Financial Betting Articles

Rumours, tittle-tattle and gossip - that is really what makes the world go round. It can certainly move a market as mob mentality gets hold of the latest juicy half-truth doing the rounds. That was why last week was such a fantastically exciting week to be watching the markets - and why this week may prove to be even better!

There are big things going on across the board - currencies, indices and commodities are all jumping about like they've got ants in their pants. The big scare that just won't go away is just how badly have the big banks been affected by the credit crisis. Stateside, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch both just announced eye-watering losses due to the credit squeeze. They both said 'Adios' to their bosses who get to cry all the way to the bank with their hefty pay-offs.

Over here, Barclays has been circled by vultures whispering that they ar e going to announce a big loss. Rumours have run from it having to seek emergency help from the Bank of England to its CEO John Varley stepping down. All this muck-raking conspired to send the Barclays share price plummeting, dragging several other banks' shares with it - and the FTSE to boot.

Now call me a pessimist but there really doesn't seem to be any good news out there. The US economy looks to be squirming in agony. US existing house sales fell 8% year on year last month - the worst drop for 16 years. Fed chief Ben Bernanke speaking last week commented that the US economy might experience 2 or more quarters of sluggish growth as a result of the credit crisis. Some think that this is an indication that US interest rates will be cut again before too long - weakening the dollar further.

The EU and UK economies are in a very different but equally precarious position. Both face the threat of run-away inflation, driven in part by high global commodity pr ices (oil and food chief among them). So far, with the exception of Northern Rock, there hasn't been a major UK casualty of the credit crisis and I for one was beginning to think that we had missed the worst of it. But if British banks start revealing bad news, the UK economy could face a damaging slow-down. The problem is, with inflationary pressures stemming from outside the UK economy, the Bank of England would have to choose between controlling inflation or cutting rates to give the economy a boost. Same goes for the States where the nightmare of 'Stag-flation' (stagnant economy with high inflation) rearing its ugly mug. Rock - hard place, Devil - deep blue sea. You get the picture.

This week we have data announced on house prices, inflation and retail sales in the UK. The market is likely to be as nervous as a wing-walker with vertigo - but a jumpy market is a great place to make some money so visit ChoiceOdds.com to make your view count.

Last week the DAX fell 0.5%, FTSE fell 3.5%, and the DOW fell 4.1%.

The Pound traded above $2.11 last week for the first time since the early 80s.

Since 17th October the DOW has lost 7.6% of its value.

Half of the world's pigs are in China.

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