FTSE 100 and Dow

The FTSE 100 is recovering but it would only take a successful terrorist attack in the UK or USA to send both the FTSE 100 and the Dow into a downward spiral.

UPDATE 2045z: The FTSE 100 ended the day just marginally higher on the day.

Wind

We are about to get our worst storm so far this autumn with gusts later tonight of 60mph. The worst is expected at 2200z. This is very far from the hurricanes seen in the USA and Caribbean areas. 

Nonetheless, it should help to bring down the leaves which remain on the deciduous trees. I hope no-one has to cope with floods. The garden looks its best in spring. Now most of the leaves have fallen it is starting to look bare and "winter".  Thankfully the nights start to get shorter from late December. By mid-February, even though winter, there are clear signs that spring is on the way.

Who visits?

My blog visitors puzzle me.

My amateur radio (mainly) blog gets around ten times the visits of this blog and yet people still come back here! Already today this blog has had more visits than at the weekend for the whole day. As far as I can tell, there is nothing special today. This blog is updated most days. It is usually an eclectic mix of thoughts - some days politics, others finance, family etc.

FTSE 100 well up

At the moment the UK FTSE 100 share index is up well today. Currently it is 1.64% up on yesterday. A lot can happen still. The rally could just disappear or it could end even higher.

UPDATE 1408z:  It is currently up 1.88%.

UPDATE 1750z:  The FTSE 100 ended the day up by 1.99%.

Terrorism

One of the answers to the recent spate of terrorism is to work on the false certainty of those willing to die as "martyrs".  In any religion, anyone who sets out to kill innocents would not be a martyr at all.

No, they face hell or nothingness and their actions are reduced to pure criminality. We need to understand what really motivates these individuals. They have a grievance that must run very deep.

Yes we need fair societies in all countries but violence is not the answer.

Death

This remains a total mystery. Many religions talk about "life after death" and who knows? With talk of multiverses who knows, maybe the universe is unique to us only and everyone else experiences something different. Maybe what we experience when we die is a total absence of life, much like we before we were born. The only thing we can say with any certainty is no-one really knows.

Grandchildren

Just before cutting the cake

We have been to London today for our grandson's 8th birthday party, with his cousins. The day went well. We drove there and back and managed to get back just before dark.