Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

And still it goes on.
The sub prime part of Skipton building society has this morning withdrawn from lending any more money. The arm, Amber home loans, say it is because they are unable to "temper their risk" using traditional tools and they will return to lending "once the market returns to normality".
Alan

i'm still here :-(

Article taken from www.youdontbuythiscrapdoyou.com

Making Money in Commodities by Thadeus Dipfinger
Down near Canary Wharf is an old warehouse that never gets noticed. Till now.
The bulk of it is the pork belly futures warehouse, where pigs not yet born are slaughtered to satisfy the market demands to trade next years farm produce. At the back of this is the ink futures trading floor. It is here where traders from across the globe have suddenly spotted untapped market potential.
"We have quietly gone about balancing the worlds needs for ink of every colour for decades" explains Julian Flannelfoot, senior orangey/green ink trader for the old firm of Farquarson & Farquarson. "Nobody bothering us until now, and suddenly the world wants a piece of our action."
It seems the financial sector has woken up to a shortage in a commodity that looks like it may boom. Red ink.
An un-named source for a major investment bank explained that previously it wasn't worth paying the 1p per gallon price for red ink, as when they needed it for the accounts they could usually hide it somehow, but under new regulations they have to include it when necessary.
"On the rare occassion we did need to use some, we just drained it from the corpse of the trader who had caused its use, simple", said the source, reminding us of how much weight Nick Leeson lost.
"But its hard nowadays, and it looks like most of the world will be heading for the backroom at Canary Wharf to buy lots of red ink for their forthcoming results".
Julian agrees. "All the world will need it this year", he says, "with the exception of the USA who will deny it for as long as possible and then find a weak Asian nation to invade to take everyones mind off the ink shortage".
But there lies the problem for the serious investor / trader. Our recommendation is a strong buy for red ink futures, but not too strong because then we might all need black ink and the arse will fall out of the red ink market.
Julians advice? "Trade it lots and lots of times from long to short", he says as he covers up the computer screen that details his dealing commission and the spread.

Please note that the value of ink can fall as well as rise and your pen may be at risk if you do not fill it up. Any resemblance to real people living or dead is entirely deliberate and yes the USA are a bunch of financially illiterate, burger munching invasion monkeys.

we're through to the nationals ....harrogate here we come !!! woo hoo !!!

Oh wow - well done :)

Congrats, Bos.
Excellent.

(But is post 6674 a case of blowing your own trumpet???)

absolutely !! :) (or in my case, banging the drum )

a bit of a good week this week 'cos the little monkey is 2 tomorrow. i can't believe just how fast the clock is ticking !!

Buy him some red ink futures for his birthday, Bos. You know he'll thank you.

About time!

MP's will have to put in chitties for expenses that are anything more than 25 soon:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7289294.stm

Ladies of negotiable affection around Kings Cross don't give receipts, so thats half the MP's knackered.
The other half will have to get receipts for "rent" from boys on wimbledon common.

It is very bad , whats happened on Wimbledon Common - years since I've seen a Womble - frightened off by the MP's.

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I have just been informed by HBOS that from midnight on Saturday they are pulling out of subprime lending to all self certification cases and to full status cases where the proceeds are for the purpose of debt consolidation.

Better late than never. IMO this present crisis caused by bankers' greed and there is a lot of misery to come for people who should never have got involved (and probably had not got a clue what they were getting into).

Interesting view, Partridge.
By extension of course, what you are saying is that it was not caused by the greed of ordinary people wanting newer cars, holidays abroad and better houses.
What you also seem to be implying is that those now facing repossession or bankruptcy had no idea that if you borrow money, you must repay it.
I find both those things hard to accept. For me, the root of it all in this country is a combination of consumerism, the right to buy and a creeping change of all things from priviliges to rights.
People were given a right to buy homes at a discount rate. The argument that they had paid over the years is tosh. They had paid for rent and no more. Even that was subsidised. They squandered the discount buying consumer goods and services they had not earned. This was not a problem as their equity rose as quickly as they could spend it and they just kept remortgaging or securing cheap loans to satisfy their unsecured debts. This was driven by a strange notion that a high quality lifestyle of nice cars / clothes / holidays and socialising was a given right, not an earned privilige.
They moved onwards and upwards in the world, but now money is tight, they cannot realise any more and they are paying for a profligate lifestyle. That is their choice.
I find it hard to blame bankers for that, particularly as they were filling an identified desire in the market.
Alan

Blimey, Alan! I agree 100% with your post - am I ill?

High time people took responsability for their own actions rather than blaming someone else when their greed/stupidity leads them into problems!


It's a bit like someone buying a knife from an ironmongers then complaining to the shop because they cut themselves!

Yes, solid reasoning there Alan. Another thing that has become a 'right' is the idea that people should sue for everything under the sun that goes wrong with their life. I had a slightly burned corn flake this morning; my solicitor is dictating a letter to Kellogs as I write this. 10m should about cover my distress I think.

I'm very distressed reading about it, Kim, ask your solicitor to add a further 1m for me!

And as a shareholder in Kellogs, can you ask your solicitor to sue you for making such a thing public, thereby reducing the companies value, and kellogs for allowing it to happen with complete disregard to shareholder value, on my behalf.

That must have been a terrible experience kim ,,,,i once got up in the night to eat some Kelloggs sultana bran ,only to find it was just bran flakes !!! no sultanas anywhere ,(i emptied the box) ,it goes without saying i was up all night very distressed.