The FTSE

[west didsblue]

Sit tight, in a couple of years all will be fine, don't panic.

Don't think we have much choice.
I'm only 25% down compared to the market being 35% down so I'm hopeful that I'll do ok during the recovery.

I'm tempted to invest now but I'm also mindful that I might need spare cash over the next few months the way things are going.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

We are in uncharted waters but crises have happened before and will happen again. The Warren Buffet way is to stockpile shareholdings into great companies at a great price, i.e. longstanding and mature companies that have been around for many a decade. Whatever happens, investors need to concentrate on companies that have a long track record of paying dividends rather than newer companies that pay little in dividends and preferring to spend their incomings on research which is always going to be a gamble. Whatever happens in the future, food water and energy will remain a necessity to our way of life and isn't going to be sidetracked by this pandemic.

 

[Wafty Cranker]

For the time being the FTSE 100 seems to have support at 5,000 and has bounced of it a few times in the last few days.

Be interesting to see what happens if drops under the 5,000 mark for more than a brief moment.

 

[Summerbuzz]

Oil has dropped heavily AGAIN, another 11%, which is going to have knock on effects.

 

[nmc]

Let it fall... however low it goes it will bounce back, but some sectors will be more affected than others and the shape of the economy will be changed by this crisis.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

One thing that has not received any attention is the fall in GBP. Given we are no worse off than the rest of Europe there is no reason why the virus should impact exchange rates between GBP and the Euro. The pound has been weakening for a while now, heading towards the lows seen in the heights of the no deal brexit fears but then it bounced back every time the political position changed.

 

[117 M34]

Oil has dropped heavily AGAIN, another 11%, which is going to have knock on effects.

No mbappe in summer

 

[AlgarveBlu]

One thing that has not received any attention is the fall in GBP. Given we are no worse off than the rest of Europe there is no reason why the virus should impact exchange rates between GBP and the Euro. The pound has been weakening for a while now, heading towards the lows seen in the heights of the no deal brexit fears but then it bounced back every time the political position changed.

its never really about the underlying story that impacts a currency pairing directly it’s normally ancillary financial data such as commodity prices, base rates and central bank monetary policy being impacted by the story. Huge flight to safety to the U.S dollar ( yes theirs a paradox their considering who the president is) and against other pairings talk that QE could be kick started in a big way which puts pressure on a currency.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

One thing that has not received any attention is the fall in GBP. Given we are no worse off than the rest of Europe there is no reason why the virus should impact exchange rates between GBP and the Euro. The pound has been weakening for a while now, heading towards the lows seen in the heights of the no deal brexit fears but then it bounced back every time the political position changed.

plunging against the $ and Yen.

its never really about the underlying story that impacts a currency pairing directly it’s normally ancillary financial data such as commodity prices, base rates and central bank monetary policy being impacted by the story. Huge flight to safety to the U.S dollar ( yes theirs a paradox their considering who the president is) and against other pairings talk that QE could be kick started in a big way which puts pressure on a currency.

$ and ¥ are king in times of strife and £ is plunging against both now despite the problems that both USA and Japan are both experiencing with this.

it has actually held up some overseas funds that are not hedged but hammered the UK funds. Anyone with a UK based equity only portfolio must be weeping currently.

interestingly in the last month, Chinese funds have not done too badly which shows that if we can get on top of this then it may get brighter.

Most Uk property funds have suspended today too to add to the problem!

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

For smaller investors, likely to be the case for most people and with at the most a few hundred to a few thousand pounds at the top end of the range, there is little to help beyond doing your own research. I'm not advising anyone to follow blindly tip sheet recommendations but that doesn't rule out the need for help. Over the years I have received many suggestions from the Motley Fool website (fool.co.uk) and the sites logic is sound. Do not subscribe to their tipsheets for psychological reasons but by all means study their articles and emails. Investors will soon learn where stand..