From Blackadder IV, courtesy of the BBC:
This is a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if you’ve got a moment, it’s a twelve-storey crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour porterage and an enormous sign on the roof, saying ‘This Is a Large Crisis’. A large crisis requires a large plan. Get me two pencils and a pair of underpants!
On Monday, the London market melted down, then up, then down again. At 2.30 the FTSE 100 was showing a loss of 211 points, or 3.7 per cent.
Help Neil Hume and Paul Murphy hold their positions in a special edition of Markets Live, FT Alphaville’s regular markets chat, at 3pm.
Hit the tab above or click here
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About Markets Live:
FT Alphaville’s Markets Live is a real-time service in which our commentators offer their views on moves and news in the markets in a live streaming-media format.
The daily chat with FT Alphaville editor Paul Murphy and Neil Hume or Robert Orr from the FT’s London markets team begins at 11am, London time.
Paul, Neil and Rob offer insight into share price moves and other financial asset news, dissect analysts’ research notes and highlight market-moving events. They also break price-moving news.
Readers who wish to post comments or questions can click here to register. We welcome suggestions on what topics warrant discussion each day.
Here’s a couple of user tips:
- If you have joined the discussion late, hit the pause/resume button at the bottom of the chat window while you catch up with the dialogue. This will stop the system constantly jumping to the latest text.
- If you want to get on with some other work while keeping an eye on Markets Live, try using the pop-out. Again there is a button just below the chat window. This will give you a slimmed-down chat box which you can stick in the corner of your screen — freeing you to get on with what you were supposed to be doing before we distracted you.
The Markets Live lexicon:
– The numbered bandits – Our commentators constantly have their ear to the ground – but some sources are better than others. A tip from a source with a rating of “1″ is gold dust, while a source ranked “10″ comes with a health warning.
– A “felt collared source” – a professional from the PR industry. A more mainstream source of information than the bandits above (who might have their collars felt), but that does not necessarily mean they add much value.
– “Buy” or “Sell,” often used with liberal amounts of sarcasm.
– Heads up, there’s big news ahead, or possibly a large hole to fall into.
- Burnt fingers – what might happen to you if you follow a tip from bandit number 10.
– Tin hat – useful when you’re about to take a tumble
– An FT Alphaville favourite for a stock that has taken off in a big way, or looks likely to.
And remember, shares and other financial assets can go up and down at frightening speed. Don’t dabble unless you know what you are doing and can afford to lose the money.