Contracts for difference, CFDS, trade online http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news Copyright Blue Index 2009 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/images/blue-index-logo-small.gif http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news 144 47 Traders returning to their desks this morning after the Bank Holiday weekend have had a rather mixed start to the short week, with the general lethargy due to a dearth of major corporate results announcements. Story of the day thus far is mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO), which has agreed to a one third reduction in the price it charges for iron ore, a move likely to set the standard for other miners and as good an indication as any that the economic downturn is still taking its toll on business. Rio has yet to resolve the ongoing funding issues and the Chinalco saga, and this coupled with the iron ore price cuts prompted a 3% slump in Rio shares. Conversely, Latin America focused miner Hochschild (HOC) leads the FTSE 350 leader board with a 7% share price rise after announcing at the AGM today that it is optimistic over prospects for the coming year. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/rio-iron-ore-price-cuts-show-the-economic-downturn-is-still-taking-its-toll http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/rio-iron-ore-price-cuts-show-the-economic-downturn-is-still-taking-its-toll Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 Signs of a slowdown were there for all to see last week, as the tentative recovery in the economy and the sharp rebound in the stock market since March hit its first big stumbling block. An arguably long overdue cut in the UK’s credit rating this week has well and truly stopped the market in its tracks, catching out the bulls and optimists who hoped and believed we could pull out of recession with an unblemished record. The rest of the summer will see investors looking over their shoulder in case the warning shot from the S&P Credit Agency results in the loss of the UK’s Triple A rating http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/weekly-report-2009-05-22-a-change-of-trading-strategy-as-sandp-downgrades-the-uk-credit-rating http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/weekly-report-2009-05-22-a-change-of-trading-strategy-as-sandp-downgrades-the-uk-credit-rating Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 A diary of major economic announcements, company reporting announcements and financial markets events scheduled for the week starting 25 May 2009 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/trading-week-2009-05-22 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/trading-week-2009-05-22 Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 All the flying metaphors are in use today for British Airways (BAY), and unfortunately for bulls all refer to descent e.g. tailspin, severe turbulence, perfect storm etc. The flagship carrier announced its first loss in 7 years, and while this may have been factored in by the stock market, it has had a negative impact on the share price, currently down some 5%. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/a-severe-wing-clipping-at-british-airways http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/a-severe-wing-clipping-at-british-airways Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 After so many positive drivers for the FTSE 100 and Sterling in recent weeks, the news this morning that S&P had downgraded the UK’s credit outlook from “stable” to negative came as a shock. Logically though, this hardly surprising after losing major High Street banks and a large chunk of national wealth, so for S&P to stick the knife it at this stage is perfectly understandable. But the warnings stands against this country’s triple A credit rating, one which if lost could really inflict lasting damage. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/sandp-turns-negative-on-the-uk http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/sandp-turns-negative-on-the-uk Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 It seems almost a no-brainer that credit check firm Experian (EXPN) should be raking it in during the Credit Crunch, but evidence of this has taken a long time to arrive. Today though, the group clearly showed how much it is benefiting from the Crunch, as the group announced a near 10% hike in revenues to nearly $4bn, with organic growth steady at 3%. This may not sound overly spectacular but compared to many companies in the financial services sector it is an impressive result. Shares were up 2%, just off the highs of the past year at 500p plus intraday. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/experian-flourishes-during-the-credit-crunch http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/experian-flourishes-during-the-credit-crunch Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 Given that money on deposit yields virtually no interest these days, a blue chip retailer such as Marks & Spencer shouldn’t have to pay a huge dividend to attract hoards of investors looking for decent income. But England’s finest came some way short this morning, after announcing a 30% plus drop in pre-tax profits and a dividend cut to match. Given that M&S described the outlook for the rest of the year as “challenging”, it is little surprising that the share price is down 7%. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/slashed-dividend-upsets-mands-shareholders http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/slashed-dividend-upsets-mands-shareholders Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 India’s stock market has without doubt had influence on the direction of other stock markets from time to time, but until it hasn’t carried sufficient strength to turn other markets or change their direction. Today all that changed as the Sensex in Mumbai rocketed 17% after the Congress Party won a clear mandate at the General Election. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/india-sensex-market-determines-the-direction-of-the-ftse100 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/india-sensex-market-determines-the-direction-of-the-ftse100 Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 The first real hiccup for the great 2009 stock market rebound came this week, as a retail sales dive and foreclosure spike in the US poured icy cold water onto the idea that consumers could spend their way back out of recession. A mix of bullish and bearish corporate news in the UK resulted in a retracement for the FTSE100 blue chip index. BT Group announced a dire set of numbers, although they were consistent with the same bearish message the group has been transmitting for the past 6 months. In contrast Compass Group and Sainsburys announced market-beating numbers http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/weekly-report-2009-05-15-selling-in-may-as-the-markets-consolidate http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/weekly-report-2009-05-15-selling-in-may-as-the-markets-consolidate Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 A diary of major economic announcements, company reporting announcements and financial markets events scheduled for the week starting 18 May 2009 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/trading-week-2009-05-15 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/trading-week-2009-05-15 Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 For bulls of the banking sector in general and Barclays (BARC) in particular, the exceptionally sharp rally from 47p at the low in January to as high as 300p earlier this month, has not only been a sign that the sell off in the bank itself was overdone, but that the bull market is back for the stock market as a whole. But even though the ongoing speculation has been a powerful driver for the share price, with the markets still in early recovery mode, it is reasonable to expect ongoing speculation to continue driving the share price. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/possible-sale-of-barclays-asset-management-drives-the-markets-higher http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/possible-sale-of-barclays-asset-management-drives-the-markets-higher Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 While most traders and investors were expecting more woe and angst with the BT Group Q4 trading update, there was a sense of déjà vu this morning, and clear evidence the telecoms giant is fast becoming a rump. A further 15,000 jobs are to go; unions fear more job cuts with the full year numbers, and yet more write-down’s at the Global Services unit. This capped the 40% drop in pre-tax profits, and reduction in the dividend. The only glimmer of light is that with the already low share price, the market seems to have factored in most of the bad news. The shares were down 2%. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/bt-group-rings-up-all-the-wrong-numbers http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/bt-group-rings-up-all-the-wrong-numbers Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 While hopes of a world economic rebound seem inextricably linked to the fate of the China, mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO) is having difficulty completing its own link-up to Chinalco in order to secure enough the multi-billion dollar cash injection it needs. The alternative is of course a multi-billion Pound rights issue; something bound to enrage shareholders, given the recent history of the rejected Billiton bid. Not surprisingly shares in Rio fell over 5% yesterday and are currently down over 10% since the start of the week. Unless there is an announcement soon, further falls are likely. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/sainsbury-beats-expectations-while-compass-group-delivers-record-interim-results http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/sainsbury-beats-expectations-while-compass-group-delivers-record-interim-results Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 It isn’t unheard of for the stock market to occasionally run ahead of events and then get it wrong. Looking back, this certainly happened late last year and into January 2009 when investors and traders concluded that retailers were the best sector to short during the Credit Crunch. But as we now know, some of the leading stocks in H1 2009 includes the likes of Next (NXT) and Debenhams (DEB) after they both released market-beating trading updates, and today sees the bulls throwing their caps in the air again. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/retail-sales-boom-continues http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/retail-sales-boom-continues Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 Despite a decent smattering of mostly positive corporate newsflow, the FTSE100 slipped into negative territory shortly after trading commenced. With the old adage “go away in May” coupled with the recent rally, profit taking has been the order of the day, and perhaps will be for a while now. However, the positive elements of the newsflow prompted some share price rises here and there. Shares in British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) added 3% on news it had agreed terms with French electricity generator and British Energy owner EDF to buy a 20% stake in BE. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/centrica-deal-fails-to-lift-the-markets http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/centrica-deal-fails-to-lift-the-markets Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 The old stock market adage of selling in May still hangs in the balance as a potential course of action. So far, selling in January has proved to be the best course of action both last year and in 2009. The million-dollar question is whether the 2-month stock market rebound from the beginning of March is too far ahead of any economic recovery. Should this prove to be the case, leading economies will simply head back from bust to boom again, moving far too fast for inflation to be kept under control http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/weekly-report-2009-05-08-opportunities-as-the-ftse100-sets-a-2009-year-high http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/weekly-report-2009-05-08-opportunities-as-the-ftse100-sets-a-2009-year-high Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 A diary of major economic announcements, company reporting announcements and financial markets events scheduled for the week starting 11 May 2009 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/trading-week-2009-05-08 http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/trading-week-2009-05-08 Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 It has to be said, the manner in which the bank stress tests have been handled in both the UK and the US is commendable in the sense that the markets had time to recover from all the TARP bailouts at the end of 2008. If the $75bn funding requirement for 10 leading US banks had hit the headlines before March when the stock market was still in tailspin, our current “bull run” may never have got off the ground. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/3i-rights-issue-creates-a-sense-of-irony http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/3i-rights-issue-creates-a-sense-of-irony Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 Of course it may just be that leading stocks are squeezing higher ahead of the key interest rate decisions from both the Bank of England and ECB, but most pundits now see the recent rally in leading UK as way too significant if only in magnitude, to be just a bear market rally. The official reason for FTSE 100 triple digit gains as it now heads above 4,500 is that investors have been inspired by the latest batch of UK Q1 results. In fact, it also helped that the US “stress test” failures were not as widespread or as painful as the market as initially expected. This gave another boost to the leading UK financials, although Barclays (BARC) seems to be able to do it without any influence from external factors. Today’s update added to the recent momentum for the shares as the bank unveiled a stunning Q1, with profits up 15% for the first three months of this year. The star for the group was once again Barclays Capital, as the acquisition and successful integration of the Lehman business resulted in a “transformational change”, offsetting the effects of bad debts in the rest of the business. The shares flew another 3% initially to clear 300p before settling mildly higher. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/squeeze-ahead-of-boe-and-ecb-rate-decisions http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/squeeze-ahead-of-boe-and-ecb-rate-decisions Thu, 07 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100 The old stock market cliché that it is better to travel than arrive certainly rang true yesterday. The Dow Jones slammed the brakes on the recent rally after comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke noted the prospects of an economic turnaround by the end of the year. And this morning, shares in fashion retailer Next (NXT), such a strong performer of late, have slipped nearly 3% following the latest trading update. http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/pause-for-breath-at-next http://www.blueindex.co.uk/cfd-news/pause-for-breath-at-next Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100