The week ending 24th April was a mixed week for  the markets. The FTSE put on 67 points, the S&P500 futures lost 0.4 of a point and the DJIA lost 30 points for the week.  The gain on the FTSE was puzzling as the UK came out with bad GDP figures, yet the market went up for the week thanks to Fridays 132.5 point gain.

Headlines in the US do not give much reason for big moves up. There seems to be much interest in the stress test for banks, and whether they will need to raise more capital. The US government through treasury has devised a test which indicates how stressed a bank is and whether they are undercapitalised.  Gold has been climbing during the week as the US dollar has weakened against most currencies.  The world awaits to see what is going to happen to GM and Chrysler, and California is in deep trouble with its budget.

Now the latest thing to hit the world is the outbreak of swine fever in Mexico that seems to be spreading rapidly.  Will this have an effect on the market?  The last pandemic scare with the SAR virus (bird flu) a couple of years back did for a short time. It really depends just how virulent this is and how fast it spreads.  I heard on the radio this morning that there are suspected cases in New Zealand already.  Any place with an international airport is vunerable.  The next couple of weeks will tell if it going to be a big problem or not. It is probably already too late to buy your face masks.