May 9: FTSE100 Performance Analysis For This Day

Average percentage change for this day	0.011 %
Standard deviation	0.677
No. of times the FTSE has gone down today since 1984	8
No. of times FTSE has gone up today since 1984	7

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Metals data for today

	Gold	Silver	Platinum	Paladium
Day ranking (out of 365)	2	42	85	167
Avg. % change	0.964%	0.5%	0.257%	-0.008%
Standard deviation % change	4.079	2.244	1.093	1.031
No. of times price has gone up	12	12	12	2
No. of times price has gone down	8	11	8	3

Gold:since 1970, Silver : 1970, Platinum: 1976, Paladium: 1996

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Yahoo European Business
Strong European earnings damped by flat Wall St (FT.com)
European bourses poised for flat open (FT.com)
London's FTSE-100 Index Closes Down 24.6 (AP)
Markets unruffled in spite of political uncertainty (FT.com)
EU Forecasts Economy to Rebound This Year (AP)
European stocks mainly rise, Paris shares hit five-year peak (AFP)
EU lifts 2006 eurozone growth forecast to 2.1 percent (AFP)
Rising cost of live football rights drags BSkyB lower (FT.com)
European stocks led higher by financials (FT.com)
Russia hits back at Cheney criticism on energy (AFP)
European stocks poised for higher open (FT.com)

On this day
1950 Sam Walton, co-founder of Wal-Mart, purchased his first store on this day in 1950 in Arkansas.

BBC - On This Day
1956: Mystery of missing frogman deepens
Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden refuses to give details about the disappearance of a naval diver during a goodwill visit by the Soviet leadership.
1972: Israeli commandos storm hijacked jet
Twelve Israeli soldiers disguised as maintenance staff have stormed a hijacked Sabena Boeing at Lod airport in Tel Aviv and released the 100 people on board.
1979: El Salvador cathedral bloodbath
At least 18 demonstrators are shot dead and many wounded after police opened fire on anti-government protesters in El Salvador.
1988: Syria threatens force in Beirut
Syria has hinted for the first time it may send in troops to halt the bloodshed in the slums of southern Beirut.
1999: Chinese anger at embassy bombing
Major cities in China see their biggest demonstrations for years since the destruction by Nato bombs of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
1955: West Germany accepted into Nato
West Germany formally joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation at a special ceremony in Paris.

Wikipedia On This Day
Wikipedia entry for May 9