When I tried to download the Bank of England’s financial liquidity Index last week, the information spit out by my data provider looked incorrect.

The Index, which is calculated on a daily historical basis but only released twice a year for the BOE Financial Stability Report, is a measure of liquidity in the UK financial system drawn from a host of different capital market and credit data. When the numbers that my data program spit out didn’t add up I went straight to the source and downloaded it from the BOE website --only to discover that the files there were also incorrect. The statistical office at the bank was kind enough to have the Index recalculated and posted with the final level coming in slightly lower than when it went up initially on October 28th.

With the refreshed data charted against the benchmark rate, the conclusion is clear: lowering rates did not returned liquidity to the market prior to November. Last week’s abysmal HBOS house Price data -which came in down over 16% year-over-year, illustrates that the 150 basis points cut since then have not moved the needle either.

We are negative of the UK’s prospects, and will continue to remain so until the facts change. Currently, price momentum in the EWU is underperforming our long position in Germany (EWG), because the facts play to the negative side of the UK’s balance sheet position.

Andrew Barber
Director