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

cynic 17964 - true but traders are now leaning toward a grexit anyhow and believe the bookies have cut the odds also - some heads should role at imf they are not much more than a joke with over inflated egos - as for the ecb they are just run by clowns without an ounce of common sense between them all to scared to take any serious decisions - much easier just to throw money at a losing bet so far LOL

claret - well done that man closing the long! good stuff

2517 - it may actually strengthen bizarrely because of the ecb bond purchases - also the $1.2 trillion ecb q/e to sept 2016 lowering bond yields also single currency is worst performer so far this year except for the new zealand dollar among 10 developed nation currencies - need to have a discussion on that first though..............

with hindsight, should probably have reversed my position on friday rather than just reverting to neutral

cynic - that is a tough call ref euro - several opposing views on that one - you maybe right

i don't ever trade forex, but i cannot see how this current nonsense can possibly be good for €
writing from cascais, i'll be interested to watch €/£ :-) ....... currently showing as 1.41

can't believe how cheap everything is around here, though i expect algarve continues to fleece all and sundry
simple example
train from cascais to lisbon (about 30 minutes) at any time of day is €4.80 return ..... now have a look just at london underground prices!

lol the trains - glad you are getting good value and i bet you are not squashed in like sardines as we are on the london underground................

it's the easiest way to get in to central lisbon

need to go there tomorrow morning for a private walking tour - again ridiculous value at €150 for the pair of us for 3 hours
if it's anything like one we did in venice, it'll be really good fun and very informative

good stuff - enjoy

more fantastic news - ecb only maintaining the funding NOT increasing it :-))))
to me this decision to just cap emergency liquidity at just under €90B give or take a few bob ; - puts greece’s financial system under even more strain

wonder if the russians et al will step in - perfect opportunity for them!

yum yum - even more uncertainty and chaos - let the games begin

Euro down, trade up, maybe!

dax & ftse rated strong sells - you know the dow ;

fred - well some say yes but beware i am also hearing quite a strong sell - these are virtually uncharted waters in some respects - depends also what term you are considering i am guessing short term rather than long ;
gl whatever you decide

btw greek banks to remain closed tomorrow according to reuters ;

and a call for a solidarity rally for no to austerity in trafalgar sq! et cetera

FTSE will likely open down 200

how much more downside remains is hard to judge, though as i mentioned earlier, there'll be significant margin calls, forced selling and stops hit

i'ld guess, but unlikely that i'll marry money with mouth, that a further 50/75 points might be on the cards if you can act fast enough
however, given that in practice rather than sentiment very little will actually have changed since friday afternoon, i'ld not be at all surprised to see that loss cut to no more than say 125 points by the close
that'll still be very ugly and will perhaps trigger some computer selling on chart levels

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i've never followed DAX so have nothing less intelligent than usual to comment
however, with germany in a hole for €57bn, the outlook must surely be far worse than for FTSE

just announced .....

Greece imposes capital controls
Greece has moved to close its banks and impose capital controls to prevent financial chaos following the breakdown of bailout talks with its international creditors.
The dramatic move on Sunday night came after the European Central Bank announced it would freeze the amount of emergency loans it supplied to keep the Greek banking system afloat.

cheers cynic - yep just keeps getting better and better - look at the latest statement from that alexis T stupid as - i want to buy him lots and lots of his favourite drinks and cigars - with his clown leadership, the history of greece as described by their own philosophers and even bigger clowns @imf @ecb @ eurocommunity this always had disaster work in progress written all over it - headless chickens springs to mind who were just trying to keep kicking the can down the road permanently lol:

'It’s official, capital controls are being imposed in Greece, as the financial crisis takes an even more alarming turn tonight.

Speaking on live TV, Alexis Tsipras is saying that the Greek central bank has been forced to recommend a bank holiday and the introduction of capital controls.

He blames the ECB, and other institutions, for trying to obstruct the democratic referendum he has called for next Sunday. This is a “insult” that shames European democracy, he says.'

then add in the other market factors and scenarios even without the immigration crisis and russia et al and here we are...................

i wonder if tsipras is secretly shorting the markets lol - this is so amazing!

'That in turn could eventually result in Greece leaving the euro.' then the contagion......... YUM

go the TALK thread if you want some entertainment on the rottenness within greece, courtesy of friend hays

fred - make of it what you will but eur/usd has just firmed from sell to strong sell - obviously things are very fluid right now...............

cheers cynic ref talk thread - will take a look later