Summer Stock Silence?
Here we are in mid-August and this is traditionally time for the staff of the world's major stock exchanges to close shop and fly off on holiday. No doubt, this is well under way and trading floors are deserted. However...
The financial pages of daily papers are still flooded with news about the 'credit crunch', rising inflation, oil prices and the woes of bank stocks. In other words, it is business as usual for the markets - if not for the main market players.
This must be causing some significant headaches and ulcers amongst the stripy-shirted men of the City and Wall Street. Ok, we shouldn't feel too sorry for them. After all, that ulcer is currently located somewhere in the Indian Ocean or Balearics - so it could be worse!
The problem for those of us that are not employed in a big merchant bank, but are following the markets closely, is that we cannot know whether the volatility we are seeing in prices is due to real market movements or the fact that most of the financial world is on holiday and not adding their strength and power to the exchange. Who can tell?
