TD trades soar as Thomas Cook tops tables
Darren Hepworth, Global Trading and Product Director, TD Direct Investing comments: "Total trades among TD customers increased by nearly 160% on last week as Thomas Cook Group (TCG) flew to the top of our top ten tables in the week ending Tuesday, 29 November. The top ten buys and sells comprised the same stocks, albeit in a different order, as it appeared some customers were looking to shed stocks that others saw as bargain buys. TD customers bought at a ratio of just over 1.6:1 in comparison with sells during a week in which the FTSE 100 made small gains, up 2.5% on last week to close at 5,337 on Tuesday (29 November).
"Thomas Cook Group took top spot in both our buys and sells tables, gaining one and five places respectively on last week. The travel firm struck a rescue deal with its banks for a £200m loan at the weekend to allow it time to reorganise its business. The markets appeared to react positively to the news, as the company's share price closed at nearly 20p on Tuesday (29 November) having dropped as low as 10.72p the previous Wednesday (23 November), before the additional financing had been agreed.
"Britain's biggest banks followed Thomas Cook's lead in both tables after George Osborne announced during his autumn statement on Tuesday (29 November) that he would increase the bank levy for the third time in a year. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) took second place in both tables, ahead of Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) in the buys and Barclays (BARC) in the sells.
"New entrants this week included Ascent Resources (AST), whose share price received a boost on Friday (25 November) after the Slovenia-focused oil and gas explorer reported that flows from its PG-10 well were more than twice the rate expected. The company's share price was at 375p at close on Monday (28 November) - 125% up from its Thursday (24 November) closing price of 165.9p. Ascent finished eighth and seventh places in the buys and sells respectively.
"Ninth place in both tables belonged to Yell Group (YELL) as speculation emerged on Monday (28 November) that it was close to agreeing the relaxation of terms on its £2.5 billion worth of debt with its banks.
"Elsewhere, AEA Technology (AAT) was this week's 10th most popular buy and sell. The energy and environmental consultancy issued a profit warning on 16 November and announced that its CEO was stepping down. However, its struggling share price recovered slightly this week ahead of yesterday's naming of John Lowry as interim chief executive of the group."