Last week, world stock markets crumbled under the relentless barrage of bad news. Markets were left staring into the abyss as the global sell off continues. All eyes were on the wider S&P 500, which unlike the Dow Jones, managed to avoid breaching the lows of 2008. There is a huge fear that a technical breach of this level could result in a cascade of selling. After all, what is there left for world governments to do? They have already started printing money, and some like the UK government are taking on record levels of debt.

Investors were evidently purging any potential risk in their portfolio, and turning to the perceived safe haven of gold, which touched the underside of $1,000 on Friday.

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admin :: Feb.23.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

The week ahead.

After a terrible Tuesday, markets never really recovered last week. After rallying into Treasury Secretary Geithner’s speech on Tuesday, US markets unwound in spectacular fashion. It appears to have been a case of markets expecting clarity from the new US administration, and getting nothing of the sort. The Dow Jones touched its lowest levels since November 2008 at one point.

Whether it was a case of ‘sell the news’ or a technical sell off, there’s no getting away from the fact that yesterday’s fall will have left central bankers and government officials cursing.

The rule book is being re-written by the week, as officials try one solution after another. Much was made of Bernanke’s expertise on the Great Depression, and arguably his dramatic interventions have helped stave off a financial apocalypse. However, right now it’s a blank slate, the scary thing about the current crisis is that nobody really knows how bad it will get, and when it will turn around.

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admin :: Feb.16.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

The Week Just Gone

Scepticism was rife across the markets this week, stocks tumbled, dismissing global efforts to stimulate economic growth amid mounting evidence of a deepening recession. Equities fell sharply as investors flocked to the safety of government bonds, gold and the dollar. In the UK, Lloyd’s dragged the banking sector lower as its shares fell 32% on Friday. The FTSE closed the week at 4189.6, a loss of 102.3 points or 2.38% over 5 days.

FTSE Rolling Future Mon 9th to Fri 13th Feb 2009

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admin :: Feb.15.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

It was a better week for world stock markets last week, with all the major indices pushing further off the January lows.

Despite Friday’s US payrolls falling by a more than expected 598,000, stock markets powered higher. This was an extremely weak employment report, with 3.5 million fewer Americans employed In January than a year earlier. However, the world’s biggest economy isn’t willing to roll over and die just yet. The rate of decline is accelerating, but US unemployment is still below the peaks of the 1980s and 1970s. Stock markets moved higher on the hope that Friday’s dire figures will act as a catalyst for the massive Obama stimulus package.

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admin :: Feb.09.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

The Bank of England this week made a 50 basis point cut, putting interest rates at an historic low of 1%. As expected the European Central Bank held rates at 2%.

On Firday US Non-farm payrolls for January showed a loss of 598 000 jobs- the biggest drop since December 1974. Unemployment is now at 7.6% in the US, the highest level in 16 years.

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admin :: Feb.09.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »