The black horse falls out of favour while the eagle is flying high

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "As the economic crisis bites further into both the UK and more far flung markets, you might have expected nervous investors to quit shares for more safer havens. Yet, once again buy trades by TD Waterhouse customers have outpaced the number of sells this week, this time by 57%, up 11% compared to last week.

"Leading the top ten buys this week, Barclays has been our customer's favourite trade accounting for more than a quarter of the buy trades (25%) and less than a fifth of sells (16%). One of the only banks to turn down the Governments multibillion pound bail out, Barclays has just launched an investment banking operation in Israel after rescuing employees from collapsed bank Lehman Bros, instantly making it a leading player in the local market.

"However, it has not been such a good week for Lloyds TSB as a fall in HBOS shares has caused investors to shun the stock. This can perhaps explain the reason why Lloyd's doesn't figure in the top buys this week compared to last, when it was the second most popular buy. Although the bank makes no appearance in this week's buys, it has kept its number two position in the sells.

"Countering speculation that the insurance industry is next to be hit by the credit crunch, AVIVA has entered the top ten table this week after announcing a 12% increase in new business and a strong US performance. Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Moss revealed the insurance company was sitting in a very strong capital position, with life and pension sales climbing to £25.6bn.

"Meanwhile, customers were quick to buy into BP ahead of its staggering 3rd quarter trading statement announcing profits of £6.4billion. The company profit has leapt up 148% from the previous year, due in part to the success of its Thunder Horse Platform in the Gulf of Mexico, tighter refinement and cost control. Now that the company is in the privileged position to buy assets and rivals, Chief Executive, Tony Hayward is keen to cash in on the troubled market."