any comments, thoughts, on this stock.

Comments on a bb make no difference to what is happening in the market place, those that think they are achieving something with a "clever" comment are just deluding themselves.

Those others that think they do should think again.

Bad luck md, it could have been me.

While Northern Rock is the bank in the press, I suspect the wider run on banks may be down to speculation ahead of the US banking season results. If losses are bad then I guess it would impact UK banks too. It could just be people are selling with the crowd now just in case because it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Of course the unexpected could always happen. If the Fed decides to drop interest rates dramatically, and the banks losses are only moderate, the shorters could well get a nasty surprise. They certainly won't be gloating then.

In my opinion....

Strawbs.

600 posts already over on the dark side , 598 of which are trash!

i do not think any deposits with NRK are at risk .... BoE could not and would not let that happen

And for my next stupid investment..........WLW short term long. Interims Wednesday should show a few good things. (EUK)

I must be mad!

sww , the wlw shop near me is a real mess , hope the bet works out

Thanks md, I see another line of support has broken here........

Commentator on the home service (R4) lunchhtime news siad NRK could well be taken over by another bank - for nothing.

but that would not mean the shares would be worth NIL, or i think not anyway

250p by 4 O'clock.

nrk could be carved up.and the shares worthless.i'll stay away>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"but that would not mean the shares would be worth NIL, or i think not anyway "

Unfortunately, unless the BoE can convince other banks to lend to NRK that is the case.

The commentator was the economics guy from the times with the 'Polish name' by the way (Kablinski?)

I'm neither short or long just interested.

Merrill Lynch cut its stance to 'neutral' from 'buy', while UBS slashed its target to 445p from 805p and Cazenove reduced its current year EPS estimates by 53%.

In the light of growing speculation the troubled bank may be taken over, Panmure Gordon thought a takeout price for the Rock could be somewhere between 1p and 400p per share depending on quality of its book. It also slashed its target by half to 300p and reiterated its 'sell' rating.

Sector peer Alliance & Leicester also slid, down 128p to 745p, amid the fall-out from Northern Rock with sentiment also hit after Merrill Lynch cut its stance to 'sell' from 'neutral'.

This is one of the fruits of our ex prudent chancellor. Next would be housing crash.

someone who is much cleverer than i (not difficult!) might be able to work out some sort of realistic value of NRK, given that BoE swear blind that the company is truly solvent.

How much of this Yankie rubiish is NRK holdin?

UK suffers at the thin end of the subprime wedge

When US banks first began the big repackage of subprime debt, they had a problem shifting it to American buyers. So they sold it abroad.

And it would seem, that among the suckers who bought it, the UK ranks quite highly

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2007/09/17/7346/uk-suffers-at-the-thin-end-of-the-subprime-wedge/

Northern Rock financed 77 per cent of its assets through the money markets - and a disturbing 44 per cent through risky securitised products, according to CreditSights:

this is only the tip of the iceberg.to quote Mrs tatcher i will only say one thing,
it's got to get a lot worse before it gets better,i think 2008 will be the start of adifficult times ahead::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sitting on the sidelines with cash still feels the best thing to do at the mo (until volatility blows over) and liability becomes clearer, good luck to people still trading (with stop loses in place of course).

Ed: Sorry wrong thread.

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings on Monday cut its rating for British bank Northern Rock (NRK.L: Quote, Profile , Research), citing a loss of confidence by some depositors that could limit the company's funding options.

Northern Rock faced long lines of customers seeking to withdraw savings and a plunging share price on Monday after the Bank of England stepped in last week to rescue the bank, Britain's fifth-biggest mortgage lender.

The bank on Monday said it had not yet drawn any funds from the emergency facility it had arranged with the Bank of England.

Fitch's downgrade is "based on the increased negative sentiment from wholesale market participants and retail depositors, which has severely strained the bank's funding options," the rating agency said in a statement.



Fitch cut Northern Rock's long-term issuer default rating by one notch to "A-minus," the seventh-highest investment-grade ranking, from "A."

The rating company gave Northern Rock a stable outlook, meaning it does not expect further rating changes in the next one to two years.

BoE seen unlikely to hike rates; Northern Rock woes may spell rate reduction


LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The Bank of England is unlikely to hike
interest rates again in the current cycle while the prospect of a reduction is
gathering momentum after the country's fifth biggest mortgage lender Northern
Rock turned to the central bank for emergency funding, a Thomson Financial News
poll shows.
A poll of 35 economists found none expect the BoE bank rate to rise above
their current level of 5.75 pct by the end of the year. The number of economists
predicting another rate hike, to 6.0 pct, has been falling steadily from 24 at
the start of August to 11 a fortnight ago to none today.
The change in outlook comes in light of the liquidity crisis hitting lending
between UK banks. Uncertainty about which banks are exposed to bad debts
emanating from the US subprime crisis means they are reluctant to lend to each
other. As a result the interest rates they charge on loans to each other have
climbed well above the BoE base rate.
This has culminated in Northern Rock, which relies on the wholesale money
markets to operate, turning to the BoE for emergency cash.
Alan Castle, UK economist at Lehman Brothers, said Northern Rock's bail-out
by the BoE was the deciding factor in abandoning his call for one more rate
rise.
"With evidence that some of the risks are starting to materialise, we now
judge that further monetary tightening from the Monetary Policy Committee is
unlikely in the near term," he said.
Many forecasters abandoned their call for a further rate hike during August
when the turmoil in the credit markets began and figures revealed a surprise
drop in CPI inflation during July to below the BoE's 2.0 pct target.
Now three forecasters - Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and ECU Group - expect
this tightening in lending rates to lead to rates falling before the end of the
year.
Robert Barrie, economist at Credit Suisse, said the expected rate cuts in
the US, make a fall in UK borrowing costs much more likely.
"The reality is that if the Fed is cutting because of downside risks to the
US economy then it is relevant and, other things equal, makes a UK rate cut more
likely," he said.
Meanwhile Neil MacKinnon, chief economist at ECU Group, said the UK
financial authorities failed to see the full ramifications of the credit crunch
in time and need to cut now to restore their credibility.
"The authorities need to ensure that there's no further drop in confidence
in the financial system," he said.
"They (the BoE) have been caught off guard in terms of the subprime issue
and they have to accept that UK banks are exposed to the subprime crisis and it
is not just a US issue," he added.
The majority of economists are, for now, taking a less dovish stance, with
three expecting a rate cut in the first quarter of next year, 13 in the second
quarter, 5 in the third quarter and two in the fourth.
However many also say that if money market conditions stay this tight for
much longer, then a rate cut could come much sooner.
Investec economist Philip Shaw is forecasting rates will be cut in the
second quarter of 2008, but stresses there is a strong risk it could happen much
earlier.
"If the current situation persists or deteriorates further, the Monetary
Policy Committee looks likely to respond by easing policy and we could now be
looking at official rates beginning to come down in November," he said.
Nine forecasters are not yet calling for a cut, believing either that one is
not inevitable, or that they need to see how events unfold before predicting
when one will take place.
David Hillier, economist at Barclays Capital said other factors aside from
the liquidity crisis and drop in inflation make the BoE's next move harder to
call.
"Despite the recent smattering of downside news, momentum in global and
domestic activity is strong: there are still scant signs that aggregate demand
has softened in response to the monetary tightening over the past year," he
said.
He added that widespread reports of large price rises in the early part of
the food supply chain - global wheat prices are at record levels - mean the
risks to inflation remain to the upside.
Most economists therefore believe that while the next move in interest rates
is likely to be down rather than up, the BoE is most likely to remain in a
wait-and-see mode for now.
"The Bank currently still has significant concerns about the medium-term
inflation outlook, so is likely to be very wary about any early trimming of
interest rates," said Howard Archer at Global Insight.

Forecaster October Year-end Rate cut

ABN Amro 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Bank of America 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Barclays 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Bear Stearns 5.75 5.75 Q3 2008
BNP Paribas 5.75 5.75 Q3 2008
Calyon 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Capital Economics 5.75 5.75 Q4 2008
CEBR 5.75 5.75 Q1 2008 (Feb)
CIBC World Markets 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Citigroup 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Credit Suisse 5.75 5.50 Q4 2007
Daiwa Securities 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Deutsche Bank 5.75 5.75 Q3 2008
Dresdner Kleinwort 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
ECU Group 5.50 5.25 Q4 2007
Fortis Bank 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Global Insight 5.75 5.75 Q3 2008
Goldman Sachs 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
HBOS 5.75 5.75 Q1 2008
HSBC 5.75 5.75 Q4 2008
ING 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Investec 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
ITEM Club 5.75 5.75 Q1 2008
JP Morgan 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Lehman Brothers 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Lloyds TSB 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Lombard Street Research 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Merrill Lynch 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
Morgan Stanley 5.75 5.50 Q4 2007
Nationwide 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
NIESR 5.75 5.75 None forecast
Nomura 5.75 5.75 None forecast
RBS 5.75 5.75 Q3 2008 (Aug)
Schroders 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008
UBS 5.75 5.75 Q2 2008