Jim Rogers: UK Going Bankrupt!? (Video)

Here is Jim Rogers battling a UK banker and investor about the current state of the UK economy. Jim thinks the "recession is the worst since the second world war". There are also fears that UK's credit rating could be cut ^(1,2). Both Spain and Portugal had their credit rating cut by S&P. Also check out the chart of the British Pound it lost 31% in 6 months. Hopefully George Soros was short sterling in size again. Things are getting ugly on this planet.

Jim Rogers (pt. 1)


Jim Rogers (pt. 2)


British Pound Index - 6 Months (stockcharts.com)


Plus Barclays, the UK's "remaining giant", was down 18% on Friday due to a nationalization clause in their recent Middle East deal.

Barclays shares plunge 18 per cent to new low (Timesonline)

"Shares in Barclays continued to plunge today, losing a further 18 per cent of their value to fall below 50p to a new low, as investors continue to take fright at the state of the British banking sector.

The bank's stock lost a further 10.7p to 48.5p after The Times revealed yesterday revealed the existence of a little-known clause in a deal, done last October, under which Barclays raised £7.3 billion from investors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The clause effectively blocks the Government from attempting to part-nationalise Barclays and would deliver it into the hands of its Middle Eastern investors should it try to raise more capital through the market before the end of June."

Also here is recent info on the UK's CDS spreads via FT Alphaville

"In Europe, CDS spreads for the UK’s sovereign debt hit a new record at 151.7bp, out from 142.1bp at the New York close, CMA said. In a rare occasion, traders began quoting prices for Switzerland’s debt on Wednesday morning. CDS for Switzerland was quoted at 139.1, around 4bp wider from Tuesday evening, according to the CMA." Read full story, 1/21/09

Also read this: Barclays Stock Indicates 70% Risk of Nationalization