Ftse Down 2.6% Already?

[The Masked Tulip]

Is the CAC cacing it because French banks are so exposed to Greek debt and if the Germans do not bail out Greece then French banks get a spanking?

[The Masked Tulip]

FTSE just did a 26 point drop to below 4900.

[Bloo Loo]

MARKET DATA - 10:50 UK

FTSE 100 4928.38down -141.23 -2.79%

Dax 5639.13down -166.55 -2.87%

Cac 40 3316.19down -114.74 -3.34%

whats the problem...we still have 97% to go.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

We'll see 3500 again by the end of the year. At this rate it could be by the end of summer.

As my friend's ( from surrey ) wiffie said 9 months ago:

"House prices are going up, just look at the FTSE, it's a good indicator as to what is coming".

I wish them well in their new house !!!

[piece of paper]

Wake me up at 4810.

Ta.

p-o-p

[A.steve]

whats the problem...we still have 97% to go.

I think we should all discuss stock market volatility using additive comparisons of total market capitalisation.

The stock market can lose 97% every day for the next year, and it will still retain value.

If you care about capital, you need to use additive measures, not geometric measures.

[neil324]

Oil down nearly 4%, commodity currencies falling hard.

[Pick It Down]

Oil down nearly 4%, commodity currencies falling hard.

$30 oil for a year or two could be just what we need.

[Bloo Loo]

Oil down nearly 4%, commodity currencies falling hard.

has debt just got 4% more expensive?

[blankster]

Holy Potato! Dow futures down 244 points at present (CNN)

[neil324]

has debt just got 4% more expensive?

Not looked but at a guess, no. I just had a nice cup of coffee though, whats your point?

[OzzMosiz]

Was it BP?

No it's the next BP!!

[betterToDo]

High frequency trading is evil & should be illegal.

Define what it is then if its evil and you want it banned.

The issue about what Goldman has been reported doing is, for example, not actually about HFT and is indeed "evil" in that they have a thoroughly unfair advantage in access to exchange information and execution, centred around seeing orders before they hit the market (and for that, blame the exchange). Their exploitation of this does come in the form of HFT if you like but that's besides the point.

You might just be, like much of the press, confusing "evil nasty HFT" with automation in general, which comes in lots of different shapes and sizes, is inevitable, accessible, and by no means evil. Latency competition is centuries old (you've all heard the one about Nathan Rothschild and the battle of Waterloo no doubt) and exists whether you like it or not, so you might as well try and ban the sky from being blue.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Fraccy

[The Masked Tulip]

No it's the next BP!!

What - you bought shares in a company about to destroy an area the size of the Gulf of Mexico?

[OzzMosiz]

What - you bought shares in a company about to destroy an area the size of the Gulf of Mexico?

Next BP in terms of size, not mistakes!

[The Masked Tulip]

Next BP in terms of size, not mistakes!

[Saving For a Space Ship]

Falling knife, or the moment to buy?

/me says - Both!

"catch a falling knife

and put it in your pocket

save it for a rainy day"

To the tune of ....Perry Como

[The Masked Tulip]

"catch a falling knife

and put it in your pocket

save it for a rainy day"

To the tune of ....Perry Como

You can get nicked for that... listening to Perry Como.

[Bloo Loo]

Not looked but at a guess, no. I just had a nice cup of coffee though, whats your point?

well, that oil you bought leveraged up with debt, just lost you a fortune.

the debt, however, remains.

[234SALE]

Period of 5,000 to 4,000 was very quick,, will the same happen again ?

Edited May 25, 2010 by 234SALE

[Saving For a Space Ship]

You can get nicked for that... listening to Perry Como.

I'd be more worried about getting

if I put a falling knife in my pocket

[blue skies]

MADRID (AP) -- Four Spanish savings banks have announced plans to merge amid concerns over solvency in the sector.

Cajastur, Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo, Caja Extremadura and Caja Cantabria said they had reached an agreement to form a group that would "strengthen solvency and assets of the participating banks."

The move announced late Monday came after the Bank of Spain bailed out Andalusian savings bank Cajasur over the weekend, after merger talks with savings bank broke down.

It was the second savings bank bailed out by public money, after the central bank took control of Caja Castilla-La Mancha in March 2009.

The merged entity would have a total of euro135 billion ($167 billion) in assets, making it Spain's third-biggest savings bank after La Caixa and Caja Madrid and the country's fifth largest bank overall.

Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo and Cajastur would hold 40-percent stakes each, Caja Extremadura 11 percent and Caja Cantabria 9 percent. The four would retain their management boards and branch networks but would combine operations such as risk control and credit assessment.

Spain's banking sector has withstood the international financial crisis, owing to strict regulations that forced banks to set aside provisions during an economic boom fueled by construction and consumer spending.

But smaller savings banks, heavily exposed to the real estate sector and burdened with a rising rate of bad loans have suffered considerably with the recession and the collapse of the building industry.

On Monday, the International Monetary Fund issued a report saying the country's banking sector was sound, but "under pressure" and in need of consolidation.

The IMF called on Spain to radically reform its labor market, saying its recovery from financial crisis was weak.

Europe's top job creator two years ago, Spain now has the region's highest unemployment rate at just over 20 percent.

The country is also applying reforms it hopes will bring its large deficit back from 11.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 to within the EU limit of 3 percent by 2013.

[Pick It Down]

Panic over!

MARKET DATA - 12:20 UK

FTSE 100 4941.31down -128.30 -2.53%

Dax 5660.41down -145.27 -2.50%

Cac 40 3322.22down -108.71 -3.17%

[Bloo Loo]

MADRID (AP) -- Four Spanish savings banks have announced plans to merge amid concerns over solvency in the sector.

Cajastur, Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo, Caja Extremadura and Caja Cantabria said they had reached an agreement to form a group that would "strengthen solvency and assets of the participating banks."

The move announced late Monday came after the Bank of Spain bailed out Andalusian savings bank Cajasur over the weekend, after merger talks with savings bank broke down.

It was the second savings bank bailed out by public money, after the central bank took control of Caja Castilla-La Mancha in March 2009.

The merged entity would have a total of euro135 billion ($167 billion) in assets, making it Spain's third-biggest savings bank after La Caixa and Caja Madrid and the country's fifth largest bank overall.

Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo and Cajastur would hold 40-percent stakes each, Caja Extremadura 11 percent and Caja Cantabria 9 percent. The four would retain their management boards and branch networks but would combine operations such as risk control and credit assessment.

Spain's banking sector has withstood the international financial crisis, owing to strict regulations that forced banks to set aside provisions during an economic boom fueled by construction and consumer spending.

But smaller savings banks, heavily exposed to the real estate sector and burdened with a rising rate of bad loans have suffered considerably with the recession and the collapse of the building industry.

On Monday, the International Monetary Fund issued a report saying the country's banking sector was sound, but "under pressure" and in need of consolidation.

The IMF called on Spain to radically reform its labor market, saying its recovery from financial crisis was weak.

Europe's top job creator two years ago, Spain now has the region's highest unemployment rate at just over 20 percent.

The country is also applying reforms it hopes will bring its large deficit back from 11.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 to within the EU limit of 3 percent by 2013.

can we name one, just one, fat cat banker in Spain that is coming out of this broke?

[OnlyMe]

$30 oil for a year or two could be just what we need.

Depends on how many companies can extract/refine for that.

Same goes for other commodities. There is an ever greater discrepancy between most commidities and the value of currencies. Something very odd is happening. Look down the list of top 10/20 countries by GDP and nearly all of them have serious structural deficits, have been bubble ridden and need to cut back their debt based expenditure. Something has to give.