Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads, said: It's feels like it's been such a long time since we've seen a sell off in equities that it comes as rather a surprise, and we've almost forgotten what it looks like to see red across our screens.
"An investor who bought, say, equities instead would be putting money into the wider economy, creating jobs and wealth for others".
The pound's role in UK stock performance is something Morgan Stanley focusses on today in its note on the UK equities outlook - covered in an earlier Market Forces blog.
The Rangers Supporters Trust spokesman Chris Graham, 38, was welcomed by the new regime along with John Bennett, the 51-year-old director of European Equities at Henderson Global Investors.
"The prospect of protected negotiations will create a period of volatility in exchange rates, bonds and equities which will continue until concrete decisions over debt and currency are made," Cotton warned.
But the financial repression tax is not nearly as progressive as a more general wealth tax would be, because lower-income households typically have a smaller share of their assets in equities.
Conversely, capital's share of profits has been rising, which of course raises the value of equities (though, stock prices have continued to rise in countries such as the US and the UK where labour shares have begun at least a cyclical recovery, and where interest-rate hikes may soon be on the horizon).
The investment bank – known as Barclays Capital until recently – had traditionally focused on the bond markets but after taking over the Wall Street operations of Lehman Brothers following the latter's collapse in 2008 had expanded rapidly into other areas of investment banking such as advising on mergers and acquisitions and equities.
The investment bank is to lose 7,000 jobs from a workforce of about 24,000 as it shifts away from its traditional area of expertise in fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) and move towards advising customers and equities.
So far in 2012 both equities and the dollar have risen.For much of 2011 the euro also had a clear yield attraction over its main rivals (the dollar, yen and sterling).
Whereas the equities and options exchanges clear and settle through industry-owned utilities, CME owns that function.
