As stock markets fall hard: European Stock Basket

I think it would be appropriate on this day to say it was a week of two halves. Early in the week we saw the FTSE hit 7200, it was 28 degrees and the sun was shining all over the UK.

Then, on Wednesday night we heard from the FED and both the weather, and market sentiment, changed. In their meeting they alluded to a slightly earlier rate rise than the markets were comfortable with; at this point, it’s worth bearing in mind that the year they alluded to was 2023, so hardly imminent and a lot can change in that time. It was, however, along with ‘talking about, talking about tapering’ enough to create some jitters.

Today, markets have sunk across the board with Europe leading the way. The FTSE is down -1.82% as we write this, and the Dax a similar amount. So, what did this mean for our traders this week? We all expect our portfolios to take a hit when the market falls like this, which is why anyone following the European Stock Basket will be pleased to hear that they have been short all week waiting to catch this drop.

London Equities, who run this strategy, have made some fantastic calls over the last few months, so it comes as no surprise that on a week where most have suffered, they have added more than 3% to their portfolio, bringing them up to 48.3% on the year so far.

Well done to them and keep up the good work.

For more information please feel free to email us here, or book in a call with one of our directors to hear more.