Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
That was the week that was
Recent History |
Archives
Hello Crazy campers,
The Footsie was doing so well on Wednesday that I thought it couldn't last. Everywhere you read that the economy is about to collapse in the US with a knock-on affect here. It's still not happened, but the speculation made a rapidly rising Footsie look a bit shaky.
However the Bank of England knocked a quarter point off interest rates - and though the Footside fell a bit on the news, it wasn't much.
My own feeling is that a quarter of a point is a bit stingy, given the scale of the credit cruch scare, but the Bank of England is so cautious that it hurts.
Never mind, Crazyland took the view that a small drop means that the rising trend for interest rates is now behind us and most 'experts' think there'll be more cuts next year.
If interest rates are pruned a bit more, people will spend a bit more, and improve the country's growth record. Well not on a quarter of a percent they won't. A quarter of a per cent of a £100,000 mortgage, they tell me, is about £16 a month. That won't go far will it?
So the reasoning goes, the Bank of England will have to make further cuts. It's just that they don't like doing it for more than a quarter of a point per time. Dunno why. But civil servants, if that's what they are, are usually less than dramatic.
Should we be optimistic about the future, then? Well I think so. This crash has been vaunted so long and hasn't happened for so long, that I'm beginning to doubt it will happen at all. India and China will carry us forward however many Americans get into mortgage trouble. That's my view - though it could be wrong. Rock on!
To find out more about Malcolm CLICK HERE
UKSA is the leading independent organisation for private shareholders in the United Kingdom. It campaigns to protect your rights as a shareholder and runs educational activities for members.
For more information about UKSA CLICK HERE
