The FTSE, Monday 20th February 2006
Friday's results:
Close:
5846, up 17pts [0.30%].
Range: 5822 - 5863.
Highest level since June 2001.
Last 5 trading days: up 82pts [1.42%]. This is above average but not adversely so.
On the month: up 86pts [1.49%]. On par.
The DOW is closed Monday.
Friday's Dow:
11,115, - down 5pts [0.06%].
Last 5 trading days: up 200pts [1.83%]. Still a touch too heavy.
On the month: up 258pts [2.32%]. Likewise here, so Tuesday should be interesting.
News items of note:
Worth a read:
Forbes urges flat tax for Britain:
http://money.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/02/19/cnforbes19.xml
Timesonline - 'RETAILERS suffered their worst drop in sales for more than a year last month despite painful price cuts, reawakening fears that the consumer slowdown may have further to run.
Official figures showed a 1.3 per cent drop in retail sales volumes in January, the worst such figure since December 2004.
The weakness in the retail sector was spread across the board, with sales of household goods suffering a particularly acute fall of 3 per cent on the month.'
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - 'Oil prices rose back near $60 Friday on talk of a push by some member states to have OPEC cut production and forecasts of more cold weather throughout the United States.
Oil, which reached a nearly two-month low Thursday before turning higher in afternoon trading, was up sharply Friday morning, heading toward $60 a barrel -- a mark it had dropped below on Tuesday for the first time in 2006.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery settled up $1.42 to $59.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.'
Charts, and nothing but the charts: Friday's stated an early morning dip. Monday's state a drop.
The PoM System: -2. Not enough indication for me to go Short.
[The PoM system is a mathematical formula that determines the markets direction. A plus or minus indicates the likelihood of the market going up or down.]
Companies reporting:
Second Allaince Trust
Economic Data:
None.
The FTSE tomorrow based on present news and data: The American markets are closed for Presidents Day so the FTSE is on its own; charts state a drop; company and economic news is tame; the FTSE is at its highest point since June 2001 so the bears may step up to the table to have a nibble; the PoM system dictates a possibility of a drop.
Areas to watch: Oil is still shuffling.
Early gut feeling: mixed.
Will I bet? I'm considering going Short.
If you are betting: make your own decision, watch the markets open and do read the news for clues as to which way the FTSE may go.
Yours
UK