rather than pick out individual stocks to trade, it can often be worthwhile to trade the indices themselves, especially in times of high volatility.

for those so inclined, i attach below charts for FTSE and FTSE 250, though one might equally be tempted to trade Dow or S&P, which is significantly broader in its coverage, or even NASDAQ

for ease of reading, i have attached 1 year and 3 month charts in each instance

skinny do you believe in flying pigs or white elephants?

halifax - from what point of view? Philosophically, either or/neither, or for eating :-)

Japan PM Abe's Pacific trade pact gambit pays off, for now

TOKYO | Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:16am GMT

(Reuters) - Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first politically risky step of declaring the country's intent to join talks on a U.S.-led Pacific Rim free trade pact appears to be paying off as his record high ratings edge even higher.

Public opinion surveys showed on Monday that Abe's support ratings had risen since last month to reach the highest levels since he took office in December and a majority backed Friday's announcement that Japan wanted to join Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) membership talks.

Corralito

Looks like a 2-3% correction pretty much across all stocks this morning. Pre-budget profit taking maybe?

er..

The euro gapped heavily down overnight across the board, Harry.

The market didn't think much of Cyprus' plans and they probably thought even less of the indecision now surrounding the bail-in. Technically, the euro had started a down-cycle on the hourly charts anyway, so the move just got extended with the news.

If it's any consolation, there's an age-old saying - 'The Asians always get it wrong'. Opening gaps like this very often get filled by the end of the week.

Well it was when I posted! Now maybe 5-7%! :o(

As for the Corralito, Argentina were operating in isolation, whereas Cyprus are part of a group with a common currency, so not sure that it's directly comparable.

They might not be directly comparable, Harry (there were differing underlying reasons for Corralito as well), but the market is already talking about 'Corralito coming to Europe' this morning.

There were two important side-effects that happened as a result of Corralito that can't be ignored. Firstly, bank runs back in 2001/2002 spread as far afield as Spain and Italy. Secondly, 12 years down the line, your average Argentinian still prefers The Bank of the Mattress.

The banking system is already in a parlous position. There is little liquidity and it needs consumer trust right now.

Footsie settling down.. For now.

Waiting on the vote..

Cyprus parliament to consider deposit tax; European stocks fall

NICOSIA | Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:31am GMT

(Reuters) - Cyprus's parliament votes on Monday on a plan to seize money from bank deposits as part of an EU bailout, a move that has sent a shiver across the bloc, caused the euro to tumble and stock markets to dive.

The announcement at the weekend that tiny Cyprus would impose a tax on bank accounts as part of a 10 billion euro (8.6 billion pounds) bailout broke with previous European practice that depositors' savings were sacrosanct.

EUR Italian Trade Balance -1.62B consensus 2.11B previous 2.11B

EUR Trade Balance 9.0B consensus 10.4B previous 12.0B

Update on the above :-

NICOSIA | Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:27am GMT

(Reuters) - Cypriot ministers rushed on Monday to revise a plan to seize money from bank deposits as part of an EU bailout, in an effort to ensure lawmakers supported it in a vote later in the day.

EURO ZONE CRISIS LIVE

Euro zone leaders have "crossed a dangerous Rubicon", says Reuters' economics editor Mike Peacock:

Re Crisis live.. think i'll wait for the highlights thanks skinny -):

I wonder why - Russian anger at Cyprus bailout levy

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said a levy that bank account holders in Cyprus must pay as part of bailout deal looks like "confiscation".

Russian President Vladimir Putin called it "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous", while the finance minister said Russia may reconsider the terms of a 2.5bn euro loan (£2.1bn) to Cyprus.

Surely because Cyprus holds a huge amount of russian savers' cash. Not sure why the wealthy russians have favoured that particular country to deposit their cash, but I could have a guess, which might be libellous, so I won't!

Harry - sorry - it was facetious and rhetorical :-)

Ah, gotcha. Far too subtle for my brain to compute!

what a very strange day ..... was initially shut out of my HG+HC position butr was making almost an equivalent amount on Dow short ...... bought back into HG+HC and made back 2/3 of my crystalised loss but ended up banking just a very small profit on the Dow position!!

shall now keep watching to re-open Dow short