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

1000 Saudi soldiers enter Bahrain . News flash

Surely the market is likely to see that as a positive? Stability is what the markets like.

what a nasty surprise to wake up to ..... ironically, the small Dow short i had running was stopped out last night at b/e, but thank goodness for L2 so no need to wait for brokers to answer the phone and place orders .... also, of course, one can choose one's own level and manipulate it at will

Your 5760 level gone Cynic. 11800 DOW still not yet breached, but futures currently -205, so likley it will happen today.

Been on a bit of a bargain hunting spree......even picked up a few KAH....AFR, XEL and sorts.....risky, but so rewarding when all this calms down....

there is and will be a massive amount of forced selling, but very difficult to determine where the bottom might be

That's why I'm buying now.....ridiculous this panic....

Too early, imo. More downside to come. Need to see where the DOW starts.

Picked up a few more bits and pieces.....crazy knockdown.....but there you go....

DOW futures now -278

along with a great many others, i have been badly mangled today, so it's back to rebuilding again ..... the one minor consolation is that, whereas 4/5 years ago i would quite possibly have been annihilated, i have been following my own advice by banking good profits throughout the year(s) - and derided by some for so doing - and thanks to L2, i was able to act and sell very quickly first thing ..... very big OUCH but it would have been much much worse had i not done so

This fall has been on the cards for a long time now.

Question is, when to get in, now or in a day or two.

Sold loads of stuff during the year and as of late EOG, TRP, HOIL and a few others....but still have positions in many....so taken a few risks today buying in using profits from above sales.

The selling isn't ridiculous at all.

Japan is a net exporter of currency. You've now got all of the insurers who are going to have to turn their money into JPY to pay out their claims. This kills the carry trade which is, in turn, linked to equity markets.

If you go back to the Kobe (spelling???) earthquake in 1995, the JPY hit its all time high in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The only thing you've got to watch out for is the BOJ who don't want the Yen to rise and who aren't afraid to get on the offer and sell it down. This could easily cause unexpected spikes. Kampo (arm of Japanese post office) are a known seller.

On the plus side, Japan are going to need a lot of heavy duty construction equipment in the weeks and months ahead. The likes of Caterpillar should benefit.

Agree to being put through the wringer, and profits (some) taken over recent months look to have been positively astute, (lucky more like). However it is times like these where you need to have nerves of steel, because it is possible to make decent profits from the volatility. Good luck all
2517

Hilary, I think I am right in saying though, that the general insurers (Aviva, Pru, etc) are not directly affected. It is the re-insurance market which is exposed, such as Catlin, Novae, Omega etc who are all part of the LLoyds Ins set up?

Doesn't matter what their names are, Harry, they still need to buy Yen.

All depends whether you're an investor or trader.

As the former I wouldn't go near the markets at the moment. As the latter it is heaven sent.... I think!! lol

Comment from Credit Suisse on the Yen demand:
"The main immediate observations we would make are that:
The Yen appreciated by 22% in the three months after the Kobe earthquake in part as insurance companies repatriated their foreign holdings of assets in order to pay for the earthquake losses.

We believe that this time around the authorities would cap the strength of the Yen. Indeed, back in September the BOJ (instructed by the Ministry of Finance) intervened for the first time since 2004 to cap the strength of the Yen. More importantly, the 2 year note yield differential is consistent with a weaker Yen. Additionally, back in January 1995, the Yen was supported by the Mexican debt crisis and Germany cutting rates. The Yen actually depreciated against the Swiss Franc in Q1 1995 showing that there was a general environment of dollar weakness. Our FX team forecasts USD/JPY 89 by year-end.

There's a 3 or 4 year USD/JPY downtrend which is still intact (currently about 85.50). It's a bit presumptuous of Credit Suisse to be setting upside targets which are above the downtrend until such time as that trend has been broken.

Did they do a lucky dip or something to get that number?