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

DOW really struggling to hold 18,000

DOW is now looking very soggy indeed at 17,965
i can't remember the next support below, but 17,850 rings a bell

nowt wrong with 24 pts - will it be more saaarfff (as they say in essex lol) tomorrow - probably - good to see the greek daylight robbery, sorry i mean deal falling apart ;

dow - didnt hold - yummy :-)

if you're short, you'll be doing well .... now 17,905
don't get greedy as we all know these things can turn on a sixpence, or even a few drachma

greedy - moi?! :-)
seriously agreed - never nice to see a profit evaporate

looking back, 17,914 is a modest support level ..... but 17,686 which was hit only 10 days or so ago, is the real scary one

shall probably accept the bait and go small long imminently as 17,900 is holding at least for now

interesting thoughts - long? - going to have a ponder and a few discussions - if no change with greece or a worsening of the situation 17,686 may start to look too high! would like to be a fly on the wall of those negotiations! probably end down if so...................

JPM summary today:(re: Greece)
"The technical teams have resumed their discussions this morning, and we have another Eurogroup meeting at 1pm. But, if our judgment about this process is correct, the decision has to come from Tsipras. We probably have until Sunday night to reach a deal. If there is no deal by the end of the weekend, then we are likely to get capital controls next week and we will move into a post capital-controls frozen conflict with Greece defaulting on its IMF and ECB obligations. In such an environment, pressures will build on both sides, which should eventually encourage a deal. But, it is unclear how long it would take.

Most likely, we will get a deal by Sunday night. It looks as if Tsipras has looked at capital controls and wants to avoid the disruption they would cause. But, if he accepts the creditors’ terms, he will struggle to keep his coalition and his party together. Given the lack of trust, no money is going to be disbursed prior to the deal going through the Greek parliament. Although this looks ultimately achievable, it will not be easy."

"And on a slightly less global note, Gotham City's latest business of digging into companies which are less than they seem, and the outlook for short selling more generally, Dan Yu's (of Gotham) latest targets are Endurance International, as well as Plus500, Gowex, Hanergy, and Blinkx."

Very hard to find much on Gotham HARRY ,i know they exposed Gowex and brought down the share price of QPP.
Here's a couple of paragraphs from the Telegraph.
------------------------------------------------------------

Over the last two years, Gotham City has struck on several occasions. Last week, it landed a killer blow. Within days of alleging that Gowex, a Spanish wi-fi provider, had cooked its books, the company admitted it was bankrupt and four years of accounts were worthless.
Gotham’s superhero image has been enhanced by a refusal to reveal any details about its identity, other than the name of its founder – Daniel Yu. The intrigue around the firm has been further fuelled by an assumption that its name is inspired by the fictional metropolis where Batman battles the city’s criminals.
Everything else about the organisation has remained a mystery – until now. An investigation into Gotham City by The Telegraph has uncovered details about the shadowy organisation and helped to unmask its publicity-shy figurehead.
Daniel Yu refused several requests to comment for this story. However, through interviews with friends and associates it has been established that the figure behind Gotham City shares fewer similarities with the Dark Knight than the world has been led to believe.
Despite rumours that, like most superheroes, he is operating under a cunning pseudonym, it is believed that Gotham City’s founder has decided to break with comic book tradition and use his real name.
American-born but of Chinese or Korean descent, Yu is a maths and science geek who grew up in New York City before studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most esteemed universities in the United States.
“He’s one of those people that you can tell is super smart as soon as you meet them,” one associate said.
Like many of the brightest graduates of the top American colleges, Yu sought a lucrative career in the financial services industry after finishing his studies. He worked for a large asset management firm on “the buy side” – Wall Street parlance for a trader.
However, at some point, he appears to have become disillusioned with capitalism, gaining a belief that those in powerful corporate roles who commit wrongdoing are able to escape justice by an indifferent regulatory regime.
“Daniel has a strong moral core. He hates the inequality in American civic and business life where executives who destroy capital, enterprises and lives can still reap handsome rewards,” one friend said.
After losing some of his own money investing in companies that committed fraud, Yu set up Gotham City two years ago and began searching for other culprits to target.
After bringing down Gowex last week, Yu wrote on Gotham City’s website: “We were victims of these corporate fraudsters. We believed this isn’t right, and that the world needs someone to expose these crooks.”
“And so, just as Batman catches criminals (and then submits them to authorities) using little more than his wit and some nice gadgets, Gotham City Research was born,” he said.

My post was really intended as a warning to those people holding Plus500 which seems to be flavour of the month with certain investors, but if GC are casting their eye over this company then Playtech might also get the treatment, when and if the merger goes ahead.

ditto QPP which of course has now been suspended
some margin traders will be very hard hit, for IG is demanding 75% margin as of 16:30 this afternoon (usual for QPP is 25%) and i suspect other sb/cfd providers will act simila
rly

delta - not such a dumb call :-)
just closed DOW long +48 albeit that that is now looking significantly too early (who cares!)

my own view is that the greeks won't actually commit suicide - ie a deal will be done with imf ..... that said, tsipras has dug himself something of a hole so may then struggle to get it approved in parliament
nevertheless, the initial "victory" will give a significant kneejerk north, though i can't see it lasting for long

=========

looking at FTSE, keep an eye on 6743
this important support was briefly under pressure this morning, but there has been a healthy recovery since to 6785

thanks cynic - been a good day so far :-)
heard a few rumours about the negotiations which are normally from a reliable 'source' and i am not talking HP, Daddies or ketchup!

agreed the ftse has had an interesting day - also watching the germans and a few others for pointers
gl

if you've got the time to glue yourself to the screen, then there's is and will be plenty of dosh to be made in both/either directions - or lost if you make a complete pig's ear! :-)

Pigs ear today

absolutely cynic - agreed
sorry to hear the pigs ear claret - hope it turns for you

the good news is that greece has rejected the 5 month bailout extension ;
greek gov meets tonight

fantastic news - greece to hold a referendum on the eu bailout which the greek gov has already rejected :-) - that will be a big fat NO then - real looking fwd to the markets re-opening assuming the eu dont come in with an improved offer.......................

yet tsipras thinks greece can still remain within the eurozone if i have read that correctly

guess the outcome will depend on how strong an argument the less-loony guys can put forward for accepting the bitter pill
sure glad i'm not greek!

==============

IG sunday trading markets will give a clue as to what the markets think

i should imagine serious volatility will be the order of the day for the next 10 days
not sure whether or not i'm glad to be on holiday and thus unable to monitor as i usually do