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Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 204.25p

Fears of sub-prime write downs and troubled funding situations at Europe’s biggest banks continue to spook the markets, and the ongoing UK banks’ reporting season has failed to completely clear the outlook for the sector going forward. Bradford & Bingley had been rumoured to have funding problems of the same type of recently nationalised Northern Rock, but analysts say instead that its funding is pretty solid. Nevertheless, the recent full-year figures showed weaker margins and a slightly lower dividend. The chart suggests good returns could be made by short-selling the shares, according to Christian Blaabjerg, market strategist at Saxo Bank. He says: ‘The price has for a while been under the 200 and 50-days moving average. It is currently trading below the 20-days moving average and given the current market conditions for financial companies linked to the housing market we believe BB should go lower.’ Sell the shares, especially after a short rally in February, placing a stop loss at 215p.

ACTION: SELL Bradford & Bingley • Target 184p • Stop Loss 215p

TIME TARGET: 4 WEEKS