FetteredChinos
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howdy.
reckon that the break of support on the euro, and US indices is slightly worrying for bulls, at least in the short term.
However, I reckon at least one final test of the recent highs is on the cards. we are entering the most bullish part of the year after all!
I favour a dip on monday down to approx 12,210 or so to draw in some bears, and then a rally from there to retest 12,400 region. (im currently short from 12,301 so its my wallet talking here
)
cricket went well this morning eh? I cant ever remember a time when England were 626 runs behind, and I've been following them since about 1984 when we were getting steamrollered all the time.
reckon we may scrape a draw though. It just needs the batsman to engage their brains for once. Still dont think Cook, Collingwood, Anderson or Giles should be anywhere near the test team. I initially thought cook was good, but having seen the highlights, he seems to have developed Trescothicks "skill" of not moving his feet.
Good weekend all,
FC
reckon that the break of support on the euro, and US indices is slightly worrying for bulls, at least in the short term.
However, I reckon at least one final test of the recent highs is on the cards. we are entering the most bullish part of the year after all!
I favour a dip on monday down to approx 12,210 or so to draw in some bears, and then a rally from there to retest 12,400 region. (im currently short from 12,301 so its my wallet talking here
)cricket went well this morning eh? I cant ever remember a time when England were 626 runs behind, and I've been following them since about 1984 when we were getting steamrollered all the time.
reckon we may scrape a draw though. It just needs the batsman to engage their brains for once. Still dont think Cook, Collingwood, Anderson or Giles should be anywhere near the test team. I initially thought cook was good, but having seen the highlights, he seems to have developed Trescothicks "skill" of not moving his feet.
Good weekend all,
FC
FetteredChinos said:howdy.
reckon that the break of support on the euro, and US indices is slightly worrying for bulls, at least in the short term.
However, I reckon at least one final test of the recent highs is on the cards. we are entering the most bullish part of the year after all!
I favour a dip on monday down to approx 12,210 or so to draw in some bears, and then a rally from there to retest 12,400 region. (im currently short from 12,301 so its my wallet talking here
cricket went well this morning eh? I cant ever remember a time when England were 626 runs behind, and I've been following them since about 1984 when we were getting steamrollered all the time.
reckon we may scrape a draw though. It just needs the batsman to engage their brains for once. Still dont think Cook, Collingwood, Anderson or Giles should be anywhere near the test team. I initially thought cook was good, but having seen the highlights, he seems to have developed Trescothicks "skill" of not moving his feet.
Good weekend all,
FC
After watching Englands performance - and the status of the pitch.. methinks getting a draw is as likely as the DOW reaching 13000 by Jan 07 :cheesy:
FetteredChinos
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there is always hope Karmit, always hope.
am thinking of having a punt on KP being England's top scorer in the series.. he has now replaced Robin Smith as my favourite England player of all time. (funnily enough neither of them were born in england)
obviously BCL is the greatest player ever.
FC
am thinking of having a punt on KP being England's top scorer in the series.. he has now replaced Robin Smith as my favourite England player of all time. (funnily enough neither of them were born in england)
obviously BCL is the greatest player ever.
FC
FetteredChinos said:am thinking of having a punt on KP being England's top scorer in the series.. he has now replaced Robin Smith as my favourite England player of all time. (funnily enough neither of them were born in england) obviously BCL is the greatest player ever.
FC[/QUOTE
Really got to take odds with you on the BCL claim FC !
Would agree that he is one of the 10 greatest batsmen but certainly not 'obviously' the greatest (I think that was Mohammed Ali anyway)
1. Although he is the current leading Test batsman in terms of total runs scored, he is unlikely to retain that position for long. Sachin Tendulkar, Raul Dravid, who are both 4 years younger than BCL, and Ricky Ponting (5 years younger) are very likely to overtake him,
2. Surprisingly enough Lara is not even in the top 20 of all time Test Batsmen when it comes to his batting average (53). No one is ever likely to even get close to Bradmans 99.94 average but the list of great batsmen who have better averages than BCL includes Graeme Pollock (61), Ricky Ponting (58), Wally Hammond (58), Jack Hobbs & Len Hutton (both 57), In fact there are even 4 other great West Indian batsmen ahead of him, Headley (61), Weeks (59), Sobers (58) and Walcott (57) and although he is behind Lara in runs scored and batting average, there would be some West Indians who would claim that Sir Viv Richards had more elegance and class !
3. There are also actually 4 contemporary Test Batsmen ahead of him in the batting averages too if one takes the view that it is tougher for a batsman today than it was yesterday (which is debatable anyway). They are:
Raul Dravid 33 (9049 @ 59 in 104)
Ricky Ponting 32 (8792 @58 in 105)
Jack Kallis 31 (8033 @ 56 in 102)
Sachin Tendulkar 33 (10469 @ 55 in 132)
This compares with Brian Lara 37 (11904 @ 53 in 130)
4. This only covers batsmen and there are several great allrounders and bowlers for whom a case might also be made as 'the greatest' player but that is another debate altogether.
From a personal point of view if I had to back a batsman to go out to the crease and bat for my life I would go for Bradman, Pollock or Barry Richards ahead of Brian Lara. Even if one had to confine the choice to current players then I would put Raul Dravid ahead of him today.
Ultimately of course it is down to subjective opinion but the TA and fundamentals have validity (as with stocks and the markets) and they cannot be easily dismissed when formulating either a view or a conclusion. :cheesy:
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New Thread - Cricket World - in Sports section of the Lounge.
Great Job as ever Kriesau or should we call you Bearders......
Market direction - pah........ some tw-t bought the Dax futures out of the bargain bucket late Friday so the market is going up...... in Europe anyway - Karmit we're now headed for your 6425/30 min in Dax
Great Job as ever Kriesau or should we call you Bearders......
Market direction - pah........ some tw-t bought the Dax futures out of the bargain bucket late Friday so the market is going up...... in Europe anyway - Karmit we're now headed for your 6425/30 min in Dax
FetteredChinos
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Kriseau, I agree that on the core stats, he isnt the greatest.
however, you have to look at the numbers in context.
bowling standards have improved greatly since the 50s and 60s, resulting in a general evening out of performance in batting averages.
it happens in all sports as the sport reaches mass appeal. (witness the fact that in footie, there are very few whipping boys in international level compared to even the 1980s. or in golf where the tournament wins are now distributed a bit wider (tiger aside) )
as a result, when comparing the numbers, you have to also weight the period in which they played. Bradman, whilst i concede has the highest average, and probably deservedly so, also played a lot of timeless test matches. If they still existed now, then Dravid (The Wall) would probably stand a chance to rival him.
It also depends on the quality of batting around them.
Dravid has had Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag, Dhoni etc over the years. Traditionally strong Indian batting lineups,
Ponting has had the pleasure of batting with one of the strongest batting sides of all time. Gilchrist coming in at 8 sometimes!!! He is also a cheating eejit, and a sore loser (did you see him walking off after his 196 and refusing to acknowledge the crowds standing ovation?)
Kallis has the same, South Africa have pollock coming in at 8 as well.
Tendulkar (see Dravid)
They all have the support of a fine batting lineup, and so there is less pressure on them to make runs, or hold the team together.
Lara on the other hand has had to put up with the Calypso Collapso for virtually his entire career. Single handedly he has won or drawn matches, where the rest of the Windies has succumbed. Couple this with having to extract a match position from having a weak bowling attack, and I think he deserves his preeminent position in the pantheon of greats.
Plus, of course, with possibly the exception of Tendulkar and KP, he is the main reason why a lot of fans turn up to games.
as for market direction :- i still got my main position long from the futures that ive had for several months, but ive still go tthis temporary short looking for the dip i mentioned.
whilst the commercial postions are overwhelmingly short at the moment, i'd like to point out they have been since august (from memory) and in that time the market has rallied over 1,000 points. Also in recent weeks, they have been reducing their short weighting. looks like short side moves arent likely to be too huge.
famous last words.
fc
however, you have to look at the numbers in context.
bowling standards have improved greatly since the 50s and 60s, resulting in a general evening out of performance in batting averages.
it happens in all sports as the sport reaches mass appeal. (witness the fact that in footie, there are very few whipping boys in international level compared to even the 1980s. or in golf where the tournament wins are now distributed a bit wider (tiger aside) )
as a result, when comparing the numbers, you have to also weight the period in which they played. Bradman, whilst i concede has the highest average, and probably deservedly so, also played a lot of timeless test matches. If they still existed now, then Dravid (The Wall) would probably stand a chance to rival him.
It also depends on the quality of batting around them.
Dravid has had Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag, Dhoni etc over the years. Traditionally strong Indian batting lineups,
Ponting has had the pleasure of batting with one of the strongest batting sides of all time. Gilchrist coming in at 8 sometimes!!! He is also a cheating eejit, and a sore loser (did you see him walking off after his 196 and refusing to acknowledge the crowds standing ovation?)
Kallis has the same, South Africa have pollock coming in at 8 as well.
Tendulkar (see Dravid)
They all have the support of a fine batting lineup, and so there is less pressure on them to make runs, or hold the team together.
Lara on the other hand has had to put up with the Calypso Collapso for virtually his entire career. Single handedly he has won or drawn matches, where the rest of the Windies has succumbed. Couple this with having to extract a match position from having a weak bowling attack, and I think he deserves his preeminent position in the pantheon of greats.
Plus, of course, with possibly the exception of Tendulkar and KP, he is the main reason why a lot of fans turn up to games.
as for market direction
:- i still got my main position long from the futures that ive had for several months, but ive still go tthis temporary short looking for the dip i mentioned.whilst the commercial postions are overwhelmingly short at the moment, i'd like to point out they have been since august (from memory) and in that time the market has rallied over 1,000 points. Also in recent weeks, they have been reducing their short weighting. looks like short side moves arent likely to be too huge.
famous last words.
fc
......................................................................................................................................................................FetteredChinos said:
This is one of those debates that that can go on for ever since subjectivity and the relative weighting of different factors renders any definitive conclusion impossible. I guess the nearest one can get to a qualified view was the poll conducted via 100 Cricket 'Experts' selected by Wisden to mark the millenium. Their results are listed below.
The Wisden Cricketers of the Century were 5 cricketers who were judged to be the most prominent players of the 20th Century, as selected by a 100-member panel of cricket experts appointed by Wisdens Cricketers Almanack in 2000. In order of the number of votes cast for each player, the Wisden Cricketers of the Century were:
1. Bradman.........100 votes
2. Sobers...............90 votes
3. Hobbs................30 votes
4. Warne................27 votes
5. Viv Richards.....25 votes
NB: Many members of the panel complained that two of the five votes cast by each member would be wasted, as they would almost certainly be cast for Bradman and Sobers. The editor of Wisden at the time, Matthew Engel, noted that the only real deficiency of the list was the absence of a fast bowler. Fast bowlers dominated cricket from the 1970s until at least the mid-1990s, and the most famous pre-war test series, Bodyline had aroused controversy because it was England's fast bowling strategy designed to counter Don Bradman.
Very surprisingly, Ian Botham, came 16th with only 9 votes behind Sobers, Hadlee and Imran Khan in the Allrounder category.
In terms of just Batsman (excluding Sobers) the top 10 list was as follows:
1. Bradman..................................100
2. Hobbs........................................30
3. Viv Richards...............................25
4. Worrell.......................................19
5. Hammond..................................18
6 Compton.....................................14
7 Gavaskar.....................................12
8 Hutton.........................................11
9 Tendulkar......................................6
10 Headley.......................................5
I guess the most interesting factor is that all of them voted for Bradman and 90% also voted for Sobers. Lets not forget that Bradman played most of his Tests against quality opposition provided by England and South Africa and had to face bodyline in the early thirties and then he subsequently missed 7 prime years (age 31 - 38) because of WW2. While modern bowling and fielding standards might be higher it is also true to say that todays batsman have also scored some of their runs against mediocre opponents such as Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
I think that in any poll, conducted amongst any group of cricketing cogniscenti, Bradman and Sobers would always come out in first and second place. If one was to select a top ten then there would be considerable variety within the composition of the other 8. Mine would include contemporary players like Lara and Dravid but any list will inevitably be controversial.
However if one is to use the term 'obvious', in relation to the accolade of the greatest player of all time, then the weight of subjective and factual evidence points to Bradman as being the only player that could potentially justify such an extravagant claim.
Well I think that this big rally that started in August has wrong footed many people (me included) in terms of its length and strength but I don't believe that it has the legs to go much further. I think that the markets will turn down this week (but what do I knowFetteredChinos said:as for market direction
famous last words. fc
) since this rally has been virtually linear for almost 4 months, which is a highly unusual scenario. I believe that there has been some manipulation going on here by Paulson and the PPT to counter the negative consequences of the bursting housing bubble. I think that we will see a meaningful slowdown in the US economy early next year and the sliding dollar implies stronger speculation of a rate cut to try counter this sooner than later.I think their objective has been to pump up the market so that a subsequent fall will level out at higher lows than would otherwise have been the case. Whether they will succeed in their objectives remains to be seen.
So I think that we are going down. The unknown is how far and how long. Will this be a comparatively mild retracement back to circa 11800 or a much bigger fall back to around 10500 ? We might get both, with a short term, mild retracement followed by a Christmas rally and then a bigger drop in the new year. Problem is that with all the recent manipulation in the US markets it is difficult to second guess what the real outcome and consequences of their meddling will be since it has really muddied the waters !
Good luck - I think that we are all really going to need it over the next couple of months since this market is so unpredictable at the moment.
Black Friday Sales Up 6 Percent From '05
Anne D'Innocenzio, AP Business Writer
Sunday, November 26
NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's retailers had a strong start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at mall-based stores. One big exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which said it expects to report same-store sales in November below its already lackluster forecast.
According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 45,000 mall-based retail outlets, total sales rose 6 percent to $8.96 billion on Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season, compared to the same day a year ago. "Although we anticipated a solid consumer turnout for Black Friday, this data shows an even larger increase than expected as consumers proved they were willing to spend," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, in a statement.
Wal-Mart, however, estimated it will post a 0.1 percent decline in same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, in November. That's slightly below its original projections for flat sales for the month, compared to the year-ago period. The results cover the four-week period that ended through Friday. Same-store sales are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health. J.C. Penney Co. said in a separate statement released Saturday that the holiday shopping season was "off to a good start." "We have seen brisk traffic in our stores, and our 'redbox gifts' selection is being well-received by customers," Penney said, referring to its holiday must-have items. It said that home entertainment, fashion jewelry, children's apparel, housewares, holiday decorations and women's shoes were among the most popular items Friday.
Wal-Mart and other major retailers are expected to report final same-store results for November on Thursday. Wal-Mart's disappointing performance in November is the latest in a string of anemic sales gains for the discount store, which is struggling to expand its appeal to higher-income shoppers. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Wal-Mart has averaged a meager 2.4 percent gain in same-store sales for the February-October period. That compares with a same-store sales 4.8 percent gain for discount rival Target Corp. Penney has averaged a 4.5 percent gain in same-store sales for the February-October period. Wal-Mart, which had downplayed its emphasis on discounting, or what it calls rollbacks, stepped up its campaign in mid-October, with price reductions on over 100 toys. The move was followed by price cuts on consumer electronics and small appliances earlier this month.
While Black Friday -- so named because it was traditionally when the surge of shopping made stores profitable -- starts holiday shopping, it is not considered a bellwether for the season. However, merchants see Black Friday as setting an important tone to the overall season: what consumers see that day influences where they will shop for the rest of the year.
Anne D'Innocenzio, AP Business Writer
Sunday, November 26
NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's retailers had a strong start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at mall-based stores. One big exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which said it expects to report same-store sales in November below its already lackluster forecast.
According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 45,000 mall-based retail outlets, total sales rose 6 percent to $8.96 billion on Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season, compared to the same day a year ago. "Although we anticipated a solid consumer turnout for Black Friday, this data shows an even larger increase than expected as consumers proved they were willing to spend," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, in a statement.
Wal-Mart, however, estimated it will post a 0.1 percent decline in same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, in November. That's slightly below its original projections for flat sales for the month, compared to the year-ago period. The results cover the four-week period that ended through Friday. Same-store sales are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health. J.C. Penney Co. said in a separate statement released Saturday that the holiday shopping season was "off to a good start." "We have seen brisk traffic in our stores, and our 'redbox gifts' selection is being well-received by customers," Penney said, referring to its holiday must-have items. It said that home entertainment, fashion jewelry, children's apparel, housewares, holiday decorations and women's shoes were among the most popular items Friday.
Wal-Mart and other major retailers are expected to report final same-store results for November on Thursday. Wal-Mart's disappointing performance in November is the latest in a string of anemic sales gains for the discount store, which is struggling to expand its appeal to higher-income shoppers. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Wal-Mart has averaged a meager 2.4 percent gain in same-store sales for the February-October period. That compares with a same-store sales 4.8 percent gain for discount rival Target Corp. Penney has averaged a 4.5 percent gain in same-store sales for the February-October period. Wal-Mart, which had downplayed its emphasis on discounting, or what it calls rollbacks, stepped up its campaign in mid-October, with price reductions on over 100 toys. The move was followed by price cuts on consumer electronics and small appliances earlier this month.
While Black Friday -- so named because it was traditionally when the surge of shopping made stores profitable -- starts holiday shopping, it is not considered a bellwether for the season. However, merchants see Black Friday as setting an important tone to the overall season: what consumers see that day influences where they will shop for the rest of the year.