Financial Betting Articles

Unstable Cable - Apologies if last week's Cuts read like the ramblings of a drugged horse - I'm suffering from a horrid summer cold, brought on by the sweatshop conditions over here at Choice Towers. But you couldn't care less about me - you want the juiciest market news so you can get your money on the next big move. So here it is.

Big things are afoot in Cable (that's fancy talk for the Dollar Sterling exchange rate). The Pound has crept above $2 and it doesn't look like it's stopping. It's been ramping up since the 12th of June and was trading around £2.004 last Saturday.

It has leapt 7.84 cents since early last month. One reason for this sharp jump is the differing fortunes of the US and UK housing markets. An Englishman's home is his castle - and its value has been stacking up nicely just lately. Yank homeowners are less content. The bottom has 'quite literally' (by which I mean metaphorically) fallen out of the housing market due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

As a result, the Bank of England is keen on a rate increase, while the Fed is not. The markets are factoring in a quarter percent UK rate rise this week to rein in rampant house prices and spending, to reduce inflationary pressure. But it's unlikely the Fed will put rates up soon. Sterling gains value as Pound interest rates are more attractive.

Volatility has been the order of the day for Cable in the last 6 months. Starting shy of $1.96 at the turn of the year, there have been a lot of sharp and rapid swings. The first major move was down below $1.93 in January then right back up to over $1.98, all before February. Those levels weren't seen again until April but it didn't hang around, topping out over $2. Since then it's slid back slowly until excitement came back in June.

Now the important level is around £2.01 - will the Pound power on past this point or will it bounce back as the bears best the bulls? You decide (not literally) and back your view at ChoiceOdds.com

The biggest Cable swings have been +1.12c on 13th Jan and -1.83c on 5th Jan. The change from the start of the year is +4.48c.

Last Wednesday saw a 'hanging basket' day in the FTSE - it traded between 40 and 80 ticks lower than Tues and Thurs levels all day, on the back of a weak DOW.

Wall Street averaged a daily range of 219.60 ticks last week. That is what I call whippy.

If you get 23 randomly selected people together, there is a 50% chance two of them will have the same birthday.

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