[I first sent this message out on Friday, after the stock markets
closed. I would have posted it here earlier than I have done, but I
had internet connection problems. Barclays shares have fallen again
already this morning (by 3.73%), but panic has not yet set in...]
Most sources of stock market information only provide data for the
last twelve months. I noticed that the Barclays Bank share price had
fallen to its lowest level in that period yesterday, despite (or maybe
partly caused by) making a desperate attempt to attract savers by
dramatically changing their overdraft penalties, to make up for their
losses due to the credit crunch. The changes are too complicated for
me to explain, and I wouldn't want to risk getting the details wrong
because people's livelihoods are at stake, so read a news item such as
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7425057.stm
or
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/investnews/article.htm?A=
rticleID=3D18616053
for details.
Newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy demolished the arguments of a Barclays
spokesperson live on Channel 4 News yesterday lunchtime. [This is my
favourite news programme, along with Newsnight on BBC2; the live
interviews on those programmes avoid the censor****p that is
particularly common in the mass media.] Krishnan pointed out that if
they can reduce charges on overdrawn accounts from =A335 to =A38, then
they must be admitting that their existing charges are unfair. He also
pointed out that the overdraft interest rate is exorbitant compared to
the base rate.
With the help of a stock market investor friend of mine, I've obtained
a chart for Barclays share prices on the London Stock Exchange over
the past five years, which shows the share price now much lower than
five years ago and lower than at any other point in the five-year
period. I got the chart from the Advanced Financial Network website
(www.advfn.com); note that you need to register (which you can do for
free) and the website is buggy and hard to use.
However, I've captured the chart as a JPG image, which you can find at
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?topic=3D6480.msg6523
(images can't be included in Google Groups posts).
I have already twice caused Barclays shares to fall by about 10% by
suggesting that they will go bankrupt, and I'm sending this message
far and wide as well. If many investors and customers see this graph,
they are even more likely to disinvest or withdraw their savings. And
once some people panic, it could set off a chain reaction that brings
the bank to its knees very quickly!
A possibly im****tant caveat is that Barclays is seeking funding from
sovereign wealth funds in the Far East - itself a sign that their
financial status is not as secure as they would have us believe. Those
investors are more likely to base their investment decisions on
political motives, and they may be more willing to bail Barclays out
than those solely basing their decisions on the quest for profit.
Some of you may be under the impression that Barclays will be bailed
out by the government/Bank of England/Financial Services Authority, if/
when its bankruptcy is on the cards. New Labour politicians
(specifically prime minister Gordon Brown and chancellor of the
exchequer Alistair Darling) have claimed that will happen, and
measures are planned (or possibly in place already) to enable this.
However, Barclays' assets and liabilities are around $1.8 trillion,
about nine times those of Northern Rock!
Does anybody really think that the discredited and highly unpopular
Labour Party leaders will be able to step in to save Barclays, even
though they know that failure to do so will spell the end of the New
Labour project - of taking us towards the sort of authoritarian
capitalist society predicted by George Orwell in his book "Nineteen
Eighty-Four" in which revolutionary change is impossible. Even if they
could politically get away with it, who's to say that the financial
markets will lend the Bank of England the money?
If you owe Barclays money, be very happy - your overdraft or mortgage
would be written off if they go under. Investors and savers will
suffer, including innocent people who aren't aware of Barclays Bank's
unethical history, including propping up the apartheid regime in South
Africa. To those who are aware of that, my message is "Good riddance!"
--
Steve Wallis (Glasgow, Scotland)
For im****tant/urgent communications, please email:
warcrysteve@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/steve-wallis-socialist-blog,
http://blog.myspace.com/galaxiasteve
My socialist website: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk
My socialist musical poetry: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk/poetry.htm
(and at my MySpace and Multiply pages)
My pages at MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/galaxiasteve,
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3D731729407
and Multiply:
http://socialiststeve.multiply.com
Founder, Good Intentions Network: http://www.goodintentionsnetwork.org
Founder, Ethical Capitalism Network: http://www.ethicalcapitalism.net
Founder, Foundation for PR-based Socialism: http://www.PRsocialism.org
Founder, Revolutionary Platform Network:
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.ne=
t
My socialist band, Red Day: http://www.red-day.net
Author, "Revolution Destroyed? Have I ensured that a world socialist
revolution will never happen?": http://www.revolutiondestroyed.net
For discussion of the credit crunch, go to
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?board=3D156
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