry