Investors driven by expectation of car scrappage deal

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "Buys continued to outweigh the number of sells this week as customers steered towards the motor industry with hopes of a Government backed revival.

"Car dealer Inchcape raced into the top ten buys on expectation that the Government will announce a scrappage scheme in next week's budget. The scheme is similar to those that have already been successfully implemented in other European countries and will give owners £2,000 towards a new car if they trade in their old one. It is being proposed in a bid to boost car sales in the UK, which fell by 30.5% in March compared to the same period last year, and the production of new cars.

"TD Waterhouse customers may have also decided to single out Inchcape after its share price fell during a recent £232m rights issue, which offered nine shares for every share owned by existing shareholders at a heavily discounted price of just 6p each. The company accounted for one in 10 (10%) of our top ten non-banking buys. With fewer people buying new cars the company was forced to scrap its final dividend after announcing that pre-tax profits for 2008 had dropped by half. The UK-based car retailer could also stand to benefit further from the proposed scheme if the Government goes ahead with plans to favour UK manufacturers.

"Entering the top ten again this week is US banking giant Citigroup as customers continue to capitlise on TD Waterhouse's award-winning international trading service to seek out potential gains across the pond. Citigroup was also the most heavily traded international stock during the month of March according to our trading stats, but this week's market volatility seems to have left customers divided over whether to buy or sell shares in the bank - with the volume of buys only 6% higher than sells in this week's top ten tables.

"After enjoying profitable months at the beginning of the year Citigroup drew out a small wave of confidence from some investors, but the real indicator of its position will be revealed when its first quarter results are released tomorrow. The New York-based bank is under increased pressure to deliver positive news after being bailed out three times by the US Government following devastating losses over five consecutive quarters.

"Finally, our customers turned to the recovering property market this week as trades in Barratt Development and Taylor Wimpey accounted for 45% of our top-ten non-banking trades. Both housebuilders accounted for 55% of top ten non-banking buys and 39% of sells respectively.

"Recent weeks have seen small signs of recovery for the housing market following a huge slump at the beginning of the year which forced house prices to drop by a third since 2007. The good news caused Barratt Developments' share price to soar 80% over the past two weeks, closing at 155p on Tuesday 14th April. This week's trading activity suggests our customers may have been seizing the opportunity to capitalise on the hike as they sold almost 20% more shares in the housebuilder than they bought. The company is thought to be tackling its debt problems well after slashing its net debt by £230m in just over six months to the end of 2008."