Archive for February, 2008

The FTSE was down about 60 points this morning at 5,906, whilst the FTSE 250 was down a similar amount at 10,150. The talk was to blame Alliance & Leicester’s results, which have wiped out yetserday’s decent day in ther banking sector.

Ovwer the pond last night the US was down, although not that much. The fact that oil went above US$100 bbl didn’t help feelings over there. The DJI closed down about 11 points at 12,337.22, whilst the S&P500 closed down 1.21 points at 1,348.78 and the Nasdaq closed down 15.5 points at 2,306.2.

In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 closed down 447.54 points at 13,310.37, which was over 3% drop, whilst in Hond Kong the Hang Seng closed down 532.59 points at 23,590.58.

Back here in London it was mortgage bank Alliance & Leicester that caused the bad feeling after it announced its figures of £417m profit, down from £585m last year, plus a £185m write-down on its debt-backed investments. The share price fell nearly 80p to 450p on the news. It’s bigger peers were also down, with HBOS off 28p at 631p, RBS down 10p at 357p and 2nd tier player Bradford & Bingley down 5p at 177.

The miners also had a poor start today, with Anglo down about 80p at 3,068, Rio down 120p at 5,730, and Lonmin down 70p at 3,393p.

Kingfisher was 4.5p lower at 132.2 after broker downgrade. JP Morgan gave it the retailer a target of 135p, down from 144p, ahead of a trading statement tomorrow.

The FTSE closed 20.3 points higher today at 6,033.7. Nice to finish above the 6k level. The FTSE 250 closed up 124.6 points at 10,208.6.

Over the pond the US was higher, this after a day off yesterday. By the time London closed the DJI was up about 55 points at 12,403, whilst the S&P500 was up about 5 points at 1,355 and the Nasdaq up 6 points at 2,328.

Back here in London we saw Barclays end the day up 17p at 477 despite falling in the morning after its annual results were announced. That’s over 11.5% rise for the bank share price in 2 days. The bank had reported a 1% fall in profit to £7,076 bln, which included a rather worrying £1.635 bln write down on sub-prime losses. Peer Lloyds TSB closed up 7.5p at 432 and HBOS was up 20p 659. In contrasts, concerns on write downs for Alliance & Leicester saw a 17.5p fall to 528. A&L reports tomorrow. The barclays figures helped the sector in general, despite news that Credit Suisse has written down US$2.85 bln, and added it wasn’t aware of the write downs when it reported its full year results last week.

Top of the leader board was Intercontinental Hotels, who closed up 56.5p at 828 after posting results this morning. It had fallen early doors, but turned on comment from Deutsche Bank, who said it felt the figures were actually in-line with expectations and the business looks strong.

As mentioned this morning, the miners were up. News of japanese and Korean steel makers having to pay 65% more to Brazilian firm Vale for thie iron ore helped the sector. Platinum prices have also reached another record, with copper and gold also higher. Anglo closed up 43p at 3,147, BHP up 38p ahead at 1,656, Anto up 41p at 826p, and Kazakhmys closed up 51p at 1,448.

Oil was up again, with Brent (Apr del) up at US$97 bbl, which was up US$2 on the day. Heavyweight BP closed up 3.5p at 572, RD Shell closed up 15p at 1,789, and Cairn Energy closed up 68p at 2,584.

Cadbury Schweppes closed down 33p at 579.5 after it announced there would be no cash payment to investors after it splits its drinks and confectionary buisinesses later this year. Shame, really, as the reslts announced were ahead of expectations.

The London Stock Exchange closed down 107p at 1,564, down 6.4% on the day after it was said that a Middle Eastern takeover looks unlikely as 20% owner Borse Dubai looks like it will offload at least some of its holding.

The FTSE was down about 45 points this morning at around the 5,900 mark, whilst the FTSE 250 was down about 65 points at 10,1019.

The US markets were closed yesterday for the Presidents’ birthday holiday.

In the Far east this morning the Nikkei 225 closed up 122.51 points at 13,757.61, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng closed was up nearly 520 points at around 24,280 by its lunchtime.

Staying with Far East trading, oil was up again, with Light Sweet (Mar del) up 65c at US$96.15 bbl, and Brent (Apr del) up just 2cents at US$94.93 bbl, still not breaking above the US$95 bbl level.

Back here in London, the banks fell back after their decent day yesterday with concenrs still around. Despite better than expected 12-month figures and a divvy uplift, Barclays was down 5p at 455, whilst peers also fell, with Lloyds TSB down 6p at 418.5p, HBOS down a penny at 637.5p, and RBS down 4p at 357p.

On to the miners, where it was reported that vale will be charging the Koreans and Chinese 65% more for their iron ore. This helped the majors, with Anglo up 58 at 3,162, BHP up 27p at 1,645, Vedanta up 35p at 2,215, Kazakhmys up 12p to 1,409 and Xstrata up 30p at 3,930.

Cadbury Schweppes didn’t have a good start, down 30p at 582p after the news that there will be no return of cash to investors after the demerger of the drinks and confectionary businesses later this year. This news took some positives away from the full year results were ahead of expectations. Preptax profit was at £915m, down just 2% from the £931m profit last year, but if foreign exchange changes taken into account they were up 5%, due to the weaker dollar this last term.

Intercontinental Hotels wasn’t having a good morning, either, down 10p at 672p after it posted its annual figures this morning, which said of a 20.6p divvy - up 12% on last year, on profits of £237m.

British American Tobacco shares fell 5p to 1,839 on press reports that BAT is one of four bids submitted for the Turkish stete-owned cigarette group, Tekel Cigarette. broker upgrade to ‘buy’ followed, but there was some negative response on the news.

The FTSE 100 closed up 159.0 points at 5,946.6 today, which was near the high of the day, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 186.1 at 10,084.0.

It was the banks that bounced back from recent pressure as the news of a higher divvy was accepted with a smile from investors. Press said that Barclays and Lloyds TSB will increase their dividend payments, with Barclays being the top of the leader board today, closing up 32.5p at 460, with them reporting thier results tomorrow. Peer HBOS closed 30.5p higher at 639, with Lloyds TSB up almost 29p at 424.5p.

The insurers also had a good day, with Friends Provident up 4.3p at 135.8 on news that US private equity group JC Flowers was sniffing with an intent to bid, whilst peers liked the news and followed north, with the Pru closing up 29p at 622 and Aviva up 25p at 578.

Oil and mining sectors were up with a barrel of the black stuff costing more and comodity prices rising too. BP was 15p up at 568.5 and BG Group was up 37p at 1,159. Likewise, the Miners were also up with the price of platinum breakling the US$21 ounce price, which is another record.Copper and gold prices were also up. Miners liked that, with BHP closing up 67p at 1,618, Anto up 27p at 785 and Vedanta up 108p at 2,180.

A few negatives of the day saw BT Group down half a penny at 234.25p on a broker target downgrade to 325p from 335p.

Moneysupermarket.com jumped over 14p to 126p, a 13% jump, after a UBS upgrade to ‘buy’ on hopes of some decent results soon.

Speedy Hire, the tool hire firm, closed up nearly 30p at 811p on its reported 43% rise in 3rd quarter revenue and some in-line 12 month reults when they’re released. Broker WH Ireland reiterated its ‘outperform’ stance.

Bus firm Go-Ahead closed up 77p at 1,917, despite its weak results on Friday, with a broker upgarde to ‘buy’.

Builder Balfour Beatty was up 11p at 453 on news of a large Network Rail contract worth £74m for the never-ending job of paiting the Forth Bridge.

I have been trading for nearly two years and up to recently have had stuttering success.  Since watching Dan’s videos this has changed.  Dramatically.  Dan’s long term fundamental view and technical analysis of the markets chopped down into shorter timeframes (daily, 1 hour and 15 mins) is simply amazing.  He is able to describe what were previously complicated theories into simple, straight forward concepts, and make them easily understandable.  In just three short weeks my trading has turned a corner, as I have embraced the “Armitage” method of high probability trading.  This testimonial is not written flippantly, as I have tried nearly all the different methods and techniques out there, this approach simply works, and works well.  If the England football squad were a trading team, Dan would be the coach.

Kind regards

Gordon

“Hi Dan, As you know trading has not come naturally to me as it has with some of the guys, but I am determined to “crack” it! I can not thank you and James enough for your continued patience and support and I have to say that I have learned a massive amount from the Market Bytes and I feel as though I am well on my way to succeeding. Listening to your thoughts and learning your trading style is invaluable and has been a great boost to my confidence. I am also looking forward to the “live” trading with you.”

Simon

Hi Dan,
Just a note to say I am very much enjoying the service and I think it is helping with the discipline side of things in terms of sticking to the rules, which has been a weakness of mine, especially during times when the markets are slow. Looking forward to the live service.
regards,
Des.

I am a new member of the Market Bytes team and have found it very informative, educational, and more importantly, profitable.
Dan speaks clearly and concisely and gives a brief overview of on the likely direction of each currency pair, indexes and commodities.
My very first trade was a short on AUD/USD, which went into profit after 3 minutes, then paid for my monthly subscription within 30. Priceless

Zak

Market bytes has been going for some weeks now and has made a massive impact on my trading confidence. I am now trading the breakouts with ease and making hundreds of points every week. I cannot wait for the live interactive service, its going to be incredibly profitable. I will be setting my alarm at 6am for the 630 start. What other job/business can give you a 4 hour day for a £1000+ daily income.

Thomas G Davies.

Hello Dan,

Still working out how to trade end of day with the market bytes but yes it really is the best to listen to your thought process. The why’s and the reasons makes us think a little more and has to make us better traders. Not there yet but coming along.

Best Regards

Alan