Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

Stock markets are relatively quiet but with a clear upwards bias. It is the credit and currency markets that are seeing most of the action today.

The dollar is being punished with the dollar index falling over 1.5% today alone. This is partly down to concerns over the US budget deficit and fears that the Fed is trying to monetise their rising debt mountain.

Another, perhaps more accurate explanation of the slump is a returning appetite for risk from global investors.

During the height of the crisis, the dollar and US treasury bonds were seen as a safe haven. Now with confidence easing back into the system, this flight to safety appears to be rapidly unwinding. Bonds have been massacred this week and the dollar has fallen heavily against a basket of currencies including sterling and the euro.

Funds are flowing out of ‘safe’ assets into riskier, more inflation resistant assets such as equities, gold and crude oil. Oil and Gold in particular are in demand with oil touching $66.46 today and gold surging to $980.

It is interesting to note that oil is now 45% below its peak in 2007, while the Dow Jones is down 60%. Oil fell further, but has recovered quicker.

The resilience of the rally in equities is all the more impressive considering the onslaught of negative economic data and the massive GM bankruptcy running the background. However, lest we get ahead of ourselves, there is still a long way to go for both the stock market and the global economy.

GBP / USD Fixed Odds

The pound has done well against the dollar of late, but this is largely down to dollar weakness not any particular strength in sterling.

If the dollar stabilises in the next few days, the GBP/ USD could fall back.

A Fixed Odds No Touch trade predicting that GBP/ USD won’t touch $1.63 in the next 10 days could return 111%.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

Equity markets are under pressure again today as the bleak economic news flow continues.

UK banking shares fell in early trading on the release of the FSA’s stress test methodology, which many have interpreted as not being stressful enough.

The market appears to have priced in more adverse test conditions, causing many traders to re-asses their assumptions about the UK banking sector’s ability to weather a sustained economic downturn.

In the US, it seems to be the case that jobless claims data is setting a new record every week. Continuing claims are showing no signs of retreating and it is no coincidence that mortgage delinquencies reached a record high of 9.12%.

There was some positive news with new home sales rising month on month, but the down trend remains very much in place for the time being.

The bad news keeps on coming, but markets appear to have developed a layer of Teflon coating to some degree. The news flow has been poor these last few days and markets have wavered. However we are not seeing the cataclysmic drops that were happening almost daily at the peak of the crisis.

The bad news may finally be being priced in, either that or equities are still naively optimistic. Crude Oil’s continued strength hints at the former being closer to the mark as cental bankers turn their focus to forward inflation rather than an imminent apocalypse.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

• World stock markets have been sitting on the fence today with the FTSE largely unchanged and US markets down only slightly.
• After yesterday’s unexpected rally, it is understandable that traders want to stop and take stock before taking on any further positions.
• Markets initially took a tumble on the announcement from the FDIC that the number of problem US banks has risen to 305, the highest since 1994.
• Markets seem unmoved as GM creeps ever closer to bankruptcy.
• Tesco is having another strong day on news that it’s share of the UK grocery market is still above the 30% level at 30.8%. This was larger than some analysis had feared, indicating that Tesco is managing to see off the challenge of the discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl.
• Oil is slightly weaker ahead of the OPEC meeting, but still holding firm above $60.

FX Trading

FX markets haven’t been as quiet as equities. Sterling has hit the $1.60 level for the first time since November 2008 and is trading at its best levels against the euro for three months.

ECB member Liikanne’s comments about there being no floor to rates in the eurozone has sparked a wave of selling in the European single currency. This comes on the back of Constancio’s comments that EU unemployment is expected to rise.

The pound is benefitting from being the ‘least ugly’ at the moment rather than overbearing strength in the UK economy.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

We were looking at a weak start to the trading week this morning in Europe, but surprisingly bullish US consumer confidence numbers have given equities markets the boost they needed.

Robert Shiller the renowned professor of economics recently said that no-one knows exactly what causes economies to rebound. Sometimes it can be a simple change in sentiment that gets consumers spending again, thus greasing the wheels of the world’s biggest economy.

The fact that US consumer confidence came in at the upper end of estimates at the same time that US house prices crashed to the same prices as 2002 is all the more remarkable.

Tesco bolted higher on the release of the US consumer confidence numbers. Tesco has taken flack for the poor performance of it American subsidiary, but if US consumers lead the world recovery, those underperforming stores could be the first to benefit.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

Global Stock markets are relatively quiet today after yesterday’s mauling. Trader’s have one eye on the long weekend after another tumultuous week draws to a close.

Markets appear to have got a little too confident that the so called green shoots were leading to a meaningful and sustained economic recovery. What we saw yesterday and the day before was a sudden realisation that we are not out of the woods yet.

US unemployment continues to rise as US consumers, the life blood of the world’s biggest economy continue to tighten their belt. We had the credit crunch when banks were refusing to lend, now we have the shopping crunch with people refusing to spend.

The value of US commercial real estate continues to plunge as the number of high profile shopping malls expected to close in the US this year hits 100.

Financials are relatively quiet, ‘relative’ being the operative word. There is modest buying interest in Barclays as they progress with the plan to sell their BGI until. Insurers are performing well with investor’s impressed by the bullish talk from the Aviva CEO, who implied they could go on the acquisition trail. Prudential and Standard life are up in sympathy.

Today US treasuries are getting slammed. Yesterday Gilts were hit as Moody’s threatened to downgrade UK government debt. Now traders are speculating that the US government could also lose its AAA rating.

Gold appears to be taking up the slack as investors hunt for the combination of safety and inflation hedging that gold is perceived to provide.

In the FX markets, the pound has been hit but managed to hold its ground relatively well after the initial shock from the Moodys announcement.

GBP/USD Fixed Odds Trade

Even a potential downgrade to the UK debt rating was not enough to stall the pound’s rally against the dollar. This could continue for a few weeks as sterling is sought out as a recovery play. A Bull fixed odds trade predicting that GBP/USD will be higher than $1.5899 in 14 days time could offer a 100% return.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

Markets are rallying after US treasury secretary Geithner announced that the toxic asset plan planned months ago will actually get underway in early July.

Confidence continues to rise despite US housing delinquencies hitting nearly 8% and Japanese GDP shrinking by a record 12.5%.

The economic news flow is still bleak, yet markets appear to see be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The FTSE is currently lagging behind its European counterparts, mainly due to financials underperforming today. Lloyds TSB is down 25% mainly as an adjustment in relation to the end of an offer to buy discounted shares. This was a technical adjustment that appears to have been largely accounted for.

However, of more worry is the news that Lloyds is under scrutiny from the EU in relation to the government assistance it has received at the depths of the crisis. Lloyds may be forced to sell core assets in order to raise cash to buy the shares back from the government.

This has put other banks on the back foot in sympathy. It is telling that Barclays as one of the few remaining ‘independent’ banks the outperformer in the sector today.

In the FX markets, the dollar continues to weaken against the euro and sterling. In recent months, the Euro/US Dollar exchange rate has developed a close correlation with crude oil prices, so it is no coincidence that oil is performing well today, touching $62 briefly for the first time since November 2008.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

The FTSE is still in the black for the day despite being hit by a nasty squall in the form of a record low in US housing starts.

The drop in total housing starts has now surpassed slumps from previous recessions in 1991, 1982, 1975 and 1970. The news certainly took equity markets by surprise, but so far stocks and shares have held their early morning gains.

Financials are once again at the forefront of buying interest with HSBC, RBS and Barclays up around 4% on the day.

Barclays so far seems unaffected by reports that the creditors acting on behalf of Lehman Brothers are claiming foul play in the rushed purchase of the former US brokerage unit.

Elsewhere, crude oil briefly surged through the $60 marker only to fall back to a level just below this.

$60 appears to be acting as a resistance level in the short term and it will be interesting to see if traders are able to push crude higher as economic optimism and longer term inflation fears begin to seep back into markets.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

Market friendly election results from India got equities off to a good start this morning and the positive momentum has continued this afternoon.

The FTSE is one of the strongest markets today, erasing around half of last week’s losses. This is thanks in no small part to financials which as being led higher by Lloyds group which confirmed that it will be going ahead with its rights issue.

Barclays is also firmer today on speculation that Blackrock and Bank of NewYork Mellon may compete to acquire the BGI unit.

Elsewhere, Goldman’s helped boost the financial sector in the US with an upgrade to Bank of America.

Crude oil is back on the rise, heading towards the $60 marker once more despite a glut of supply with large numbers of stationary super tankers filling up the slack.

Sterling is in demand for once on speculation that the sell-off over the past 12 month has been overdone. There has been little movement against the dollar in the past few weeks, but the pound is gathering momentum versus the euro with €1.15 a possible target in the near term.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

Markets tend to be squirrely on options expiry Friday and today is no exception.

The FTSE is down around half a percent while US markets are struggling to gain traction. As options contracts expire or rollover, equity markets can be jostled as traders wind up losing trades or speculate with new positions.

The news flow is generally still dour with US industrial production now 16% below its peak. Capacity utilisation also reached a new record low since records began in 1967. On a slightly more positive note, according to the Empire State manufacturing survey, conditions got only slightly worse in May. ‘Less bad’ is the ‘new good’ it seems.

The financial implications of the GM bankruptcy seem to be unclear at the moment as this political hot potato rumbles on.

In the UK, Barclays is one of the clear winners today on talk that it may sell its entire BGI unit to Blackrock investments, rather than a smaller chunk to QVC. Barclays burst through £3.00 last week as traders speculated on the size any potential bid. In retrospect it was wise to buy the rumour and sell the fact.

Barclay’s rise isn’t enough to push up the entire sector significantly though with the other UK banking stocks mixed on the day.

Weaker crude oil has also helped contribute to the commodity heavy FTSE’s fall today.

So it has been a poor week, but a sell off was arguably over due. If this is the worst we get over the coming weeks, we could see confidence starting to creep back into markets and a more sustained rally set in.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.

Please find below the Financial Fixed Odds report from David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.

It’s been a steady day for global equity markets after yesterday’s sell off. A pull back after weeks of consecutive gains, was increasingly likely, but now the rally has cooled, the prospects of a longer term recovery in equities could surprisingly improve.

Markets have so far weathered the dreadful US unemployment claims data. Continued jobless claims in the US now stands at a staggering 6.56 million which is easily an all time record. However, the four week average of unemployment claims has fallen from its peak, causing some to speculate that the US is nearing the end of the recession. In previous recessions, the turning point has been marked by the four week average of the unemployment claims peaking. While it is too soon to say that this is the case here, there is at least light at the end of the tunnel.

Financials are enjoying a good day as Barclays announced that its bond swap could realise a gain of £800 million. HSBC, RBS and Lloyds are up in sympathy as is Prudential after its results came out slightly ahead of expectations.

BT Fixed Odds Trade

Today BT announced huge job losses and results that were even worse than expectations. With large legacy pension deficits, BT could see further problems in the future.

A One Touch trade predicting that BT will touch 70p at any time in the next 35 days could return 128%.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.