#FTSE #Gold Scottish Widows, owned by Lloyds Banking Group, are perhaps spectacularly shooting themselves in the foot. We’re fairly familiar of the disasters in the pension industry, many of which they haven’t recovered from. Back in 2007, the “smart money” from Pension Funds was invested in UK Blue Chip shares, the flow of Dividend payments along with rock solid share prices making the organisations (and council pension funds) look clever. There was certainly a degree of over-exposure to the banking sector, Lloyds for instance enjoying a high of 615p just before everything hit the fan in 2007. With this “Blue Chip” investment sinking from 615p down to a current 75p, we shouldn’t really be surprised at Scottish Widows growing weary of their FTSE “investments”. The market, overall, is expected to feel some pain, their holdings in the UK diminishing by around 75%.
Unfortunately, we see a little problem with this move by Scottish Widows! They’ve waited years to make this decision, unfortunately with the sort of perfect timing only a corporate committee can come up with as their withdrawing just as the Banking Sector looks like it’s finally enacting a solid recovery from their historic lows. While Scottish Widows reducing their exposure to the UK may impact the FTSE during the next 8 months (according to their timetable), it’s also worth remembering every time they make a sale, someone also opted to buy the share and as a result, harm to the FTSE is liable to prove short term. Meanwhile, the Edinburgh based cowardly “Scottish” company can flee the market, hopefully experiencing the horror all traders experience when they sell a share, watching aghast as it soars higher. A family member recently dumped most of her Rolls Royce holdings at just over 6 quid, a price level we’d felt was a maximum. When the market opted to gap Rolls Royce up to 735 in February, even exceeding 9 quid recently, any conversation with my little sister usually includes an acidic comment about Rolls Royce… She forgets her holding was initiated when the share price was around 68p.
Despite the future of the FTSE facing a drip feed of negative sales by Scottish Widows, our inclination is remain of the belief there is an underlying uptrend on the UK market as it’s completed most of our criteria for a rising cycle to an eventual (though almost unbelievable) long term 9225 points with our secondary, if beaten, at 9800 points. While these numbers almost feel absurd, if the UK index were a single share, we’d be pretty comfortable with this prediction. Near term, however, the market feels slightly nasty.
Currently, below 8788 looks capable of triggering reversals to an initial lame 8767 points with our secondary, if broken, at 8724 points and an almost certain bounce. If triggered, the tightest stop loss looks like 8835 points.
In a more cheerful note, good weather is proposed for the next few days, our grand-daughters doubtless expecting a weekend of paddle boarding or canoes. It’s tempting to teach them how to drive the tractor and attached the cutting deck, so we can get the lawn tidy again. But a memory of discovering how small the lawn feels, when the little tractor is moving at 15mph, means neither girl shall be allowed near it until a method of stopping anything above 2nd gear being selected!
Should Friday bring market movements which echo the good weather, above 8857 should prove capable of triggering “surprise” market recovery to an initial 8881 points with our secondary, if beaten, at 8907 points.
Have a good weekend, despite the lack of any Formula 1 action (or inaction).
FUTURES
FUTURES
| Time Issued | Market | Price At Issue | Short Entry | Fast Exit | Slow Exit | Stop | Long Entry | Fast Exit | Slow Exit | Stop | Prior |
| 11:10:56PM | BRENT | 7785.3 | 7475 | 7347 | 7662 | 7816 | 7953 | 7655 | ‘cess | ||
| 11:14:57PM | GOLD | 3366.94 | 3360 | 3348 | 3377 | 3399 | 3416 | 3372 | ‘cess | ||
| 11:25:57PM | FTSE | 8811.5 | 8782 | 8768 | 8816 | 8870 | 8906 | 8835 | Success | ||
| 11:28:39PM | STOX50 | 5214.1 | 5201 | 5189 | 5231 | 5240 | 5261 | 5210 | Success | ||
| 11:31:07PM | GERMANY | 23094.7 | 23017 | 22815 | 23123 | 23257 | 23359 | 23151 | ‘cess | ||
| 11:37:27PM | US500 | 5956.4 | 5915 | 5889 | 5945 | 5975 | 6001 | 5941 | Success | ||
| 11:40:37PM | DOW | 42021.3 | 41752 | 41558 | 41986 | 42142 | 42163 | 42036 | Success | ||
| 11:43:24PM | NASDAQ | 21665.7 | 21510 | 21457 | 21650 | 21674 | 21788 | 21555 | Success | ||
| 11:45:49PM | JAPAN | 38667 | 38381 | 38246 | 38515 | 38714 | 38839 | 38573 |
19/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8791 points. Change of -0.59%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 3,996,665,836 a change of -22.28%
18/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8843 points. Change of 0.1%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,142,450,151 a change of -29%
17/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8834 points. Change of -0.46%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 7,242,544,038 a change of 37.46%
16/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8875 points. Change of 0.28%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,269,012,608 a change of 2.72%
13/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8850 points. Change of -0.38%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,129,702,776 a change of -3.74%
12/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8884 points. Change of 0.23%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,329,195,268 a change of 0.82%
11/06/2025 FTSE Closed at 8864 points. Change of 0.12%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,285,640,035 a change of 1.8% 
SUCCESS above means both FAST & SLOW targets were met. ‘CESS means just the FAST target met and probably the next time it is exceeded, movement to the SLOW target shall commence.
Our commentary is in two sections. Immediately below are today’s updated comments. If our commentary remains valid, the share can be found in the bottom section which has a RED heading. Hopefully, this will mean you no longer need to flip back through previous reports. HYPERLINKS DISABLED IN THIS VERSION
Please remember, all prices are mid-price (halfway between the Buy and Sell). When we refer to a price CLOSING above a specific level, we are viewing the point where we can regard a trend as changing. Otherwise, we are simply speculating on near term trading targets. Our website is www.trendsandtargets.com.
UPDATE. We often give an initial and a secondary price. If the initial is exceeded, we still expect it to fall back but the next time the initial is bettered, the price should continue to the secondary. The converse it true with price drops.
We can be contacted at info@trendsandtargets.com. Spam filters set to maximum so only legit emails get through…
Section One – Outlook Updated Today. Click here for Section Two – Outlook Remains Valid shares
Click Epic to jump to share: LSE:BT.A British Telecom** **LSE:CAR Carclo** **LSE:DGE Diageo** **LSE:DLG Direct Line Group** **LSE:GRG Greggs** **LSE:MRO Melrose** **LSE:OPG OPG Power Ventures** **LSE:SRP Serco** **LSE:TSCO Tesco** **
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Updated charts published on : British Telecom, Carclo, Diageo, Direct Line Group, Greggs, Melrose, OPG Power Ventures, Serco, Tesco,
LSE:BT.A British Telecom. Close Mid-Price: 191.15 Percentage Change: + 0.95% Day High: 191.5 Day Low: 189.3
Continued trades against BT.A with a mid-price ABOVE 191.5 should improve ……..
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View Previous British Telecom & Big Picture ***
LSE:CAR Carclo. Close Mid-Price: 48 Percentage Change: + 3.23% Day High: 47.7 Day Low: 46.9
Target met. Continued trades against CAR with a mid-price ABOVE 47.7 shou ……..
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View Previous Carclo & Big Picture ***
LSE:DGE Diageo Close Mid-Price: 1895 Percentage Change: -0.21% Day High: 1911.5 Day Low: 1882
In the event Diageo experiences weakness below 1882 it calculates with a ……..
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View Previous Diageo & Big Picture ***
LSE:DLG Direct Line Group Close Mid-Price: 304.4 Percentage Change: -0.46% Day High: 309.8 Day Low: 304.4
All Direct Line Group needs are mid-price trades ABOVE 309.8 to improve a ……..
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View Previous Direct Line Group & Big Picture ***
LSE:GRG Greggs Close Mid-Price: 1905 Percentage Change: -1.04% Day High: 1915 Day Low: 1899
Continued weakness against GRG taking the price below 1899 calculates as ……..
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View Previous Greggs & Big Picture ***
LSE:MRO Melrose. Close Mid-Price: 499.3 Percentage Change: + 2.69% Day High: 510.2 Day Low: 480.5
Continued trades against MRO with a mid-price ABOVE 510.2 should improve ……..
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View Previous Melrose & Big Picture ***
LSE:OPG OPG Power Ventures. Close Mid-Price: 6.2 Percentage Change: + 7.83% Day High: 6.25 Day Low: 5.75
Further movement against OPG Power Ventures ABOVE 6.25 should improve acc ……..
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View Previous OPG Power Ventures & Big Picture ***
LSE:SRP Serco. Close Mid-Price: 197.7 Percentage Change: + 0.20% Day High: 199.5 Day Low: 192.1
Continued trades against SRP with a mid-price ABOVE 199.5 should improve ……..
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View Previous Serco & Big Picture ***
LSE:TSCO Tesco. Close Mid-Price: 402.2 Percentage Change: + 0.35% Day High: 404.6 Day Low: 400.7
In the event of Tesco enjoying further trades beyond 404.6, the share sho ……..
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View Previous Tesco & Big Picture ***