A roundup of key economic and financial market news for those looking at spread betting the markets today. Barclays Q1 has missed analysts’ forecasts, pre-tax profit fell 9% to £1.655bn on total income of £7.4bn a decline of 8%.BP Q1 replacement cost profit fell to $5.481bn with debt levels up $2.3bn to $27.5bn. The oil giant said higher taxes impacted profit with effective tax rate for Q1 of 37%. The board has declared a dividend of 7 cents per share.The FTSE 100 is down 12.2 points to 6,057.1 in early trading.Those who took a long spread betting position on the the Dow Jones yesterday will be sitting pretty after the index rose 115.5 points to 12,595.4 points after positive earnings reports.The Nikkei 225 jumped 133.2 points to 9,691.8 a gain of 1.39%.Brent crude oil has opened down 28 cents to $123.86 per barrel on continued unrest in Syria and Libya.Game Group has reported EPS of 4.51p and will pay a final dividend of 3.9p per share. G
Rafa Nadal The Slight Favourite In Tight Wimbledon Betting
We are now getting ready to take in the greatest Tennis tournament in the World with a fortnight of action coming up from the All England Club at Wimbledon and the betting is looking extremely tight. At the moment Mens tennis is in something of a purple patch with Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray all in great form and according to the latest betting in with a chance of lifting the trophy. Nadal looked to be back to his very best at Roland Garros as he won another French Open recently and the defending Wimbledon Champion is the slight favourite with Paddy Power to win on the grass again at SW19.
Over the past two or three years Nadal has proven to be the best player in the world and that is reflected in his Wimbledon price of 2/1 with Paddy Power, he did look a little tired though during the Queens tournament recently and one or two may be looking to take him on.
2011 Masters Odds: Lee Westwood – PGA Betting Favorites
While Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are getting most of the early attention and action in 2011 Masters odds, Lee Westwood may be a better PGA betting value as the third choice favorite to win the Green Jacket with odds of +1250. Westwood has been matched up with Martin Kaymer at Vegas sportsbooks for Thursday’s event and has opened as a -130 favorite vs Kaymer as an EV money underdog. Prop bets also offer an interest wager with Westwood +10000 to score a hole in one at Augusta. W