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

Kathemerini

If ever there was an accident bank robbery waiting to happen...

:o)

Hils - I saw that this morning, and thought similar :-)

Hils and here they are in action Cyprus banks to reopen under tight security






Security is tight in Cyprus as banks prepare to reopen nearly two weeks after closing while a controversial bailout was negotiated.

Armed police were on guard as lorries said to be loaded with cash arrived at the central bank on Wednesday night.
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"Armed police are on guard and hundreds of staff from the private security firm G4S will be guarding bank branches and helping to transport money, said the AP news agency."

The new "High St Business model" ?

Camera retailer Jessops returns for a second shot

LONDON | Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:12am GMT
(Reuters) - Britain's squeezed high street will receive a much-needed boost on Thursday when camera specialist Jessops is brought back to life by a well-known entrepreneur less than three months after its collapse.

Peter Jones, whose investments span the food, entertainment and media sectors, will reopen six Jessops stores this week, with up to 30 more opening next month.

German Retail Sales m/m 0.4% consensus -0.5% previous 3.0%

GBP Nationwide HPI m/m 0.0% 0.2% 0.2%

German Unemployment Change 13K consensus -2K previous -3K

EUR 3 Money Supply y/y 3.1% consensus 3.2% previous 3.5%

EUR Private Loans y/y -0.9% consensus -0.7% previous -0.9%

Short FTSE @6,425

I went short FTSE @6420 earlier - can't believe how it's shot up since then :(

6437 FTSE gone short

Italy Economy Minister: Haven't Heard Anything about a Debt Downgrade

By Eva Palumbo ROME--The economy minister of Italy's outgoing government Thursday said he hadn't heard anything about a possible downgrade of the country's sovereign debt by ratings company Moody's Investors Service Inc., speculation that has been circulating on trading floors since Monday, sending financial stocks lower earlier in the week. "I don't have any news about it," Vittorio Grilli told reporters after a parliamentary hearing, according to MF-Dow Jones. "I hope the opposite occurs." Moody's said in a statement Monday that it didn't comment on such rumors. Shares in the country's two biggest banks were trading higher Thursday, ahead of a meeting between center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani and President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome. Mr. Bersani is to report on the outcome of consultations between political parties on forming a government, after inconclusive elections in February. However, the chances of success are slim after the anti-establishment party, 5 Star Movement, said it would not support Mr. Besani. At 1028 GMT, shares in UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) were up 2.01% at EUR3.35, while Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) shares were 1.68% higher at EUR1.15 in Milan, with one trader attributing the rise to a rebound after stocks suffered heavy losses earlier in the week.

CAD GDP m/m 0.2% consensus 0.1% previous -0.2%

CAD RMPI m/m 2.2% consensus 1.9% previous 3.8%

CAD IPPI m/m 1.4 % consensus 0.6% previous 0.0%

USD Unemployment Claims 357k consensus 340K previous 336K

USD Final GDP q/q 0.4% consensus 0.5% previous 0.1%

USD Final GDP Price Index q/q 1.0% consensus 0.9% previous 0.9%

Toya - I added @6,445 - I know I shouldn't, but am tempted to stay short over the long weekend.

I was tempted to add around that level too but am determined not to fall into temptation... However, I shall keep a couple of short positions (one on the DOW also) over the weekend

Dow, and thus FTSE, are currently ignoring the rather/very poor US unemployment numbers, presumably offset by U.S. economy grew at upwardly revised 0.4% annual rate in fourth quarter

i'm also currently on the wrong side of both dow and ftse, but equally very tempted to add to that position ..... at least it's all easily made good by a long in HG+HC In dex

I'm short FTSE, EUR/GBP and DOW now may go long gold/silver this afternoon

Cynic: GDP had been estimated to be revised to 0.5% (in one report) and 0.6% in another - hence not all that brilliant since it's not come up to scratch on either.

Do we expect to see some 'profit taking' on the DOW as this is the last trading day of the first quarter?

Hmmm - BlackBerry surprises with quarterly profit

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — BlackBerry Inc. reported a net profit for its fourth fiscal quarter on Thursday morning, with shipments of the company’s newest smartphones hitting the 1 million unit mark, though total smartphone shipments came in below expectations.

The results were reported prior to Thursday’s opening bell. BlackBerry BBRY -1.90% CA:BB +0.89% shares fell 3% in premarket trades after an initial rise. The company is hosting a conference call at 8 a.m. ET, which MarketWatch will cover live.