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What is spread-betting?

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Hi there! As the market continues its turbulent trend, prices are uncertain and shares unstable. But if you play the market, you will appreciate the everyday challenges and the opportunity to find a new solution to consolidate and grow your money pot. There are of course no certainties, however when a stock market storm is brewing and you’re still looking for your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the experts say : “Spread bet!”. But what does it mean?

When you play the stock market you buy and sell shares. With spread-betting, you bet on whether shares will go up or down – you don’t buy or sell anything. So you simply designate the price per point and place your bet on whether options will increase or decrease. Easy? Not really, but there are a multitude of options: you decide on the direction, margin, value and stop-loss of the shares on which you are betting. The stop loss is the biggest loss that you can afford, the price that automatically closes out the bet: a real parachute.

Much like the broker who profits from market activity in either direction, the shrewd spreadbetter can also succeed in a troubled economy; “Volatility and falling shares prices are good for us. When shares go down, we are the only game in town,” says Tim Howkins, Boss of IG, Britain’s top spread betting and CFD firm.

For all the non-professionals, we have found one of the best explanations of what spread-betting means here: http://www.financial-spread-betting.com/Spread-bet.html.

And here are 10 things that you should know about spread bet: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/investment/article1305642.ece. Many investors use spread-bets to protect their positions. But the usual risk warnings apply… they are bets and you can win or lose. Just hopefully win.

5 bites from the latest news

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Good afternoon! Here we are on this raining day with your daily quick update from London: five bites from the latest news specially selected for you and your needs.

  • MONEY : The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has decided to once again raise food prices. The shop prices rose by 3.2 per cent: the highest rate since it started the index two years ago and up from 2.5 per cent in June. Food prices were 9.5 per cent higher compared with July last year, against 7 per cent in June, says the Timesonline.co.uk. And we, the lucky customers that we are, have to pay the price increase of energy and transport costs for the supermarket!
  • OLYMPICS : What is the biggest problem in Beijing: the pollution or the protesters?! Athletes and visitors don’t seem to care about either. Any difficulty in conveying the latest results to the rest of the world has been lessened by a team of 4,000 IT professionals who will be working to communicate competition results to participants, spectators and the media alike within 0.3 seconds. 21,600 journalists are waiting to share their news with four billion TV viewers in their homes.
  • TRANSPORT : Passengers prefer cheap airlines over British Airways. The traditional summer travel boom never took off this year as British Airways aircrafts are flying with a quarter of their seats unfilled. The timesonlin.co.uk reports British Airways carried 94,000 fewer passengers than in July last year as higher fares and the worsening economic environment led to weaker demand. In the meantime Ryanair and Easyjet fill up their flights with offers and smart prices, selling millions of cheap tickets.
  • CULTURE : Whilst we are waiting for the famous Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, we can enjoy watching stand up comedy and unique performances in Camden Town, where the Camden Fringe Festival is on from 28th of July to 24th of August. During the 4 weeks we will have 316 performances (of 100 different shows) across 3 venues, a collection of experimental new theatre, comedy, musicals, poetry, improvisation and story-telling.

Olympic Games: top blogs from Beijing 2008

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It’s only two days until the huge opening ceremony of the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing before which some 10,500 athletes will compete in more than 300 different events. At the same time a security force of 110, 000 strong has been assigned to the streets and arenas of the capital (including 34,000 troops from the People’s Liberation Army). The Chinese government is watching its guests through 10,000 surveillance cameras installed throughout Beijing, and in turn the rest of the world are watching China through thousands of media crews.

What about us? Which is the best medium to expose the activities in the king of sporting events? Should we switch on the TV? Read the newspaper? Look at the official websites? Or what? Well, at risk of sounding biased, the best way is through blogs!

The 2008 blogs are the best way to explore far worlds and to find out what’s going on through the ordinary eye, devoid of obscured or filtered vision. Blogs are written by real people who lack the agenda of a journalist or a broadcaster, like us – who are keeping you up-to-date on London. And all from in London.

And London is one of the main protagonist of this XXIX Olympic Games, not just because it has a platoon of athletes awaiting at least 40 medals, but more importantly because it will be the next host, for the pearl anniversary in its 30th year.

Chinese and foreigners, organisers, journalists and spectators use the system of a blog to tell us more about what’s going on; the faster way to write and much easier to read. Here are the most read blogs so far from Beijing 2008:

The next appointiment is on Friday 8/8/2008 at 8 o’clock pm (12 am in London) at the Beijing National Stadium or on your favourite blog!

Blogs may turn out to be the solution over the battle of censorship, that still dominates the People’s Republic of China. The concerns on this matter are great: today the Torch feted in Tiananmen, four british tourist have been arrested over the pro-Tibet protest and the journalists from the five continents remain in fear of not being able to do their job. The tailor-made press area may be vast, but a beautifully fitted luxury press-box won’t help the flow of information now will it.

A drink at the Royal Exchange never fails to impress

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In the last few years new market strategies had to be rebuilt on new systems, people are always more in front of their screens, working by theirself. But the passion of the men for the beauty is still the same. Electronic system are innovated every day, and we are always running behind the changing. So we need sometimes a slow break. Men (and women) love beautiful places, delightful drinks, tasty food and good company, also in our fast Century, we shouldn’t forget the importance of meeting people and attending events.

If you are looking for the perfect place to invite your business partners or to organize an event? Here you are one of the most famous and posh place of London to take a drink: the magnificent Royal Exchange Grand Cafe’ and Bar. It’s just a suggestion, an idea to make a great impression to your guests, hosting them in a luxury courtyard with a sophisticated bar in the middle. Invite them at the Royal Exchange and tell them the story of this place and you will get them!

The London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, its history started in the coffee houses of 17th century London and the first old building, the Royal Exchange, was set up in 1565 by Thomas Gresham, a rich merchant. There, for more than 200 years, stock brokers and jobbers have bought and sold shares, making the financial institution an important piece of history. In 1667, the Great Fire destroyed the building, that was rebuilt by the architect, Edward Jerman, City Surveyor, who looked after the building resembled the old as much as possible. Since 1844 a new building has been opened to host the national Stock Exchange, but the old one has kept on to be a historical monument to the financial importance of the City. In 1991, the building was refurbished a first time, then, in 2001 it was once again remodeled to become the Grand Café of now.

Something that you should know about the Stock Exchange

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“Think big, think positive, never show any sign of weakness. Always go for the throat. Buy low, sell high. Fear? That’s the other guy’s problem. Nothing you have ever experienced will prepare you for the absolute carnage you are about to witness. Super Bowl, World Series – they don’t know what pressure is. In this building, it’s either kill or be killed. You make no friends in the pits and you take no prisoners. One minute you’re up half a million in soybeans and the next, boom, your kids don’t go to college and they’ve repossessed your Bentley. Are you with me?”

Spoken by Dan Ackroyd in the 1983 film Trading Places as the two main protagonists are about to enter the stock exchange, but how close is this to the real thing? Common preconception is that it resembles a cattle auction on steroids as traders with dangerously high blood pressure throw absurd contorted hand signals across the room that appear to be complete nonsense but when in actual fact they are making or breaking people’s pension fund. Well, that may be slightly over-egged but you get the point.

Indeed, the first task of the morning for many businessmen in the City of London is to check the latest developments in the FTSE 100. But what is behind these numbers? How does the Stock Exchange work? We certainly could not presume to explain the complexity of the stock market in our little blog, but we can give you a tidbit of info on the system used for trading: The name of this particular method of communication between traders was called open outcry and it was a precise language to buy and sell orders in the pit (the trading floor). This system is still used in the London Metal Exchange; other than in the New York Mercantile Exchange, in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and in the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

However, In the Computer Age – the Fast Century, everything claims a faster, cheaper, more efficient way to achieve the best result by using a new generation trading system. It was in June 2007 when the London Stock Exchange’s new trading system went live: a new technology platform with a higher speed of trading and a better system capacity: market participants are now able to manage trades in around 10 milliseconds, knowing company prices within 2 milliseconds. New market strategies had to be rebuilt on this new system and nothing has been the same again.

So it seems that the ‘absolute carnage’ of the trading floor is now the stuff of (movie) history. The carnage rather has moved to a trader’s comfortable chair in an office of a large glass-clad tower block in Canary Wharf somewhere. That’s 21st century trading for you…

Tea vs Coffee: a never-ending feud

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starbucks bits

I don’t drink coffee I take tea my dear – so Sir Sting tells us. And he likes his toast done on one side apparently – funny that. So Sting may have been An Englishman in New York but is the Big Apple as different from the Big Smoke as it used to be? Well, yes but we do seem to have adopted the decidedly American trend of coffee-shop culture. Do we have the TV show Friends to thank for that? We hope not – we prefer to think that it’s because a firm as large as Starbucks decided to explore cosmopolitan London through its multinational population.

But does the Breakfast Tea homeland still prefer drinking tea than coffee? The oldest and most famous coffee chain doesn’t agree. Starbucks doesn’t accept the old English tradition and makes efforts to engage new coffee drinkers. How? With a new coffee experience. For free. Since 1998, when it arrived in UK, the American chain has tried to be an affordable luxury – Starbucks now offers customers free refills!

The future is uncertain, but never give up! Even if the present economic crisis hits your breakfast table. In the last year Starbucks has fired many of its employees in USA and is closing many stores across the world, but as it has to get used the company try to limit the problems. The latest news say that Starbucks will close 600 stores in the United States and 61 (of the 84) in Australia. Also in UK the coffee company has recorded its first loss as a public company, surviving a terrible week, caused by an international halt of revenue growth. Starbucks was one of the most successful businesses of all the world, and it wants to survive to the big economic crisis and save its 670 shops in Britain.

And you can like it or not, love the coffee or not, but Starbucks is a good example of a successful business in times of trouble. We are also here to cover these stories for you – are Londoners rejecting coffee culture now?

Look up to the sky for the solar eclipse

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Today from we can enjoy a rare astronomic phenomenon of a partial solar eclipse. You can find out about it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2008/jul/30/solareclipse

Eyes should look skyward in London at 10.15 am when we will have the best opportunity to see the eclipse, though it is only partial. No dark sky, unfortunately, and the BBC remind us “Don’t forget protective equipment – even in partial eclipse phases – can result in a retinal burn and permanent eye damage. Viewing the sun’s harsh light should only be done through proper solar telescopes or glasses, or through a pinhole projection system”.

British Gas: the biggest one-off increase in energy bills

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Businesses and homes, beware: The biggest gas increase ever has hit us! The Telegraph.co.uk heads with the article, “British Gas hits customers with biggest one-off increase in energy bills ever recorded”. Families are paying £400 more a year for their energy than they were at the start of the year. The price increases, people tremble and the British Gas owners become richer everyday. The Times Online reveals that “British Gas owner makes almost £1bn profit”. BBC News speaks about “Anger over £1bn Centrica profits” and the Guardian.co.uk says: “British Gas provokes fury with biggest ever price rise”.

It’s a neverending history that splits the society: we need to use energy and we must save it. In the last years our society has to become more respectful of the world’s resources and the recent price increase of all the kinds of energy has helped the new saving policy. But even if the environmental activism is taking advantage, common people are scared. The Earth claims respect, but on one side billions of pounds profit earned by energy companies on the other millions worries about the escalation of the prices. Business Made Simple has addressed the problem and invited you to get involved and say what you think about the crisis. British Gas has promised it will not increase its bills again before the end of the year, but most energy experts were expecting a further round of price increases this winter. Can customers look on the bright side of this unbelievable increase?! What do you think?

Markets stormy and Exchange swinging from London to the world

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Welcome back to London Presence. In our daily press review, we want to talk again about the turbulant time for the Economy around the World. Bloomberg, our favourite reference, has underlined again today that the European confidence has dropped most since September 11 Attacks. In his analysis, the editor Fergal O’Brien explains how “Europeans’ confidence in the outlook for the economy dropped the most since the September 11 terrorist attacks…”.

Last week the German Finance Ministry spoke about the long way to a recovery in Europe’s biggest economy, the euro rose to $1.5916, whilst the dollar and the pound slumped against the euro. Then, after the announcement by the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson concerning the possibility of raising interest rates, the dollar has started to rise against the yen once more. In the meantime the pound has stabilised against the dollar, but analysts have warned the pound is to weaken by the fear of a UK recession.

It’s a volatile period in which markets are stormy and exchanges are swinging in every direction. The bull and bear of the market seem to have replaced the inconsistency in London weather as we seem to have found a sunny patch for a change.

A lot of experts suggest just one solution: spreadbets. “Spreadbetting is a way in which risks can be reduced and overall returns enhanced”, say senior sales traders. But what is a spreadbet?

Keep in touch and we will soon explain what it means and how it works.

Top 10 museums in London

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Let’s start the week with something fun… Here at London presence, we know that most of our clients live outside of London, so here is a guide of the London museums if you are visiting this great city as a tourist. London is the city of business, lifestyle and culture so, after the economic news, here we are the top 10 of the museums, draft by monthly visitors:

Tate Gallery – 6,025,888

The first position is a double position, because it involves two museums: Tate Britain and Tate modern are the home of British art from the sixteenth century to the present day and of international modern and contemporary art. From one side of the river to the other one, they offer collective and individual exhibitions to convey British art, discover new artists and increase public knowledge.

British Museum – 4,492,852

British Museum tells the histories of the world, looking into the past to understand the present and discover the future. It offers a vast display from every country and every age. From Thursday 24th of July to Sunday 26 October 2008 the new major exhibition will be dedicated to the Roman Emperor Hadrian, his life, his emperor and his conflict.

National Gallery – 3,557,839

Fine arts and portraits are kept in the main building of Trafalgar Square: this museum is a great opportunity for every kind of visitors to discover art, through pictures. It offers a permanent collection and few temporary exhibitions (at the moment you shouldn’t miss the Radical Light: Italy’s Divisionist Painters 1891-1910).

Natural History Museum – 3,200,645

Natural History Museum promotes the discovery, understanding and enjoyment of the natural world. Children and adults can explore a landmark buildings and all its secrets about the universe and the human being.

Science Museum – 2,019,931

Science and technology for all the family, this museum offers interactive exhibits – fun for groups and families to see the world in a new and different way.

Victoria & Albert Museum – 1,902,587

This enormous museum is stuffed with different collections broken up into continents of the world that cover all manner of historical artifacts and art works: Architecture, Asia, British Galleries, Ceramics, Childhood, Contemporary, Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories, Furniture, Glass, Metalwork, Paintings & Drawings, Photography, Prints & Books, Sculpture, Textiles and Theatre & Performance.

National Maritime Museum – 1,493,042

This museum dedicated to the sea and to the stars, comprises three sites: The Maritime Galleries, the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House. One huge museum that illustrates to everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people: it is the largest number of visitors of the museum far from the centre and located in Greenwhich.

Imperial War Museum – 690,529

At the moment it offers 2 big exhibitions: For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond (from 17th April 2008 to 1st March 2009) – to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, and From War to Windrush (from 13th June 2008 to 29th March 2009) – to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the arrival of the MV Empire Windrush in Britain in 1948.

Museum of London – 375,013

This museum found in the Docklands tells the story of the city. At the moment we return to the scene of London’s most infamous crimes of Jack the Ripper and the East End, the first exhibition to explore the Jack the Ripper murders and their enduring legacy.

All museums in London are free (you have to pay to visit the temporary events) and are open 7 days a week. You justneed to plan your visit!