Although the sub prime mess originated in the US, this has always been a global credit crunch. European banks were some of the biggest buyers of sub prime securities so when the crisis developed, any one of the world’s major banks could have been holding toxic assets. This in turn led us to the historical coordinated action by the world’s central banks today. Each government has attempted to deal with the crisis with specific interventions in their area but only a coordinated act like the rate cuts we have seen to day could truly hope to have any real impact.

Markets still do not know what to make of today’s dramatic intervention. UK banks such as Lloyds and Barclays are off their lows of the day, but traders are not exactly piling in like no tomorrow. This might possibly be a function of fears about the UK ‘part nationalisation’ bail out severely crimping any hope of significant shareholder return over the coming years. With an electorate footing the bill and politicians possibly having a say in the running of affairs, juicy dividends for shareholders may be a thing of the past. European markets are still down around 2-3% on the day and the Dow is swinging 50 points in the blink of an eye. Around the quiet period and intermediate high of August, the FTSE had a daily range of around 60 points. Today it is moving that much every 15 minutes. These are extraordinary times and many technical indicators are flashing at levels never seen before. At best central governments are hoping that the coordinated rate bomb has stopped Armageddon, there is now no hope of the UK, US, Irish and Spanish economies avoiding recession. The worse case doesn’t bare thinking about. If today’s coordinated intervention doesn’t at least start breath life into the frozen money markets, one has to wonder what surprise moves the global governments can take next.

Dave Evans is a market analyst for BetonMarkets, the financial fixed odds betting firm. We do not endorse the information and analysis available in this comment and it is provided purely for information purposes only and is delivered as a personal view by the writer. Under no circumstances is the information in this comment to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information contained herein is not untrue or misleading at the time of publication, we make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and it should not be relied upon as such. The investments referred to herein may not be suitable investments for all persons accessing this page. You should carefully consider whether all or any of these are suitable investments for you and if in any doubt consult an independent adviser. We accept no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from use of the information on this web page. Please see our Terms and Conditions.