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Blue Index News and Press Releases. Please visit this page often for regular updates regarding Blue Index as an organisation.

BA Profits Dive

The FTSE 100 puts in the kind of performance that would have been expected yesterday in the wake of yesterday’s massive cut in UK interest rates. At the very least this might encourage those with money on deposit to transfer some of it to the heavy yielding stocks of the FTSE 100. Unfortunately after today’s 92% drop in 6 month profits largely due to the effects of fuel costs. It would appear that despite the fuel surcharges it has been difficult for the world’s self appointed favourite airline, conditions have been very tough. Nevertheless, the stock market may be taking the view that with fuel costs still falling, the worst for BA may be over and the shares are up 15%. The CEO’s comments that this was a good performance despite the conditions could be the main driver for the positive share reaction so far.

Weekly Traders CFD Diary

Weekly CFD Traders Diary: 1.5% Off The UK Base Rate 3RD November: Banking Issues Banks were in focus at the end of last week, the weekend and today. The big splash was made by Barclays’s creative funding method on Friday, and the mauling the company received almost universally about this. The pitch for the company as to why it was done did not include the ability to maintain “fat cat bonuses” which taking Government cash would probably not allow. The shares bounced off the 160p support area of Friday, and certainly seem to be rather oversold as compared to many of its rivals. A couple of them were active today on the back of trading statements. In the case of Lloyds TSB (LLOY) there was not good news in the run up to its takeover with HBOS (HBOS). It said that due to the fall in the housing market, and corporate collapses this year, there could be write downs of up to £400m. This has not been helped by losses in the credit card and overdraught areas.

Last Man Standing

It seemed that we were back in the “October “ mode for the FTSE 100 today in the sense that the UK index was soon sporting a near 200 point decline, and there was corporate news to back the fall. Perhaps what was the most intriguing regarding the way that we have continued the Obama sell off is that stocks are falling despite speculation that there will be a 0.5% interest rate cut – or even as much as 1% by the Bank of England at noon.

Whats Next?

After all the Presidential euphoria, with the markets in the Far East heading yet higher, the realities of a Democratic in the White House have already come home to roost. At least from the rhetoric we have a shift against “big oil” something which has led to a mark down in the FTSE 100’s big sector names, albeit after an extended rally since the beginning of last week. BG Group (BG.), BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) were typically down 3%. This was nothing as compared to mining stocks who were led down by Vedanta Resources (VED), as Morgan Stanley downgraded the group from overweight to equal weight, and price target down to 1,350p from 1,525p. Vedanta shares were down 12%, with fellow miners Lonmin (LMI), Kazakhmys (KAZ) and Xstrata (XTA) off around 10% each.