Petem95

DOW crashed over 7% yesterday - another "biggest fall since Black Monday", and the Nikki down over 10% along with most of the other Asian markets crashing last night.

Something tells me the FTSE will be down at open today!

Some people must be watching life savings and pensions just evaporate, and pension funds must be in massive deficit

fast bloke

Which black Monday? I think they need to start doing greyscale Mondays now

Petem95

It really is all looking a bit worrying isn't it! Anyone who's recently been about to make a big-ish purchase like a car or holiday must cancelling, so this is going to become a vicious cycle for the economy.

I've already been hit by having savings in Icesave and Kaupthing, but am now a bit worried that jobs are really going to get hit.

djmisio85

Lol, I dont know much about the stock exchange and shares etc, but my salary just went from 15k to 20k in a matter of weeks. Been considering changing all my yen for pounds, then change it all back when the pound gets stronger again (if it ever does)

But at the rate Britains society is crumbling, I can see the currency going the same way

FlightMan

It's all panic now. Surely there must be some stocks out there that are remarkable value?

But no-ones buying.

RobJenks

THE government is to invest £50bn of your money in British banks so they
can lend it back to you with interest.

The historic move is being hailed as a lifeline for the financial system
as long as nobody asks too many questions.

Julian Cook, chief economist at Corbett and Barker, said: "The government will give your money to the banks so the banks can start lending you that
money, probably at around 7% APR.

"Thanks to all the interest you're paying on your own money, the banks
will make billions of pounds again and normality will be restored.
"After a few years of this the government will cash in the bank shares it bought with your money and use the profits to build a huge f**king dome
somewhere."

He added: "In case you hadn't already worked it out - the entire global financial system is predicated on the assumption that you're an idiot."

Chancellor Alistair Darling said the decision had been taken in tandem with the banking industry, adding: "They used a lot of dirty words I'd
never heard before and one of them had an angry looking dog."

Meanwhile, Emma Bradford, a sales manager from Bath, said: "Why doesn't the government just give my money to me so I can buy stuff from businesses
who will then make a profit and put it in a bank?"

But Mr Darling insisted: "Shut up."

Petem95

Probably some good value stocks, but then in the Great Depression some of the biggest losers were those who bought up huge amounts of stocks when they'd fallen heavily, but they continued to slump even further.

Stock brokers will be jumping out of windows in the city at this rate!

billythekid

FTSE down 400 points

Petem95

Down 10% - blimey!

SiPie

Cos we ain't got to the bottom out bit yet

....and we'd be as well asking Harry Potter when that's likely to be

sti-04!!

On a positive note. Oil is down to $82

Deep Singh

Its happened again already. look at all those sovereign wealth funds (middle east, china, malaysia) that ploughed billions into the American banks 6 months ago thinking they represented value and that they were getting a bargain A fool and his (or someone elses) money and all that...

I even know people who were telling me 3 months ago that they are looking to EXPAND their property portfolios because of all the bargains (read distressed sellers) out there. I did try and explain about catching falling knives and all that

marky1

Be fearful when there is greed, and greedy when there is fear. I think that sums the situation up. There will be some great buying opportunities for the brave.

jacrobat

Reading Robert 'I sound like a Darlek' Peston's blog this morning the nerves are being caused by an auction of a potential $400bn in insurance claims on credit default swaps of Lehman Brothers. Another dark and unregulated corner of the financial market is getting a light shone on it and people don't like what they see.

john banks

I've been buying, £35k I put in 2 days ago has lost £2.5k so far, so it looks like I'm catching a falling knife. The bottom is only obvious after it has happened...

EddScott

If our MD says that one more time, I think I'll throttle him.


Don't worry, our MD chose completely the wrong horse a few days ago and bought LloydsTSB shares rather than HBOS.

This "Buying opportunities" and "Bounce" is utter bollox right now. I would not invest a penny until after christmas. People will not spend a single penny this christmas which will effect everything even more so. This money is not a magic bullet that puts it all right with a wave of the wand.

Yes there will be a good time to buy but its not now!

Deep Singh

John, would you mind if I asked what you actually put the money into?

Also I'm going to start an ongoing thread analysing the major indices ie FTSE, Dow, SP etc. Maybe this might help us all identify the bottom, to our common advantage. I know these sorts of threads already exist on financial forums but I find discussion there daunting as it gets very technical and they don't want to waste time explaining these things to people like me.

It would be great if you could be a regular contributor.

Thanks

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I have just started our works share scheme, offer price was good a week ago, now the shares are lower than the offer

Excellent.

Anyone know and good spots for forraging Nuts n Berries ?

EddScott

I also would not bundle a lump of cash in in one go. Invest in stages over 6 months. That way you get a better spread of unit purchase price once things do start to recover.

Most investment providers will allow phased investment.

Leslie

Surely it is a bit unwise to start buying in at the moment, I don't think we have seen half of the future financial problems yet. I would have thought that survival is a safer way to think at the moment.

The banks, the FSA and Flash and his mates need stringing up for all our problems, in that order but in quick succession.

Les

FlightMan

As I understand it, at 2pm NYC time, we get to find out who has been left holding a big pile of poo, and who has been lying about it.

Dow will drop another 500+ points today I reckon.

But heck, what the heck do I know!

john banks

Presently I'm about 70% cash, with the rest in Japan Topix trackers (HSBC Japan index or iShares Japan ETF), iShares Brazil index tracker, BP, Charter, Friends Provident, silver ETF, Gold & General, FTSE 100.

Two days ago I increased holdings in BP, Brazil & Jap index trackers.

The emphasis on industrials/commodities is the search for something real that will lead a recovery in future years. I like companies/countries that manufacture things.

Very few people's investment models are working right now, this is mine for what it is worth.

lozgti

The reality is,its only the shares of the top 100 companies (the FTSE)

Mind you,didn't a war start last time everything went nuts like this in the 30's?!