[I know this is off-topic for some of the groups I'm sending it to, but some of
you may lose a lot of money if you don't read this...]
Most sources of stock market information only provide data for the last twelve
months. I noticed that the Barclays Bank share price had fallen to its lowest
level in that period yesterday, despite (or maybe partly caused by) making a
desperate attempt to attract savers by dramatically changing their overdraft
penalties, to make up for their losses due to the credit crunch. The changes are
too complicated for me to explain, and I wouldn't want to risk getting the
details wrong because people's livelihoods are at stake, so read a news item
such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7425057.stm or
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/investnews/article.htm?Artic\
leID=18616053 for details.

Newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy demolished the arguments of a Barclays
spokesperson live on Channel 4 News yesterday lunchtime. [This is my favourite
news programme, along with Newsnight on BBC2; the live interviews on those
programmes avoid the censorship that is particularly common in the mass media.]
Krishnan pointed out that if they can reduce charges on overdrawn accounts from
£35 to £8, then they must be admitting that their existing charges are unfair.
He also pointed out that the overdraft interest rate is exorbitant compared to
the base rate.

With the help of a stock market investor friend of mine, I've obtained a chart
for Barclays share prices on the London Stock Exchange over the past five years.
I got it from the Advanced Financial Network website (www.advfn.com). Note that
you need to register (which you can do for free) and the website is buggy and
hard to use.

However, I've captured the chart as a JPG image, which should appear below (if
it doesn't you can find it at
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?topic=6480.msg6523):



I have already twice caused Barclays shares to fall by about 10% by suggesting
that they will go bankrupt, and I'm sending this message far and wide as well.
If many investors and customers see this graph, they are even more likely to
disinvest or withdraw their savings. And once some people panic, it could set
off a chain reaction that brings the bank to its knees very quickly!

A possibly important caveat is that Barclays is seeking funding from sovereign
wealth funds in the Far East - itself a sign that their financial status is not
as secure as they would have us believe. Those investors are more likely to base
their investment decisions on political motives, and they may be more willing to
bail Barclays out than those solely basing their decisions on the quest for
profit.

Some of you may be under the impression that Barclays will be bailed out by the
government/Bank of England/Financial Services Authority, if/when its bankruptcy
is on the cards. New Labour politicians (specifically prime minister Gordon
Brown and chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling) have claimed that will
happen, and measures are planned (or possibly in place already) to enable this.

However, Barclays' assets and liabilities are around $1.8 trillion, about nine
times those of Northern Rock!

Does anybody really think that the discredited and highly unpopular Labour Party
leaders will be able to step in to save Barclays, even though they know that
failure to do so will spell the end of the New Labour project - of taking us
towards the sort of authoritarian capitalist society predicted by George Orwell
in his book "Nineteen Eighty-Four" in which revolutionary change is impossible.
Even if they could politically get away with it, who's to say that the financial
markets will lend the Bank of England the money?

If you owe Barclays money, be very happy - your overdraft or mortgage would be
written off if they go under. Investors and savers will suffer, including
innocent people who aren't aware of Barclays Bank's unethical history, including
propping up the apartheid regime in South Africa. To those who are aware of
that, my message is "Good riddance!"
 
--
Steve Wallis (Glasgow, Scotland)
For important/urgent communications, please email:
warcrysteve@...
Blogs: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/steve-wallis-socialist-blog,
http://blog.myspace.com/galaxiasteve
My socialist website: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk
My socialist musical poetry: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk/poetry.htm
(and at my MySpace and Multiply pages)
My pages at MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/galaxiasteve, Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=731729407 and Multiply:
http://socialiststeve.multiply.com
Founder, Good Intentions Network: http://www.goodintentionsnetwork.org 
Founder, Ethical Capitalism Network: http://www.ethicalcapitalism.net
Founder, Foundation for PR-based Socialism: http://www.PRsocialism.org
Founder, Revolutionary Platform Network: http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net
My socialist band, Red Day: http://www.red-day.net
Author, "Revolution Destroyed? Have I ensured that a world socialist
revolution will never happen?": http://www.revolutiondestroyed.net
For discussion of the credit crunch, go to
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?board=156

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]