U.K. Stocks Decline on Recession Concern; Shell, HSBC Slide

Jennifer Rudd/ November 19, 2008/ 8:03 p.m.

The United Kingdom went through another week of recession. The economy seems to be on an unstable see saw and it definitely leans more toward recession. U.K. stocks declined as investors speculated the global recession is worsening and oil and metals prices slid. Here in the United States gas prices still keep dropping which is such a relief but I know that as soon as the economy picks back up the prices will rise again. This article stated a lot about the United Kingdom’s stocks. Different committees had gathered to vote about different issues with these stocks; one of the money managers of a major bank oversees millions of dollars, which is important for them to attend these types of meetings to make sure that the money does not bottom out. For example, “The FTSE 100 index has dropped 38 percent this year as asset writedowns and credit losses at financial companies topped $965 billion worldwide and sparked the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression.”
Another section of the article went on to talk about other countries and compare those rates dropping compared to the United Kingdoms’. “Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest mining company, decreased 8.6 percent to 2,257 pence. Kazakhmys Plc, Kazakhstan's largest copper producer, dropped 18 percent to 193 pence. Vedanta Resources Plc, the largest copper producer in India, declined 15 percent to 438 pence.” Compared to the United Kingdom, copper prices fell as much as 4.8 percent in London on signs that supplies are exceeding demand as a global economy trims consumption of the metal used in pipes and wires. All of these supplies and demands are a big portion of how the economy increases or decreases.
I feel that the economy for the United Kingdom is getting worse before it gets better. But when thought about, that is how everything in life works. I think that supply and demand should be brought up in the committees and meeting because that is what functions the stocks. I have a feeling this Christmas is not going to be as fruitful as past Christmas’s have been but I think that if people do not think this way and still spend the amount they do for Christmas than it could possibly help economies globally. However, there are other parts of me that think this probably will not be the case. I have seen in advertisements of department stores having more than just one black Friday.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=apBzJtZmaoC0&refer=uk