Black Monday as biggest FTSE crash since 9/11 wipes off nearly £60bn in shares

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The stock market was in meltdown today as nearly £60billion was wiped off London shares as fears of a US recession sparked a global sell-off.

The bloodbath saw the Footsie plummet by 5.5 per cent, losing 323.5 points to close at 5578.2 - its biggest one-day points drop since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

The Footsie has now fallen by around 10 per cent in the last 10 days, by around 15 per cent over the last month and is well on the way to being off 20 per cent since its most recent high of 6754 in July - before the world's banking system was sent spiralling.

It is also the worst start to the year for the stock market since records began in 1936.

...

The US stock market was closed today for the Martin Luther King one-day holiday, but traders suggested America would be playing catch up when it reopens Tuesday, which could lead to further volatility.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article...ares/article.do

[JA Tam 7]

It's going to be a fun day at work tomorrow

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

It's going to be a fun day at work tomorrow

What do you do?

[JA Tam 7]

I work with an Asset Management firm - research associate. A lot of Portfolio managers are going to be walking around depressed tmw.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Sorry to hear. Hope all goes well

[JA Tam 7]

Thanks for the great stories that you have posted today!

[rebeccajo 14]

Both the Euro and Sterling fell a bit to the dollar.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Both the Euro and Sterling fell a bit to the dollar.

yeah. just a bit tho.

[mawilson 2,133]

Both the Euro and Sterling fell a bit to the dollar.

yeah. just a bit tho.

Sterling is going to fall big time. Traders are convinced that a bet against sterling

is as safe as a bet against the dollar was a year ago. The pound is the dollar of 2008,

plagued by exactly the same problems -- credit squeeze, trade deficit, inflation,

housing and retail woes, etc etc

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Both the Euro and Sterling fell a bit to the dollar.

yeah. just a bit tho.

Sterling is going to fall big time. Traders are convinced that a bet against sterling is as safe as a bet against the dollar was a year ago. The pound is the dollar of 2008, plagued by exactly the same problems -- credit squeeze, trade deficit, inflation, housing and retail woes, etc etc

Good information, thanks for sharing mawilson!

[mawilson 2,133]

Both the Euro and Sterling fell a bit to the dollar.

yeah. just a bit tho.

Sterling is going to fall big time. Traders are convinced that a bet against sterling is as safe as a bet against the dollar was a year ago. The pound is the dollar of 2008, plagued by exactly the same problems -- credit squeeze, trade deficit, inflation, housing and retail woes, etc etc

Good information, thanks for sharing mawilson!

The Bank of England holds its base rates at 5.5% - the highest in the developed world.

These rates are sterling’s principal means of support.

The pound has already dropped more than 8% against the dollar since November

(it's now at $1.94 after briefly touching $2.11 in November), even though the BoE

kept the rates unchanged.

Given fears of a UK recession (UK’s current account deficit is at 5.7% of GDP - the

highest of the leading economies), they are going to have to cut the rates sooner or

later (probably sooner), weakening the pound even further.