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

USD Core Retail Sales m/m -0.4% -0.1% 1.0%

USD PPI m/m -0.6% -0.2% 0.7%

USD Retail Sales m/m -0.4% 0.0% 1.1%

USD Core PPI m/m 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%

Thanks for the link, Skinny!

Just reading on MarketWatch how 'Europe stocks extend slide after US retail sales'

Quelle surprise! Cyprus mulls early EU structural funds - officials

DUBLIN | Fri Apr 12, 2013 1:00pm BST

(Reuters) - Cyprus is considering putting EU structural funds to earlier use to help its stricken economy but is not asking for a bigger bailout from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund than the agreed 10 billion euros, EU officials said on Friday.

yes skinny they are - once i worked out what you were talking about :-)

cynic - as I said, it is very straight forward.

1) register with a free Host - I use Photbucket

2) When logged in click on the "Upload" tab.

3) Click on "Browse files" - this will browse your PC.

4) click on the picture/image that you want to upload.

5) Open the picture/image - this will upload it

6) click on the small image that appears on photbucket and a list of options appear on the right.

7) click on "direct link" and the link is automatically copied.

8) To post the image on MAM, click on the and paste the copied link.

9) post the image!

Easy-peasey-Japaneesey ah Skinny..

Slovenia to Cast Shadow over Euro-Zone Bond Sales

By Emese Bartha Slovenia's debt auctions next week provide the latest litmus test in the euro-zone crisis on concerns that its ailing banks could lead it to call for a bailout. The two Slovenian auctions, a sale and a buyback, come amid a crop of euro-zone bond sales next week from Germany, Spain, France and Slovakia, with demand likely to be supported by the continuing anticipation of cash flows out of Japan in the wake of the country's massive economic stimulus package. Bond issuance will total around 18 billion euros ($23.56 billion). "The BoJ [Bank of Japan] stimulus is basically crowding out investors in Japanese government bonds and thus a JGB investor has to find a substitute," said Danske Bank analysts. They said such investors have a preference for liquid sovereigns with high and stable ratings. "Hence, a bias for Germany and France," they said, but with demand spilling over to the euro zone's semi-core and peripheral debt. Next week sees EUR35 billion in redemptions from Germany, Italy, Ireland and Greece, plus EUR5 billion in coupon payments, according to data from Newedge economist Annalisa Piazza. She said that "as such, supply is unlikely to be a key market driver." Italy, which had T-bill and bond sales this week, returns to the market next week, when it will launch its first tranche of the year in BTP Italia, a four-year retail-oriented bond indexed to domestic inflation. The Italian Treasury raised a whopping EUR27 billion last year through three issues of BTP Italia. Subscriptions will run from April 15 to April 18, unless the offer closes early. "We could again see this add significantly to the funding base," Danske Bank analysts said. The Slovenian finance ministry said Thursday that it wants to raise EUR500 million from the sale of 18-month T-bills next Wednesday. The proceeds are intended to cover the repurchase of T-bills maturing on June 6. On the same day, the ministry also wants to buy back further bills worth EUR855 million. The sale could be a major challenge since the country raised only EUR56.1 million at a sale of short-term debt this week, well short of its targeted EUR100 million. If its debt auctions succeed they would help "build confidence [that Slovenia] can still rely on market funding to satisfy its borrowing needs amid increased speculation that the country will be the next one in need of a bailout," said Nordea's chief strategist, Jan von Gerich. Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Slovenia isn't on the agenda at a meeting of European Union finance ministers Friday. Meanwhile, Slovakia will tap its 4.625% January 2017 and 3% February 2023-dated bonds Monday, with open volume, as usual. On Wednesday, Germany will offer EUR4 billion of its 1.50% February 2023 Bund. If the auction took place now the current yield of 1.264% would be a record low for 10-year German debt. "Below 1.30%--levels before the [European Central Bank's] OMT announcement, when risks of a fragmentation were much greater--the Bund appears excessively rich and we therefore remain sellers of this debt despite its intrinsic quality," said Natixis analysts. Spain will auction July 2016, January 2018 and January 2023-dated bonds Thursday for an amount to be announced Monday. The country's funding program for this year is well advanced with around 39% of its planned bond issuance now completed, but a European Commission report earlier this week warned that a deep recession, deleveraging and bumpy access to market financing remain a "tangible threat." France winds up next week's euro-zone bond sales with up to EUR9.5 billion in two conventional fixed rate and three inflation-indexed bonds. Outside the euro zone, the U.K. will tap its 3.125% 2044-dated Gilt for 2.25 billion pounds ($3.46 billion) a day after the Bank of England releases minutes of its most recent policy meeting.

Should help the GJ short along#!!

More - Easy-peasey-lemon-squeezy :-)

Still trying to break below 152, its been a good day today shorting the Yen.

Running short bets on Wall St also, still trending up though... Have reduced unrealised losses today.

I closed and reversed my FTSE short 74 and closed @94 - now just watching.

Not a fan of the FTSE at the moment

Gold Enters Bear Market, Down 20% From 2011 Record Highs
By Tatyana Shumsky and Matt Day Gold plunged into bear-market territory on Friday, falling about $60 to its lowest since July 2011 as investors continued to dump the precious metal following U.S. data showing tame inflation. The most actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, was recently down $55, or 3.5%, at $1,509.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures fell as low as $1,505 an ounce. A bear market is defined roughly as 20% down from a recent peak. Traders and analysts said Friday's selloff lacked an obvious trigger, and reflected the malaise that has set in the gold market. A steadying U.S. economy, relatively strong U.S. dollar, and worries that the Federal Reserve would curb its easing measures have hit demand for gold and other precious metals. "There has been no major, fresh fundamental news development to spark this latest drop in gold," said Jim Wyckoff, an analyst with Kitco Metals. Some gold holders, Mr. Wyckoff said, cashed out to cut their losses after heavy selling hit the market overnight. Through Thursday, gold was down 6.6% in 2013. Traders said gold was pressured Friday after data showed U.S. wholesale inflation fell in March, as falling gasoline costs more than offset rising food prices. The producer price index, which measures how much manufacturers and wholesalers pay for finished goods, decreased 0.6% from a month earlier, the Labor Department said. Some investors buy gold as a hedge against inflation, and relatively stable prices in the U.S. and much of Europe has sapped demand.

hope bhunt is not long on gold.,.

That's why I posted the article, help insure all info to hand... Thanks Skinny for the chart..

Cyners... can't imagine Toya being old and wrinkly, in my mind she's a curvacious brunette with legs that go right up to her...... bu**er wife's coming.,.

Anybody using MT4 with EA's that call dll files should be aware of this.

http://forexmagnates.com/3rd-party-developer-gets-red-card-as-metaquotes-re-acts/

Hi John,

I think that the Forex Magnates article is probably scare-mongering unnecessarily.

When a trading EA calls a function from a DLL, the purpose is generally two-fold. Firstly, the DLL is likely to 'call home' to the EA developer's own server to validate the licence. It's a common anti-piracy measure used by many software developers in all fields. Secondly, the DLL is likely to contain part (if not all) of the trading logic as a further counter-piracy measure. The fact is that MetaQuotes EX4 files can be easily decompiled back to readable source, whereas it's not so easy to extract the contents of a DLL written in C++ and packed in Themida.

None of the above involves any modification of the MT4 Client Terminal in any way whatsoever.

What MetaQuotes have got the raving hump about is third party developers who have decompiled the packed MT4 Client Terminal code and physically altered it in some way to allow their products to run. If you look at the screenshot in the Forex Magnates article, you will see some rather unusual looking chart windows. These can only be obtained by hacking into and modifying the MT4 Client Terminal source codes.

So, in essence, MetaQuotes are really just protecting their own intellectual property which, imo, is fair enough. So long as an EA vendor doesn't go hacking into the Client Terminal, he won't be breaching any licence terms, and an EA's standard DLL calls certainly don't fall into that realm.

The people who are affected by this are the brokers themselves who have adapted the Client Terminal to enhance their own product. Since last autumn, retail Forex has become problematic to the extent that I wouldn't be surprised to see a few brokers go t!its up over the next 18 months. Too many brokers with insufficient traders to go around means that brokers are now having to go that extra mile to keep track with churn. Vantage FX, IBFX, IronFX and Tradenext were all using a third party add-on that MetaQuotes objected to. Here's a transcript of an email I received yesterday:

Update on IronFX MT4 Advanced

Dear Valued Client,


Please be informed that further to the decision of MetaQuotes to block any solutions by third party developers that attribute their systems and software on the platform, the IronFX MT4 Advanced will be not available from April 15, 2013.

It is expected that existing installations of the MT4 Client Terminal will function properly without the need to reinstall, and you will be able to continue trading normally through your existing advanced terminal.

Nevertheless, you are advised to stop using the advanced features in MT4 i.e. OCO Orders, Automated Closes, Trailing Stops and the Alarms immediately. In case you need to reinstall the IronFX MT4 and you have any Expert Advisors or Custom Indicators installed on the IronFX MT4 advanced that you need to move, please follow the procedure below or contact our 24/7 Customer Service for assistance.


Steps:

Go to C:/ folder on your computer
Select Program Files
Go to IronFX MetaTrader 4
Select Experts and Indicators
Drag and drop the Indicators or Expert folder to the Experts folder within IronFX MetaTrader 4

Restart the IronFX MT4 Client Terminal and any added indicators or EA’s will appear on the Navigator Window under the ‘Custom Indicators’ Tab.

IronFX remains committed at all times to provide you with all the necessary tools to enhance your trading experience and taking this as an opportunity, IronFX would like to inform you that an advanced version of web-trader with embedded social trading capabilities will be launched shortly.

Don’t forget that you can still enjoy “One Click Trading” function (Right Click on any chart and choose “ One Click Trading” function).


The other thing that amused me about the article was that MetaQuotes are referred to as a Cypriot firm. When I was a little girl, their head office was in Moscow. :o)

Hils, many thanks for that welcome clarification, whenever I get an email addressing me as "Dear Valued Client" my brain is immediately switched into maximum cynicism mode. :>)