Five things your clients will call you about this week

Nationals round-up: The usual favourites dominated the headlines, including interest rates, weighing up cash and equities and the future of gold. There was also a look at some alternative investments, while investors were told how they can get some of their commission back.

Interest rates

When will the base rate go up? It's a question everyone has been trying to answer since the Bank of England brought it down to its record low, 0.5%, some 30 odd months ago. This weekend, the Guardian asked some top economists and experts for their views.

A lack of consensus meant predictions hovered between some time next year and mid-2013. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "Whenever interest rates do start to rise, the probability remains that they will move up relatively gradually and remain very low compared with past norms."

Commission

Ivan Massow's latest venture has certainly got people talking about commission of all varieties, and the Sunday Times ran a piece explaining exactly what they are and how consumers can claim (at least some of) it back.

Inevitably, it was the likes of Bestinvest, Chelsea Financial Services and discount brokers Cavendish Online who readers were directed to to claw back some of that money.

Mega returns

No matter how unwise an investment opportunity may be, if the Mail on Sunday runs a piece on it, you may want to check it out yourself. This weekend, it looked at six ways to get that "magical 10%" return, with lending to small businesses, buying repossessed properties in America and buying shares in jumbo jets leased to airlines among the options. The paper did stress the risks involved with some of these, but they did look mighty tempting.

Equities v cash

"Developed market equities will still be better than cash." That was the message of Barclays Wealth's Henk Potts in the Sunday Express as he sought to explain why investors should still be prepared to take a risk. The company's equity strategist was unsurprisingly keen to highlight the opportunities in stocks and shares, suggesting strong exposure to growth might be found in energy, consumer discretionary and IT equities.

Gold

Countless experts and commentators have seen their credibility shattered by wrongly calling the top of the gold market in recent years and, with the price reaching $1,900 an ounce, investors are still looking for clarity.

Writing in the Independent, Hargreaves Lansdown's Mark Dampier chose not to predict the future, but instead suggest an alternative: gold equities. In his opinion, gold equities have lagged behind physical gold, partly because of the whole mining and commodities sector sell-off.