Hale: The pressure points in markets as ECB prepares for action

The pressure points in markets as ECB prepares for action

Normally at market peaks the mood is one of supreme optimism that whatever we had all been worrying about was a thing of the past. Meanwhile, performance data can be extrapolated to the moon.

“We are only halfway through this rally in European bank shares”, “UK domestic mid-cap stocks still have further upside potential” and, most prevalent and, dare I say, most disingenuous of all, “The European sovereign debt crisis, for Greece in particular, has been solved and should no longer be a concern…” The latter statement is seemingly proven by the fact the Greeks got a €5bn bond issue away; their first for some time at a yield of 5%, and significantly oversubscribed. The issue is now trading below par, but the assortment of buyers, only 7% of whom were Greek, are relying on the...