Standard & Poor’s estimates that UK consumer credit, which has grown by 10 per cent annually, now stands at £200 billion, and is unsustainable. Were interest rates to rise banks would quickly face £30 billion in losses. The Financial Times this morning reports that in the first 9 months of this year court judgements related to the recovery of personal loans, hit 910,345, up 34 per cent from the previous year and higher than the 827,000 in the whole of 2008. BBC Radio 4 today also reports an increased, and possibly excessive, use of bailiffs to retrieve debts owed to local councils.
Yesterday, as nervous, mainly US, creditors met in Caracas to find out what might happen to the US$ Venezuelan sovereign bonds they own, S&P downgraded these to ‘soon-to-default’ status. This was because the country failed to make a coupon payment on two of their bonds within the 30-day grace period.
DAX 30
Oops! Slipping suddenly to form a hanging man candle as the MACD remains decidedly bearish.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Square and looking to sell.
POSITION TAKER: Will sell depending on what type of candle and where we end up this week.
FTSE 100
Sliding a little further as momentum turns bearish.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Short at 7470; stop above 7560. Target 7125.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
S&P 500
Nothing much going on here as we consolidate in a tiny range either side of 2580. Note however that GE shares closed 12.73 per cent lower yesterday to their lowest in five years when new CEO announced a cut in the dividend and halved the earnings forecast for 2018.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Square.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
BRITISH POUND/US DOLLAR
Media headlines screaming as usual that we Brits will go to hell in a handcart. This cable chart says: consolidation in a well-defined range.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Long at 1.3155; stop below 1.3025. Target 1.3300.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
EURO/US DOLLAR
Rallying to the 1.1700 level, an area that had originally provided support and now ought to work as resistance. Let’s see if it can to the job because if we close above here on a sustained basis it means that October’s drop below here was a false break.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Short at 1.1610; stop above 1.1715. Target 1.1200.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
GOLD
Re-drawing trend line resistance and I still get a very messy chart. Today Christie’s in Geneva will auction the biggest ever flawless diamond. Coming in at 404.20 carats in its rough state when mined in Angola, the emerald cut 163 carat D coloured stone was set into a fantastic necklace by de Grisogono will command a premium for rarity value too.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Wondering whether to sell.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
Nicole Elliott is a long-standing Member of the Society of Technical Analysts and has taken over the IC’s trading coverage. She is regularly interviewed and quoted by the financial media, is a conference speaker, and author of several books on charting.
