London Stock Exchange Difficulties

The London Stock Exchange experienced trouble late last week when it was shutdown for 4 consecutive hours. Not a lot of information was provided on the nature or cause of the "glitch" but it was enough to make inaccessible the exchanges electronic facilitation of what would have ordinarily been a busy trading day. Apologies were given but I'd like more accountability on how the exchange had the plug pulled out from under it. Traders in London and across the world took notice. A few weeks earlier, another major European exchange was shut down as a result of a "glitch." Here's an article on it: February 26th NY Times





The stock market didn't seem to concerned about the shut-down in London and Pushed forward on Friday after a week of declines. Oil companies have been rising as evidenced by new 52 week highs being made recently for companies like Exxon Mobile, ConocoPhillip, Hess Corp, Chevron, and other companies in the Oil and Integrated Gas industry. They were rising before the Libya uprising that has shaken North Africa, and Crude oil has been flirting with the $100 level. As the unrest in the Middle East continues to weight on investors minds, the price of oil may rise further and provide resistance to economic recovery. Prices of Commodities have been rising in general, from Cocoa, Silver, Corn and Wheat, to oil and Steel, We have to make sure not to let the news reports mislead us, and take the direction of our ideas in ways that are not ours. Doing your own research, own analysis, and producing your own ideas, is the way to have a proper investing mindset.