It is really rather difficult to know what is going on in the markets at present.
Opinion says that house prices are falling, and yet reports are saying that in London they are still rising - I suppose this is average house prices.
From trying to sell my own house it is clear that there are very few buyers in the market, but equally there are very few houses to buy. We seem to be in that interesting position where both supply and demand are in short supply.
The stock exchange has hardly collapsed. The FTSE 100, apart from a blip in May, has continued to climb and to be frank the run on the banks is probably a bit over blown. OK, Northern Rock, was serious and was badly handled by the Government but Northern Rock is hardly what one would consider a national bank, in the conventional sense.
This report (link below) adds even more confusion as it reports that RBS is saying they intend to bring in profits in line with their forecasts. But then, all that the press bill as “massive bank losses” are nothing of the sort, they are provisions they are making in case they become losses.
So, actually the picture is confusing, but then it probably always is because if it were crystal clear then I would not be writing this but making a fortune in the stock market.
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