Global figures released by leading online fixed-odds trading platform BetOnMarkets.com indicate that the UK is one of the worst online financial betting nations in the world. In a league-table of 100 countries compiled by the BetOnMarkets.com, the UK languishes fifth from the bottom when it comes to successful markets betting. And despite having one of the world’s most sophisticated...
Financial markets were a sea of red numbers last week as the classic ‘Fade the Fed’ trade played out. The initial reaction to Wednesday’s US interest rate decision was neutral to positive, then the selling set in and hardly stopped. Thursday’s mini rally did a very poor job of papering over the cracks in the global economy. On Friday those cracks were wide open for all to see with housing...
After a rather turbulent week markets ended on a positive note. US markets benefited from a better than expected inflation outlook, following Fridays CPI numbers. The majority of inflation increases were due directly and indirectly to energy costs, so markets were thankful for the fact that oil didn’t finish the week on a new record high. The Energy heavy FTSE trudged behind its European...
It was yet another tough week for global stock markets, with the Dow Jones & S&P 500 declining 3.78% on the week and the FTSE down 3.37%. With oil rallying $4, renewed trouble in the financial sector, downgrades to monoline insurers and trouble in the Middle East, markets encountered an ugly storm on Friday. Crude oil prices continued to hold above the $130 handle after competing news...
Three percent may seem an inauspicious number, but it certainly caused some headaches last week. Firstly, UK inflation is running at 3%, over the Bank Of England target of 2% and obliging the Governor of the Bank of England to write a letter of explanation to the Government. Secondly, on Friday, US markets in unison fell by over 3% as panic once more swept through financial markets. The week...
Given the massive growth in the overall popularity of spread betting as an investment tool in recent years, alongside the ever higher profile achieved by the general gaming industry, it is perhaps quite surprising that the traditional form of gambling – fixed-odds betting – is not more widely used. Fixed-odds betting is quick and easy to understand – anyone who has ever placed a bet on the...
The past week had the potential to be explosive. Central bank meetings in the UK and Europe had traders licking their lips with anticipation for the possible outcomes of the meetings and the potential volatility they could bring. Sadly for volatility lovers, the week came and went with little significant turbulence. The FTSE ended the week up almost 150 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average...
“Sell in May” says the old stock market adage, but the bulls were in no mood for old wives’ tales last week. Markets were in rally mode after the better than expected US jobs report, and news of more liquidity injections from the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve did what most traders were expecting them to do in cutting rates another quarter percent down to 2%. “The...
On a day when you hear about the worlds largest bank CITI Group losing $5 Billion and cutting 4,000 jobs world wide, you might expect markets to be down severely. You might also have expected the FTSE to stumble on the news that RBS is preparing a rights issue to shore up its balance sheet. However, apart from some early nervousness on Friday, the UKs benchmark index managed to close the week up...
The economy, stupid was a phrase widely used during Bill Clintons successful campaign against George Bush Snr. Right now, we could simplify the phase even further in relation to the prospects for the UK and US in 2008; Its the housing market, stupid. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has stated that much depends on the depth of US housing declines from here, and in the UK Gordon Brown has said that the...