The FTSE takes a hammering

oldtimer

From the way bank shares have collapsed, it looks like more of a balls up than a bail out.

After brown trouser Tuesday it has been freak out Friday.

Susan Hill

Question. If you had £1,000 to invest in shares first thing on Monday morning what would you buy ? Serious question

TrevorsDen

The point of the package is not to stop the share slide per se - its to recapitalise banks to get them lending again.

The share slide is - it seems to me - lack of trust in govt competence and the inevitability of recession.

I cannot work out just where the billions due to be spent on the Olympics comes in. I cannot work out if this is an extravagance we cannot afford or if it will slightly ameliorate the slump.

Frankly at a time of woe I cannot see how we can justify this 9+ billion extravaganza. Is it too late to cut back on some of the venues?

mitch

Will brown ever mention "Black Wednesday" again? his crisis seems to be 14 months old now.

John Backhouse

Susan, I'd buy gold, pay off a grand from my mortgage or pay tax bills in advance etc. Course, what's been happening every day this week is a slump in banks, then a steep gain, then an even bigger slump. How are your nerves? Mine are far from strong enough for that.
Anyway, is this the fastest-failing and worst-value nationalisation in the history of this nation? Care to start a topic on this The Spectator?

Paul B

There is little Darling Brown can do about anything any longer, except talk shit and then no one is listening to them. Cannot QE2 order their imprisonment in the tower, we are really now in desperate desperate need of a change, its more vital in some ways than when Churchill replaced Chamberlain. Brown reminds me of Al Pacino`s Scarface character in De Palmas brilliant film, in the final scene, snorting on a mountain of coke, with a craved psychosis needing countless bullets to take him down-thats the state our Brown is in now I fear.

Forlornehope

Susan, Rolls-Royce is looking quite cheap at the moment with most revenue locked in by service contracts. Otherwise I'd put it under my pillow. This is, of course, not to be construed as any form of financial advice.

Herbert Thornton

Forlornehope -

So their revenue is "locked in by service contracts"?

Well put. It sounds hilariously like the kind of expression that financial wheelers and dealers have been using for years. I can't say that it's one that would give me serene confidence either.....

kinglear

£1000 frankly isn't worth investing. Stick it away somewhere safe (especially Northern Rock or B&B) But say £10,000? Buy any broad Investment Trust which are all trading at huge discounts, have a spread of investments. This is a great buying opportunity. DYOR

Seasurfer1

Susan- at this rate all shares will be FREE!

Forlornehope

Herbert, Good point so put it under the mattress for a few weeks until everything becomes clearer. Alternatively HSBC also looks a good bet, at the moment. You could double your money in a couple of years on some shares or possibly lose some or all of it. It all comes down to whether you are looking to be safe or find to opportunities.

oldtimer

I am in a similar position as I have £3000 cash to invest in a self select ISA. My thinking is as follows:
1 invest in something that earns its corn outside the UK - there is a good chance that sterling devaluation will work in your favour and the growth prospects are better;
2 check out and select from the fund managers who cover emerging markets;
3 do not invest on Monday but watch and wait a while until it is clear the present panic has run its course;
4 invest your cash when the market seems to have turned; remember you will not get this right and you could still be in for a nasty shock as I know from past experience!
5 Be prepared to take a five year view of your investment.

This is just a personal view. No doubt there are plenty of undervalued shares in the UK right now. A FTSE index fund should show some growth. It is just that I am pessimistic about the UK for the next few years.

Hope this helps.

JohnAnt

£1,000? I'd put it in the bank until next year, and then use it to buy a small house in Hampstead.
(Only slightly exaggerating.)