GREMLIN UPDATE  The newsletter was sent early last week  around Friday lunchtime  but was grabbed by the gremlins who didnt release it until Saturday morning. So you probably got it just before we went on air. Sorry about that. We have called pest control. If this weeks newsletter hasnt arrived yet, email us at once.

Dear listener,

Those real Money Box fans who listen on Saturday (at noon) AND to the repeat on Sunday (at nine pm) will have noticed that last Sunday was not a repeat but a live special. A real bonus for your loyalty! We did that because (a) it was really nice weather here on Sunday and we preferred to be shut in a room in front of our computers with our headphones on and (b) the world’s banking system seemed to be collapsing round our ears. Those who listen only once over the weekend can hear the Sunday (or Saturday) programme through our website or read transcripts.

And even Saturday didn’t make it quite as promised. We covered the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley instead of talking about mortgages.

That’s probably enough of what several readers call “wittering”. Except to say that I have done almost nothing this week but take calls from BBC News and agree to go on the television. Mainly to answer viewers’ questions on the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley and the World Banking Crisis (WBC). Is my money safe? Should I move my money to Ireland? What about my pension? Should I cash in my investments and put them in cash? Does the protection limit on savings also apply to building societies? You can see some of my answers on a link on our website.

*** (asterisks take your eye to the items on the programme) Because of the WBC we are less clear than usual about what is in the programme. Something on the WBC of course, probably live from the USA.

*** The compensation limit for money in a bank or building society that goes bust will be raised to £50,000 on Tuesday ¬– from the £35,000 it was raised to a year ago. But there are six Irish banks, a Scottish bank and an English bank where all your money is safe up to any limit. And the other UK banks fear savers will move their money out despite the increase. And why Tuesday, not today?

*** Away from the WBC we will be looking at the new freedom to invest billions of pounds of personal pension money. It’s complex – get the cold towels out – but important. One person’s opportunity could be another’s mis-selling scandal. Or vice versa.

*** Is the buy-to-let business still viable with house prices falling and mortgage deals drying up – and the few that remain getting more expensive?

*** And item five – if there’s room for it – will probably be about fuel poverty and a High Court case to be heard on Monday.

Well, that’s the agenda as of mid morning Friday. It partly depends of course on the American vote on the massive rescue deal they are debating. But tune in and find out what makes it and what doesn’t. Not necessarily in that order of course.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS Don’t forget the programme taster on BBC Breakfast between quarter to nine and nine o’clock. If you miss it, you can watch it on the web until Wednesday after which it will be replaced with Samantha Washington’s midweek round up of the money headlines.

e-mail Paul Lewis