Contracts for difference, CFDS, trade online http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news Copyright Blue Index 2008 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/images/blue-index-logo-small.gif http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news 144 47 The Footsie edged up at the open again as the generally bullish background reflected hopes of M&A action in the energy and commodities markets, and there was some value buying again in recovery stocks. Against this though, there was plenty of news from the housing market involving both lenders and borrowers, and it looks as though we are to expect more recession-type given what we are seeing in the sector. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/bullish-background-offset-by-more-downbeat-news-from-the-house-market http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/bullish-background-offset-by-more-downbeat-news-from-the-house-market Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 After a quiet start, there was another surge of buying today as traders digested another slew of corporate news over the weekend, together with this morning’s statements. Once again, the strength in the oil price has spurred rallies in the sector, with one of our favourites Cairn Energy moving again to new highs after another 3% rally. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/buyers-back-in-force-on-plenty-of-corporate-news http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/buyers-back-in-force-on-plenty-of-corporate-news Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 Although there were plenty of corporate statements early on today, the main themes were a continued rise in oil prices and some profit taking after an uneasy finish on Far Eastern markets. The mining sector ran into one or two sellers after a very good week, and Kazakhmys led the fallers mid-morning, dropping 3.4% on a lack of takeover news. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/early-fall-on-footsie-on-profit-taking-and-weak-far-east-markets http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/early-fall-on-footsie-on-profit-taking-and-weak-far-east-markets Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 Shares in London’s top stocks opened lower ahead of the Bank of England’s monthly decision on interest rates later today, with the feeling that rates may be left unchanged but with the possibility of future drops. It was however last night’s fall on the Dow Jones Index that gave the early downside impetus to the FTSE 100 index despite some sharp moves on special situations. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/fall-in-us-stocks-hits-footsie-early-on-as-traders-await-boe-rate-decision http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/fall-in-us-stocks-hits-footsie-early-on-as-traders-await-boe-rate-decision Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 2nd May – Big rise in London reflects strong world equity movements There is a good feeling to equity markets right now on talk that the worst of the credit crunch is over and on hopes that M&A activity will reappear, especially from the private equity sector. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/possible-turning-point-as-us-shares-roll-over-this-week http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/possible-turning-point-as-us-shares-roll-over-this-week Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 Although volumes have been quiet so far, the FTSE 100 index has seen a small rise and for a change there has been some interesting activity in recovery stocks. Former high flyer Yell Group has followed up yesterday’s rise with another 8% rise as US sector peer Idearc rallied a huge 30% after announcing better than expected first quarter profits, and volume so far has been impressive, so we could see another attempt at the spike high seen two weeks ago at 206p here. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/steady-open-with-some-decent-moves-in-recovery-stocks http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/steady-open-with-some-decent-moves-in-recovery-stocks Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 Shares in London stared brightly today but soon hit a wave of selling as strong oil stocks were offset by some poor news in other sectors. Tullow Oil was the market’s biggest riser as it said that its Mahogany-2 well offshore Ghana hit a significant column of light oil. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/ftse-runs-into-early-selling-as-strong-oils-offset-by-other-sector-problems http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/ftse-runs-into-early-selling-as-strong-oils-offset-by-other-sector-problems Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 There is a good feeling to equity markets right now on talk that the worst of the credit crunch is over and on hopes that M&A activity will reappear, especially from the private equity sector. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/big-rise-in-london-reflects-strong-world-equity-movements http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/big-rise-in-london-reflects-strong-world-equity-movements Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 There was some selling in the US last night after the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, and the feeling in some quarters was that we might be close to the end of the rate cutting exercise despite the accompanying cautious comments by the central bank. Even so, the volatility in world markets has died down considerably this week, and it is quiet again today so far, so most of the CFD action has been in special situations or sector considerations. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/sellers-appear-in-the-us-after-cautious-fed-comments http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/sellers-appear-in-the-us-after-cautious-fed-comments Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 25th April – Reversal of roles as miners pullback but market strong The baton has for a change been picked up today by some of the recovery stocks which had previously been hit hard, and it is the mining stocks that are at the bottom of the board as commodity prices fall. We had been looking for a big fall in gold, which is now happening and this suggests there will be more potential profits on the short side in coming days in the sector. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/overall-volatility-lessens-but-plenty-of-sector-movements http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/overall-volatility-lessens-but-plenty-of-sector-movements Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 It was a typically nervy opening this morning with traders tending to square some positions ahead of this afternoon’s important Fed rate announcement which is expected to see a reduction in US interest rates to just 2%. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/tight-trading-range-ahead-of-fed-decision http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/tight-trading-range-ahead-of-fed-decision Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 Traders have had plenty to occupy them today with the eagerly awaited reports from the oil majors and the news from HBOS, but the overall bullish tone in the UK continues and Footsie is up 43 points mid-morning. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/ftse-in-good-shape-on-a-very-busy-morning-for-news http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/ftse-in-good-shape-on-a-very-busy-morning-for-news Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 The headline FTSE 100 index feels becalmed at the moment, but there is plenty of action below the surface across many sectors. Once again the weekend press was full of fundraising stories in the bank sector after last week’s cash call from RBS. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/gentle-rise-masks-underlying-volatility-in-london http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/gentle-rise-masks-underlying-volatility-in-london Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 The baton has for a change been picked up today by some of the recovery stocks which had previously been hit hard, and it is the mining stocks that are at the bottom of the board as commodity prices fall. We had been looking for a big fall in gold, which is now happening and this suggests there will be more potential profits on the short side in coming days in the sector. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/reversal-of-roles-as-miners-pullback-but-market-strong http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/reversal-of-roles-as-miners-pullback-but-market-strong Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 There was more bad news from the housing market today as Persimmon dropped heavily after it said it expected the market to become even more challenging. In a shock to some analysts, sales have dropped by 24% since the start of 2008, while sales reservation volumes remained flat last month. Traders are busy marking the prices of other housebuilding shares down, and the question now becomes one of cashflow in this notoriously cyclical sector, for which we still stay bearish. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/housing-shares-under-pressure-on-poor-persimmon-numbers http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/housing-shares-under-pressure-on-poor-persimmon-numbers Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 18th April – Footsie up despite RBS rights issue news It is a sign of the generally positive market background that the news of a potential £5bn plus right issue from RBS has not affected the FTSE 100 index so far, with most traders preferring to look at several special situations elsewhere. The miners and oils have also been strong again on solid commodity prices, and tech stocks saw support after Google’s excellent after hours statement last night. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/24th-april--another-exciting-week-with-oils-and-banks-in-different-directions http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/24th-april--another-exciting-week-with-oils-and-banks-in-different-directions Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 There was huge volume in RBS early on as traders digested the implications of today’s big fundraising news. The bank will offer shareholders 11 new shares for every 18 existing shares at 200p each, which is a big discount to the current price. The issue is fully underwritten and RBS unveiled new write-downs of £4.3bn after tax, but said its underlying performance had remained satisfactory. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/wild-action-in-rbs-as-the-rights-issue-is-announced http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/wild-action-in-rbs-as-the-rights-issue-is-announced Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 The FTSE 100 index saw strong follow through buying at the open after last week’s excellent performance, but sellers got the better of the important bank sector, making the index unchanged mid-morning. The big concern is the scale of the forthcoming RBS rights issue, and of course whether other banks will want to come to the trough. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/banks-dominate-early-activity-as-traders-await-rbs-rights-details http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/banks-dominate-early-activity-as-traders-await-rbs-rights-details Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 The bank sector is in fine form today after yesterday’s big US rally as JP Morgan beat expectations despite a huge drop in profits. Alliance & Leicester, HBOS and Barclays are all up over 3.5%, with further stories that there will be a deal on mortgages to be backed by the Treasury. We have not yet seen major volume but this could mark a turning point both for the sector and the wider market. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/a-busy-morning-as-banks-and-manda-news-sees-footsie-higher-again http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/a-busy-morning-as-banks-and-manda-news-sees-footsie-higher-again Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 There was plenty of corporate news to chew on today, with reports from various sectors being generally well received. Rio Tinto did not disappoint after it said that Q1 iron ore production was up 16% from the same time a year before although refined copper output fell. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/early-rise-on-a-raft-of-results-from-various-sectors http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/early-rise-on-a-raft-of-results-from-various-sectors Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100