Development of international stock markets 
The 2008 stock exchange year has left its mark. You have to get your binoculars out to look back and find a year that was similarly poor to this one. The dark clouds had been gathering for some time: the subprime crisis reared its head back in 2007 and although the implications back then were still unknown and still awaited us, they unfolded with a vengeance in 2008. The extreme uncertainty was fuelled above all by the insolvency of various large banking institutions and insurance companies, creating panic-driven chaos on the stock markets. Many governments felt compelled to calm the market down, which prompted them to put economic stimulus packages together and make vast sums of money available for the financial market and the economy as a whole. These developments had dramatic implications the world over: in New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Moscow and Hong Kong (i.e. all of the main stock markets) share prices nosedived at breathtaking speed in 2008. While most of the indices managed to post gains once more in the closing trading days of the crisis-hit year, the annual figures speak for themselves:
compared to the previous year the DAX lost approximately 40% and the Dow Jones almost 34% (the worst year since 1931). The Japanese Nikkei index also chalked up an annual loss of 42% (which is the worst performance ever by the Nikkei), but it was still beaten by share prices in China: the Chinese Shanghai Composite index posted a loss of 65%, its steepest decline of all time. But the absolute negative record goes to Russia, where the leading index plunged by 72% over the year.

Developments on the Vienna stock exchange
The Vienna Stock Exchange was unable to escape the international developments either: after many exceedingly successful years all of the key market indicators dipped in 2008 under the influence of the financial crisis emanating from the US subprime market. The ATX for example recorded a year-on-year loss of more than 60%, the greatest ever since the ATX was introduced 18 years ago. On 23 December it closed at 1,725.89 points. Market capitalisation sank in 2008 from €157.9 billion to €51.4 billion. The average monthly trading figures contracted in 2008 as well, from €14.7 billion to roughly €12 billion, but thanks to an increasing number of transactions they did not suffer as much as share prices. The main focal point for the coming year is the close cooperation with the stock exchanges in Budapest, Ljubljana and Prague, since the Vienna Stock Exchange acquired majority interests in all three neighbouring markets in the course of 2008. The primary objective in this context is to increase international awareness of this region of the capital market among institutional investors, and boost liquidity on the regional stock exchanges.

Performance of UBM shares
Unfortunately, the trend in the UBM share price was also influenced in 2008 by the international crisis sentiment. The mood in the first half of the year was relatively upbeat on the whole, with the annual peak coming in June at 51. But the tables soon turned and the second six months bore witness to almost nothing but losses. The share price bottomed out in December at 25. Looking forward, however, there appears to be a modest upwards trend forming, which definitely instils confidence for the future, though the low volatility still influences the share price even with minimal trading.