Silver lining amidst market meltdown

As the UK’s FTSE 100 Index continues to peak and trough amid warnings of a ‘global market meltdown’, The Share Centre is advising customers not to panic, but instead to view it as an opportunity to pick up some top quality stocks.

Last Friday on the Anniversary of ‘Black Monday’, the Dow Jones dipped 350 points, taking last weeks fall to well over 500 points. The drop was caused by further concerns within the sub-prime mortgage markets, rising oil prices and weaker corporate results.

The end of last week saw a barrel of crude oil soar to over $90 and forecasts suggest it could reach $100 before Christmas. Although the rising oil prices will be good news for the likes of BP and Royal Dutch Shell, who are both announcing results this week, there will be an inevitable knock on effect for the wider economy.

Commenting on the recent market down turn and oil prices, Nick Raynor, Investment Adviser at The Share Centre said, “Investors should not be afraid of investing in these markets as long as they are prepared to ride out the recent volatility. In fact some of the worst performers of late such as the Banking, Pharmaceutical, House Builders and Real Estate sectors could prove a real bargain for investors looking at long term future value. This week we saw an example of value investors purchasing stock ahead of BP’s trading update, whereas more cautious investors were selling”.

All in all the week saw a healthy buy to sell ratio at 65/35.

Week ending 09/09/07

Top Buys:
1. Northern Rock
2. BP
3. BHP Billiton
4. BG Group
5. Royal Dutch Shell

Top Sells:
1. Northern Rock
2. BP
3. Tesco
4. Scottish & Newcastle
5. GlaxoSmithKline