Online Spread Trading
|
|
|
SpreadBets.org.uk - Weekly Comment Supplied and Sponsored by paddypowertrader.
Part 1 - Trading News - Last Week's Markets
Part 2 - Economic Indicators and Company Results
Part 3 - The Financial Press, what the papers said
Weekly Online Spread Bet Comment, update 21 Jan 08
Spread Trading News - Last Week's Markets
What a great week for traders! After further record losses from US banks the sub-prime issue took another ugly turn with fears that US bond insurers (Monolines) would lose their AAA credit rating; this would lead to yet more write-downs across the banking sector. Strong hints of rate cuts and the announcement of a fiscal stimulus package in the US weren’t enough to counter bad news both on the economic and company front. Equities were hammered with the FTSE, Dax and US markets all falling by around 5%. The Nikkei’s 1.8% fall was down to the difference in trading hours.
Equities Spread Bets
US banks took the headlines again with Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo recording losses of mind boggling size, accompanied by a mixture of dividend cuts and announcements of overseas funding. The gloom was widespread with investors ignoring IBM’s good results, focusing instead on Intel’s poor figures. C&C Group fell after issuing a further profit warning and New Star Asset Management plummeted 30% after cutting its dividend and revealing huge withdrawals from its funds. Retailers Tesco and Burberry disappointed the market, but Taylor Wimpey struck a positive note for house builders.
Forex Spread Bets
Comments from members of the European Central Bank suggesting a move towards lower rates caused the Euro to fall in value. The EUR/USD rate fell to $1.462 and EUR/GBP to £0.7480. Risk aversion trades saw the Yen continue to strengthen.
Gold and Oil Spread Bets
After hitting a new high of $914 on Monday gold fell to close the week $12 lower at $882 as investors withdrew money from exchange traded gold funds. Oil continued to drift lower, Brent Crude ending down $3 at $89.23.
Advert
www.FinancialSpreads.com Narrow Spreads, Free Charts and Live Prices.
No Fees, No Commissions, Spread Bet on Shares, Indices, Forex, Commodities Apply Now.
|
Spread Bets - Economic Indicators and Company Results
Week Commencing 21 Jan 08
The massive question for traders is, 'Is it worth trying to catch the falling knives?' Put simply, are we ripe for a bounce in equity markets after the recent savage sell-off or do we go with the trend and keep selling? Friday’s attempted rally failed miserably. With the US closed on Monday markets can ease tentatively into the week ahead of four days of full-on company earnings. As the week hots up watch out for figures from big US names, including Bank of America and Apple, as well as Land Securities, Siemens and Morrisons from Europe. Wednesday sees the release of minutes from the recent Bank of England meeting when they voted to leave rates unchanged.
Monday
Economic Indicators
UK: 00.01 Rightmove House Prices, 09.30 Money Supply and Government Borrowing
EU: 07.00 German PPI
Results
UK: Wolseley, Norcros, SCI Entertainment and Sports Direct trading updates
Tuesday
Economic Indicators
There are no economic numbers today
Results
UK: GW Pharmaceutical finals, Games Workshop interims, Flying Brands, Land Securities, Morrisons and Wetherspoons trading updates
US: Apple, Bank of America, Capital Bank, Du Pont, Johnson & Johnson and Wachovia Corp
Wednesday
Economic Indicators
UK: 09.30 Bank of England minutes, Q4 GDP
IRE: 11.00 Retail Sales Index
EU: 10.00 Industrial Orders
US: 15.30 Oil Inventories
Results
UK: Thomson Intermedia interims, BHP Billiton quarterly results, Cairn Energy, London Scottish Bank, Tate & Lyle and Tullow Oil trading updates
US: Abbott Laboratories, Air Products, Bookham, Delta Airline, E-Bay, General Dynamics, Kimberley Clark, Motorola, Pfizer, Qualcomm
Thursday
Economic Indicators
IRE: 11.00 Wholesale Price Index and External Trade
EU: 09.00 IFO Business Climate
US: 13.30 Weekly Jobless, 15.00 Existing Home Sales
Results
UK: Legal & General quarterlies, Misys, Peter Hambro Mining, Renishaw and St James Place trading updates
IRE: Iona
EU: Siemens
US: AT&T, E-Trade Financial, Ford Motor, Lockheed Martin, McGraw Hill, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, US Airways
Friday
Economic Indicators
EU: 07.10 German GFK Consumer Confidence
Results
US: American Bancorp, Caterpillar, Harley Davidson, Honeywell
The Financial Press, what the papers said:
Last update: 21 Jan 08
The Telegraph reveals that the US private equity firm JC Flowers has built up a stake in Friends Provident. However the motive behind the 3% stake is unclear as both sides have refused to comment. The Sunday Times is bolder, suggesting the firm could launch a £4 billion bid for the friendless Friends Provident; a company in desperate need of a strategy and some cashflow.
More M&A action in the mining sector; the Observer highlights a possible bid for Xstrata from either Anglo American or Brazil’s Vale.
The Sunday Times economics section takes a look at Sterling’s fall against the Euro and examines the consequences, including a revival in UK manufacturing and re-opening the debate on EU membership.
The Scotland on Sunday discloses more reasons to buy Morrisons; the paper expects the supermarket chain to be crowned this Christmas’s top food retailer when it updates the market this week.
The weekend press wouldn’t be complete without a couple of Northern Rock articles. The Telegraph reveals a new proposal, involving a special purpose company, to re-mortgage the bank’s mortgages and repay the taxpayer £25 billion from the proceeds. But the flaw in the cunning plan is that the government (taxpayer) will guarantee the deal. Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reports that Richard Branson is preparing to improve the terms of his bid for the bank.
Advert
www.FinancialSpreads.com Narrow Spreads, Free Charts and Live Prices.
No Fees, No Commissions, Spread Bet on Shares, Indices, Forex, Commodities Apply Now.
|
SpreadBets.org.uk - Weekly Comment Supplied and Sponsored by paddypowertrader.
For the latest update see: Online Spread Bet
"Online Spread Trading" written by RThomas, last updated 21-Jan-2008
Similar articles:
Online Spread Bet,
With continued lower-than-normal volumes in commodities markets, traders are seeing some 10% intraday price swings. Brent Crude Oil lost another 9.25% to finish at $54.06. That's 63% off...read.
Online Spread Bet More News,
There are plenty of UK earnings out this week to keep traders occupied. Reports that will be making the headlines will come from the likes of Vodaphone, Thomson...read.
Spread Trade October 2008,
World indices continued their hugely volatile trading last week. The Dow Jones ranged at least 300 points every day last week and finished 5.12% lower at 8300. It was a similarly bad week in Europe as the FTSE lost 5.08% and the Dax 30 lost...read.
Online Spread Bets October 2008,
Brent Crude Oil tumbled a further 11.05% last week amid a volatile range of 1600 points from its high to its low. Its price is now $69.64, less than half its level only 3 months ago. Gold is now being sold off as traders are...read.
Spread Bets October 2008,
All the major indices had five straight losing days, with no mini-rally lasting longer than a couple of hours. The Dow Jones lost a jaw-dropping 19.75% to close at 8294. That is 41.57% lower than its peak exactly one year ago. The FTSE collapsed 15.60%, the DAX shrunk...read.
Spread Betting News - October 2008,
Spread Betting News >> In FX spread betting the European banking crisis and inevitable future rate cuts resulted in the Euro and Sterling weakening against the US Dollar last week. EUR / USD lost...read.
Spread Bets News - October 2008,
Spread Bets News - October 2008 >> With no bailout plan agreed, the Dow Jones finished down 1.80% and the FTSE 100 down 4.20%. The NASDAQ lost 3.41% and the German DAX fell 1.98%...read.
Spread Betting News - September 2008,
Spread Betting News - September 2008 >> Commodities were also extremely volatile with Brent Crude Oil trading in a range of under $90 to over $100. It finished with a...read.
Spread Bets - September 2008,
Spread Bets - 2008 >> Commodities were also extremely volatile with Brent Crude Oil trading in a range of under $90 to over $100. It finished with a 1.29% gain. Gold added $88 last Thursday, its largest ever one day Dollar gain. It closed...read.
Spread Trading September 2008,
Spread Trading - September 2008 >> Last Friday saw the recent Dollar rally hit a huge roadblock, GBP / USD gained over 2% that day and added 1.71% on the week. The Euro had a bad week on the back of poor economic forecasts from the ECB. EUR / USD gained a mere 0.13% and EUR / GBP slipped well...read.
Spread Betting - September 2008,
Spread Betting - September 2008 >> Nearly half the Irish companies on the ISEQ reported first half earnings last week and Irish Life & Permanent were the clear winners. Their profits of € 300 million beat expectations and led to a 20.1% gain on the week. At the other end...read.
Spread Bets Trading Info - August 2008,
Spread Bets Trading Info - August 2008 >> Instead commodity prices and the financial crisis pulled the strings. Commodity and mining stocks in particular had a strong week, with Rio Tinto gaining 11.6%. However financials...read.
Spread Betting News and Info - August 2008,
Spread Betting News and Info - August 2008 >> Despite an escalation in the Russian-Georgia conflict, Commodities continued to fall. Further Dollar strength, and increasing fears of slower growth, destroyed the gold price. Over the week the precious metal dropped a massive $70, breaking below the key support level at...read.
Spread Bets News - August 2008,
Spread Bets News - August 2008 >> Commodities tumbled this week due to deteriorating growth prospects in world economies. Oil markets took the worst beating as Crude lost 8.9%. Less than a month after touching $146, Brent Crude is now barely over $113. Gold did not fare much better, as it lost 5.9% to close at $856.70. Technically, it now stands at a...read.
Spread Betting News - August 2008,
Spread Betting News - August 2008 >> Amongst financials Merrill Lynch epitomised the craziness. On Monday it fell 12% and on Tuesday another 9.5% before rebounding 8% before Tuesdays close. The reason: they revealed they were selling $30.6bn worth of CDOs for just $0.22...read.
Online Spread Trading July 2008,
Online Spread Trading July 2008 >> Equity markets began the week in good spirits. Corporate earnings were generally better than expected and a rally in oil and gold failed to attract any enthusiasm. However Thursday brought a harsh dose of reality in the form of weak economic numbers across the globe. In the UK, retail sales...read.
Spread Betting July 2008,
Spread Betting July 2008 >> There had already been signs of a wobble in the Crude Oil price before Bernanke expressed his concern about weaker growth. But this speech, followed by Wednesdays report of far larger stocks of oil, and combined with Thursdays option expiry smashed the oil price. Brent Crude ended the week down $14 at $130.19, a fall of 10% on the week. Gold held its new trading range, and moved above $980 on Tuesday. But the collapse in...read.
Spread Bets July 2008,
Spread Bets July 2008 >> The US Dollar and Sterling both fell against the Euro as their economies looked to be weakening at a faster rate. The FTSE closed down 2.8% at 5261, the Dax -1.9% at 6153. In the US the S&P closed -1.9% at 1239 and the Dow -1.7% at 11100, after dropping below 11000 earlier in the day. In the Far East the Nikkei...read.
Online Spread Bet July 2008,
The Dow and S&P fell by 0.5% and 1.2% respectively, compared to falls of 2.3% on the FTSE and Nikkei, and 2.1% on the Dax. Emerging markets bore the brunt of the selling with falls of 4-6%. The Dow Jones is now officially a bear market. The FTSE 100 has so far survived by only...read.
Spread Trading News - June 2008,
Spread Trading News - June 2008 >> Equity markets around the world were hit by fears of yet more write-downs in the banking sector and signs that the crisis was starting to affect the real economy. As Fortis and Barclays both announced they were raising capital, Goldmans downgraded Citigroup and Merrills, sending their shares 10% lower on the week. On Thursday rumours that Chrysler was seeking protection from its creditors sent the markets into a tailspin. Crude Oil rose to a new record high, and the Dollar fell, as the president of OPEC said that he could see oil at $170 this summer. A flight to safety also saw gold gain ground. US equities led the way down, stopping just short of a 20% fall from the peak that signifies a bear market. The Dow fell by 4.2%, the S&P by 3%. In Europe the DAX was -2.4% and FTSE...read.
June 2008 Spread Bet,
June 2008 Spread Bet >> First out of the blocks will be the markets reaction to the outcome of the Jeddah meeting on Crude Oil. On Wednesday the US Federal Reserve will announce any change in interest rates, but no change is expected. There are bags of sentiment surveys spanning the major economies; it is hard to imagine that any of them will be jolly, but just how bad they are might depend on the cut-off date. Nationwide House Prices and...read.
June Spread Bets,
June Spread Bets >> Brent Crude dropped around $4 on the week, finishing at $134.25 and the Euro ended the week at EUR-USD $1.5380 and EUR-GBP £0.789. Elsewhere the Dax 30 fell by 0.6% and FTSE 100 fell by 1.8%. But Asia...read.
Spread Trading June,
Spread Trading June >> Due to the weak US Unemployment numbers the Dow ended the week 3.3% down. The FTSE and The DAX were effected by the US and ended 3% and almost 5% down respectively while the Nikkei ended 2.2% down on the week. Brent Crude Oil hit a record $138.54 on...read.
Spread Betting June,
Spread Betting June >> The FTSE finished the week 0.6% lower. By contrast, the Dax ended the week 2.2% higher, the S&P rose 1.8% and the Dow +1.3%. The Nikkei, benefiting from a weaker Yen, also rose by 2.3%. A bad week for the Euro as the plague of slowing...read.
Online Spread Trading May 2008,
Online Spread Trading May 2008 >> The mini-bubble burst in equity markets as investors picked up on the dilemma facing central banks; with inflation above target and still rising, banks could not cut rates to stimulate growth in the economy. Equity indices plummeted from Mondays 4-month highs with the Dow falling by nearly 4% on the week. The S&P and FTSE fell by 3.5% and the Dax by 3%. The Nikkei 1.5% fall was...read.
Online Spread Betting May 2008,
Online Spread Betting May 2008 >> In Commodities, Oil pushed ahead to another new high of $127.82. This was mainly on fears that China would step up demand for fuel after the earthquake damaged several hydro-electric power plants. Late on Friday the price fell back on news that the Saudis would...read.
Spread Trading May,
Spread Trading May >> Oil set new record highs each day last week. A warning from Goldman Sachs that oil could hit $200 resulted in heavy buying of options to purchase oil at that level in December 2008. OPEC did not help matters, blaming speculators, rather than a lack of supply, for the recent jump in prices. Brent Crude finished the week $10 higher at $125.4. Gold held the $950 support level and bounced $26 on the...read.
Spread Betting May,
Spread Betting May >> BP and Royal Dutch Shell benefited from the soaring oil price, but their US counterpart, Exxon Mobil failed to meet expectations. The better mood was reflected in equities rising to their highest levels since early January. Indices in the US and Japan rose by around...read.
Spread Trading Online April,
Spread Trading Online April >> In Commodities Spread Betting, Oil continued to move higher, almost touching $120. Growing concerns over disruption to supplies peaked on Friday when news of shots being fired on an Iranian ship sent oil up by $3. Brent Crude Oil ended the week $3 higher at $116.34. The stronger Dollar saw gold...read.
Online Spread Betting April,
Equity markets had their best collective week for some time. The FTSE was the lazy laggard, rising 'only' 2.7%; the DAX fared better with a 3.6% rise. The S&P and Dow saw gains of 4.3% and the Nikkei rose by around 5.5%. Looking at equities spread bets Royal Bank of Scotland stole the show with rumours of a...read.
Spread Trading April,
Spread Trading April >> The equity market elastic finally snapped, or more accurately was cut by a pair of General Electric scissors. For much of the week, equities ignored worsening economic and corporate data and a gloomy outlook from the International Monetary Fund. Confidence numbers in the UK and US hit record lows and HBOS announced that UK...read.
Spread Betting April,
Spread Betting April >> Markets opened lower as first UBS, and then Deutsche Bank warned of further write-downs. First Direct halted mortgage lending to non-customers and Lehman Brothers announced it was seeking at least $3 billion of funding. However, the early fall in prices was met with strong demand as traders...read.
Spread Trading March,
Spread Trading March >> Equities had a great start to the shortened week, with banks continuing to grabbing the headlines. JP Morgan bumped up their offer for Bear Stearns and investors took this to as a cue to revalue of the sector. Closer to home it became more apparent that rumours of HBOS being trouble were false; re-assurance came from HBOS staff spending £6m on their own...read.
Spread Trading Market Update,
Spread Trading Market Update >> Incredibly, US equity markets were barely changed on the week, but Europe suffered worse with the FTSE and Dax both falling by around 1%. Once again, the Nikkei took a big hit, falling by over 4% as the Yen hit a 12-year high against the...read.
Spread Betting Market Information,
Spread Betting Market Information >> Bingo! Gold smashed through the $1,000 barrier. The continuing collapse of the Dollar, together with contrasting fears of both higher inflation and collapsing asset prices, saw investors scrambling for safety. Both Crude Oil and gold benefited from their *safe haven status*. Gold ended up
...read.
Spread Bet on UK Markets,
Spread Bet on UK Markets >> Just when it looked safe to relax, after the banks reporting season had finished, the credit crunch reared its ugly head with a vengeance. As markets priced in a 0.75% cut in US rates at the March meeting the Euro, gold and oil all hit record highs. The main equity indices in the US and Europe fell by around 3% with the Dax faring slightly worse at
...read.
Spread Trading UK Markets,
Spread Trading UK Markets >> How fortunes change over a few hours in the stock markets. By Tuesday the FTSE Index was 250 points higher than the previous Fridays close. There was even talk of the worst being behind us. The growing conviction that European interest rates would, at best, remain unchanged whilst US rates would continue to fall boosted the Euro. Traders piled in, pushing the Euro to...read.
Spread Trading UK,
Spread Trading UK >> Commodities fired back into life with Crude oil repeatedly breaching the $100 mark and gold hitting a new high of $953.60. Brent Crude Oil finished the week up $2.5 at $97 and gold rose $35 to end at $943.65. These moves were partly a reaction to higher US inflation, but also due to an increased...read.
UK Spread Betting,
Once again results were dominated by the financial sector. UBS announced a further record loss and Bradford and Bingley's results were worse than expected. Credit Suisse played an excellent poker hand, combining a 72% fall in profits with the confidence to increase its dividend. American Insurance Group said that due to material weaknesses in their loan valuations, losses would rise from $1 billion to $5 billion. Bank of Ireland warned that...read.
Spread Betting Websites,
The week ended with the FTSE, Dow and S&P all falling by over 4%, but the Dax and Nikkei faring slightly better at -2.9% and -3.6%. The Euro provided the main thrills for forex traders. Despite no change in European interest rates, many traders interpreted the central bank's statement as a sign...read.
Spread Bet Feb 2008,
Despite worsening economic news equities finished the week in fine form with FTSE 100 +2.7%, Dax 30 +2.2%, Dow +4.4% and S and P 500 +4.9%. The 1% fall in the Nikkei was partly due to its different trading hours. Microsoft stole the headlines with its $45 billion bid for Yahoo. Further sub-prime write-downs saw a record loss for UBS and a $2.3 billion loss for bond insurer MBIA. Friends Provident's...read.
Online Financial Trading,
Societe Generale took the headlines with its announcement of a record £3. 7bn fraud by a rogue trader. Further sub-prime losses were reported by Bank of America, Wachovia and Ambac. In the FX markets the Yen continued to strengthen, hitting a 2.5 year high of Y105.63 against the Dollar on...read.
Online Spread Trading,
US banks took the headlines again with Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo recording losses of mind boggling size, accompanied by a mixture of dividend cuts and announcements of overseas funding. Comments from members of the European Central Bank suggesting a move towards lower rates caused the Euro to fall in value. The EUR/USD rate fell to $1.462 and EUR/GBP to £0.7480. Risk aversion trades saw the...read.
Spread Trading,
After last week's higher than expected inflation figures in both the US and Europe, numbers from the UK are keenly awaited. Also of interest will be the minutes from the Bank of England's last meeting when they voted (surprisingly) to cut rates, and retail sales...read.
Online Spread Betting,
Royal Bank of Scotland was the latest bank to report smaller sub-prime write-downs than the market expected and AIB pleased investors with an upbeat statement. House builders reacted well to the UK rate cut with rises of 7-9%, but Irish group Abbey saw a fall in first half profits and warned that it might need to review its dividend policy...read.
Spread Betting December,
Net moves on the week saw the Dax unchanged, FTSE -0.5%, Dow -1.5%, S&P -1.2% and Nikkei -1.8%. Financial firms across the market saw massive falls as US stalwart Freddie Mac warned that it would need to raise capital, possibly by slashing its dividend. In the forex market, the EUR USD cross briefly reached a new high of...read.
Financial Spread Betting,
After a strong finish to equity markets on Friday, attention will return to the effects of the credit crunch, with the banks' reluctance to lend to one another causing money rates to continue rising. The European Central Bank has pledged to inject emergency funds into the money markets. Keep an eye on key confidence figures from the main...read.
Spread Betting Market News,
The money markets witnessed a return of the liquidity crunch with banks' increasing reluctance to lend to one another pushing up the 3-Month Libor rate to just under 6.4%, the highest since September?s problems. he markets saw FTSE ?0.2%, Dow +1.0%, S&P +0.3%, Dax ?2.6%, Nikkei ?2.8%....read.
Spread Bet Website,
Across markets the falls ranged from a barely changed Dax ?0.5% to the harder hit Asian markets with the Nikkei and Hang Seng falling by 5.5%. The FTSE and S&P fell by around 3.5% with the Dow faring worse at ?4.1%. Financials dominated the news flow with Wachovia declaring a $1.1 billion sub-prime related loss for October alone and Barclays denying further rumours...read.
Online Spreads,
Once again the week ended with record highs in oil, gold and EUR/USD as sub-prime jitters returned to take the gloss off the equity markets. The Hong Kong and Indian exchanges reached new highs at the start of the week, but equities finished on a low note with FTSE ?2.0%, Dow ?1.5%, S&P ?1.7% and Dax ?0.3%. The Nikkei held up better at +0.1%....read.
Spread Bet Online,
After a strong finish to equity markets on Friday, attention will return to the effects of the credit crunch, with the banks' reluctance to lend to one another causing money rates to continue rising. The European Central Bank has pledged to inject emergency funds into the money markets, until the end of the year if...read.
Spread Bet News,
Just a week after record highs in equity markets investors decided to celebrate the anniversary of the stock market crash of 1987 by knocking 360 points off the Dow on Friday. Rising oil prices, some shocking company results and further concerns over a slump in both the US and UK housing markets sent traders...read.
|
|
|
Free Financial Email: Latest Spread Betting Offers and where to find narrow spreads.
Click here to sign up.
|
|
