FTSE CLOSING 270409 & 280409 OPENING

Hello all,

I would like to apologize for the late closing wrap, it's been quite a busy period for me this week.

Well Europe staged a last minute rally driven by pharmaceuticals and defensives yesterday, this was all following a rally in the US market driven by GM, pharmaceuticals and defensive plays.

Financials in the UK ended mixed with HSBC down -2% and stocks like RBS up 3%

We expect oil stocks to be pushed even lower in today's trading, as there continues to be a downside for oil, as for the travel industry further downside is expected (I would also like to add that my momentum play on BA may have come too early, given the worsening situation of the swine flu).

I also see some continued upside in Pharma as the WHO has categorized the Flu as a lvl 4 pandemic (the highest rating so far). However, that may taper off by the end of the day.

For our existing positions I would take a:-
BA sell (to limit losses due to further potential downside)
MKS hold (I see upside occuring for retailers in the 2-3 day time span)
NG hold (Defensive stocks will continue to be strong in times like these, I may call a sell later in the day as the market picks up)

On an additional note we expect financials to be red today, given that BoA and CITI have been implicated as banks needing additional capital which will dampen optimism in the market.

Overall, we see another red day for Europe as the Swine Flu pandemic continues to escalate from yesterday.

Dive2Blue out.