Stock markets have had a relatively quiet few weeks, though the trend has remained biased the upside. It has been credit and currency markets that have seen most of the action of the last couple of weeks. The dollar is being punished, with the dollar index falling over 1.5% on Friday alone. This is partly down to concerns over the US budget deficit, and fears that the Fed is trying to monetise their rising debt mountain. Another explanation for the slump is a returning appetite for risk from global investors. During the height of the crisis, the dollar, and US treasury bonds were seen as a safe haven. Now with confidence easing back into the system, this flight to safety appears to be rapidly unwinding. Bonds were massacred last week, while the dollar fell heavily against a basket of currencies including Sterling and the Euro.

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admin :: Jun.01.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

It was another good week for equity markets with the banks leading the charge. Barclays was the front runner, rising to over £2.90 at one point and gaining over 10% on Thursday alone. Barclays is benefiting from the so called ‘independence’ premium, and speculation over the potential gains to be made with the sale of its BGI unit. With today’s gains, Barclays has overtaken Britain’s only other remaining independent bank, in terms of returns over the last year. Barclays has lost 40.53%, while HSBC has lost 45.50% over the last 365 days. Interestingly, HSBC is the only major UK bank which hasn’t rallied by 55% or more in the last month. Santander’s results certainly helped sentiment in the sector across Europe.

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admin :: May.04.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

After a disastrous start to the week, financial markets rallied well on Friday to close the week unchanged or slightly up. The CAC, DAX and FTSE closed the week up 0.4%, 0.73% and 1.65% respectively. The S&P 500 and Down closed the week down 0.23% and 0.65%, with the strongest performance coming from the Nasdaq 100 which rose 3.24%, its 7th winning week on the trot. The Nasdaq was buoyed by strong performances from Ebay, and Microsoft. Amazon also continued its incredible run in the face of the bear market, since the November lows it has risen 141.11%.

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admin :: Apr.28.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

The FTSE currently indicates a very weak open, as traders are organizing their portfolio ahead of tomorrows UK GDP report. Analysts are expecting a contraction of almost 2% for the first quarter. However there has been talk that the number could come much worse then that. The FTSE is likely to spend the day in the red.

Crude oil is currently trading around the 48 dollars per barrel mark after the risk of widening bank losses dragged U.S. equities and other commodities lower. Oil’s two-day climb stalled after lenders including Wells Fargo & Co. said credit markets haven’t recovered yet. Adding to the weak crude price is the report from U.S. regarding the oil inventory which rose for a seventh week to its highest level since September 1990.

Trade Of The Day

Here is a good value play: A bull/bear bet, on the FTSE closing below 4005 on April 30th returns a 99% ROI.

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

Against all expectations, stock markets around the world managed to extend their winning streak and close up for the 5th week in a row. It was a choppy week until Friday when US markets pushed hard to close at their highs of the week.

Financials were on fire, lifting global markets with them. Positive headlines hit investors in waves, just when it looked like the recent rally off the February lows was running out of steam. In the UK, Barclays finally closed out the sale of its iShares, with the £3bn fee coming in around average estimates. Some had thought it could go for much more, but there seems to be a general relief that the deal has gone through full stop. Wells Fargo added fuel to the fire by coming in with results that topped analysts’ estimates. Wells closed up nearly a quarter on the day, with most of the UK and US financials up by around 10% on Friday.

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admin :: Apr.14.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »