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’Glencore and big squeeze
Buying shares in a company ahead of an index re-weighting is rarely a good idea but that hasn’t stopped brokers pushing Glencore ahead of November 24th – the day the lock-up agreement with cornerstone investors expires.
If we ran the FTSE 100…
The story so far.
Last week, FTSE Group launched a consultation on the free float rules for its various indices. That followed an outcry from investors concerned about the wave of overseas companies seeking to list on the main market while keeping control out of public hands.
FTSE anomalies: who’s your grandaddy?
ENRC, Essar Energy, Ferrexpo and Fresnillo. What do these four companies have in common?
Hmm…they are all commodity players. Yes, what else?
They all have the bulk of their operations in emerging markets.
FTSE asks the free float question
What is the minimum amount of a company’s shares that should be freely floated if that company is incorporated in the UK and wants to join the FTSE’s UK indices?
A simple question, but a contentious one.
TalkTalk(ing) non bid rumours
Shares in TalkTalk Telecom Group, Britain’s second-biggest broadband provider, are sharply higher on Thursday morning.
But if any broker tries to push the tired old Vodafone takeover story, tell them to xxxx off.
Katabasis in the market
In which the Greek crisis meets the perils of indexing.
The FTSE did its annual shuffling of world stock indices on Thursday.
This process firstly involved promoting the Czech Republic, Malaysia and Turkey to ‘advanced’ from ‘secondary’ emerging markets,
LSE volume watch
We often hear equity traders moaning about low volumes. But it seems right now they have a point.
Below are the top 10 stocks ranked by volume on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday:
As you can see,
BP: not good enough for FTSE4Good
A slap on the wrist for BP on Friday, from index compiler FTSE:
(Reuters) – BP is to be evicted from the FTSE4Good ethical investment index due to its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, index compiler FTSE said on Friday,
The Cameron baby bounce
After days of negotiations, David Cameron has finally become the UK’s new prime minister — having stitched together a two-party coalition at the last minute.
The market reaction to the news?
Muted,
The dead, dead cat bounce
Oh dear. Equities got ugly again on Friday.
First, the FTSE 100, which dropped 200 points before climbing back to -175 at pixel time, as this chart shows:
Elsewhere, via Reuters:
RTRS- NASDAQ FALLS 3 PCT
RTRS-S&P 500,
Gilts react to hung parliament
So, Britain is set for a hung parliament.
Connect the dots on these flashes, via Reuters:
RTRS-615 UK ELECTION SEATS DECLARED; CONSERVATIVES ON 290 CANNOT WIN 326 NEEDED FOR PARLIAMENT MAJORITY
RTRS-UK JUNE GILT FUTURES EXTEND LOSSES,
Overnight election reaction action
Nothing’s certain in the British general elections yet . . .
While we wait for a more decisive outcome, here’s a sample of the market reaction so far.
First the FTSE 100:
And up close:
The long gilt future saw an immediate reaction to the exit poll:
Eurotrash
A small indication of the carnage across European markets on Tuesday just as US markets opened.
The FTSE 100, off about 2 per cent:
The Ibex 35 down as much as 4.6 per cent:
Spanish banking giant Santander trading some 5.4 per cent lower:
Petropavlovsk misses out
It seems a few of London’s brokers need to brush up on their knowledge of the FTSE UK ground rules.
Had these City types glanced at rules 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3, they would have known that new shares are only eligible for inclusion in an index review if the allotment total mores 10 per cent of the existing share capital.
Problem at the LSE
According to brokers the London stock exchange is having ‘issues’ accepting new orders this morning.
Here’s the service announcement that’s been mailed to exchange users:
The Exchange is currently investigating an issue affecting our trading system.
The UK farmland grab
Forget gold. The ultimate defensive investment strategy in the UK appears to be farmland.
Consider the following chart, included in a press release from property consultants Knight Frank, which compares the performance of UK farmland with that of the FTSE.
Footsie soars in best quarter
UK blue chips have propelled the leading FTSE index to its best three months in its quarter-century history, fuelled by a flood of government liquidity and rising investor confidence. The FTSE 100, which closed down slightly on Wednesday at 5,133.9,
FTSE drops Iceland from benchmarks
Iceland on Thursday fell off the global map for investors who track stock market indices when it was dropped from key equity benchmarks. FTSE, the global equity index provider, has removed Iceland from the investable universe that make up its indices following the plunge in its financial markets after the collapse of its three main banks.
New hopes breathe fire into stocks
Hopes for a revival in company takeovers and growing belief in the strength of economic recovery on Wednesday drove the FTSE 100 index through the 5,000 level for the first time in almost a year. The rebound in world stock markets since March drew fresh momentum this week from Kraft’s potential £10.2bn bid for Cadbury.
A September descender
The FTSE is definitely playing catch-up on Tuesday morning to China’s 7 per-cent Shanghai Composite rout and associated trade dip on Wall Street on Monday, a UK Bank holiday.
At last glance, the London market had fallen as much as 66 points at 4,842,
FTSE 100 facts
It’s bull-speed ahead again in London on Friday morning.
In spite of a poor Q2 GDP reading, the FTSE 100 is up a further 18 points to 4,577, leaving the index on course to record its tenth straight session of gains.
It’s like New Years Eve
If Monday was like Christmas Eve, then Tuesday feels like December 31st.
Once again we present the ‘most actives’ on the London Stock Exchange.
Roughly 927m shares have changed hands today on the LSE – less than half an average day’s trading volume.
It’s like Christmas Eve
…and here’s the evidence – Monday’s most actives’ on the London Stock Exchange.
Across the London market (ex-Aim) just 950m shares have changed hands – that’s not even half an average day’s trading volume.
FTSE reshuffle time …
… is almost upon us – well it is three weeks away – and here are the current runners and riders.
Based on recent prices, just one company, Whitbread, would have exited the FTSE 100, replaced by Wolseley,
MSCI reshuffle time
The quarterly reviews of the FTSE indices usually prove to be something of an anti-climax. Traders usually have a pretty good idea of what companies will be leaving or entering an index because the methodology used by FTSE is relatively straight forward.
Datapoint du jour: Footsie losses erased
Recovery hopes boost FTSE
UK stocks posted their biggest monthly gains in six years on Thursday as the rally in global equities gained fresh impetus amid hopes that the worst of the global recession is over. Banking stocks led the way as the FTSE 100 entered an official bull market,
FTSE 100 back over 4,000
Yes, it is true. The FTSE 100 has broken through 4,000 for the first time since late Feb. So will it last?
Related links:
Dead cat splat! – FT Alphaville
Dead cat bounce factoids - FT Alphaville