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 broken 11,000 next stop 10,800

Bernard - for what?

When i posted your trade was down 30 points did you have a stop loss.

Yes - 50 - (smaller stake) its Friday - Crazy Yanks day :-)

Well done, be careful there could be a spike down near close.

5088 Phone trading only on FTSE daily something happening. No trading on the FTSE from platform.

hmmmmmmm

Friday 30 September 2011 - by Andrew Hickley

An EU-wide financial transaction tax would be harmful to both the financial sector and to corporations that rely on hedging their risks, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has warned.

Isda argues that the levy will increase the costs for businesses of all sizes that use derivatives to manage risks that stem from interest rate, currency, credit and counterparty fluctuations.

"Isda is concerned that the FTT will ultimately increase the costs of hedging those risks," it said in a statement released on Thursday.

"We believe that managing such risks is essential for the long-term economic growth and recovery of European economies."

The trade body also questions the merits of introducing the tax, which it says will damage the capital base of banks as they prepare to implement stricter banking regulations.

"If the additional cost is simply passed on to customers, this would act as a barrier to accessing the financial markets, as well as restricting liquidity (and therefore increasing volatility) in those markets," it concludes.

On Wednesday the European Commission put forward proposals introducing an FTT across Europe in an effort to raise up to 57bn ($77bn) a year.

While derivatives trades will be taxed at a rate of 0.01 per cent, transactions of bonds, shares and other securities will be hit by a 0.1 per cent levy.

Although industry reaction has varied from lukewarm to outrage towards the measure, on Thursday British MEP Arlene McCarthy called for the UK government to properly consider the merits of introducing the tax.

far reaching consequences

hmmmmm..

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of insuring against default on European corporate debt rose, according to traders of credit-default swaps.

Contracts on the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of 50 companies with mostly high-yield credit ratings increased four basis points to 802, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. prices at 10 a.m. in London.

The Markit iTraxx Europe Index of 125 companies with investment-grade ratings was up 1.75 at 192.75 basis points. The Markit iTraxx Financial Index linked to senior debt of 25 banks and insurers rose one basis point to 262 basis points and the subordinated index was up three at 501.

A basis point on a credit-default swap protecting 10 million euros ($13.5 million) of debt from default for five years is equivalent to 1,000 euros a year. Swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a borrower fail to adhere to its debt agreements.

--Editor: Paul Armstrong

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Shanahan in London at Mshanahan3@bloomberg.net

whoops - europe yet again!!! another cock up on the horizon!
Friday 30th September 2011, 1:44am
EU REGULATION
DAVID CROW
THE EUROPEAN Parliament is pushing ahead with plans to ban naked credit default swaps (CDS) even though its own research has revealed the move would exacerbate market volatility.

European lawmakers are expected to back a German proposal that would ban so-called naked CDS, where a trader buys a CDS without holding the sovereign bonds in the expectation that the country will default and the insurance contract will pay out.

The European Parliament and several member states claim that naked CDS have exacerbated the Eurozone crisis by pushing up the bond yields of trouble countries like Greece and Italy.

But new research commissioned by the European Parliament reveals a ban could backfire because it would disrupt already volatile markets by reducing liquidity and prompting traders to short sovereign bonds using options and futures contracts instead.

Prohibiting naked CDS transactions, as proposed, would have detrimental effects on the liquidity Valuing credit risks will become more difficult, the German Centre for European Economic Research said in a report commissioned by the European Parliament.
.

Index Value: 10,913.38
Trade Time: 21:05
Change: 240.60 (2.16%
Worried about growth. Interesting Monday ahead. Good weekend all.

FTSE 100 Suffers Worst Quarter Since 2002

perhaps wishful thinking, but with more positive signs about the poxy greek bailout, it would not surprise me to see a good rebound on monday .... damn well need it!

I have simply no profits showing at all.....just have to wait for better times.....never thought that we'd see such a burst bubble like this...a pullback yes I was expecting that but this has been terrible so I'm just staying put and hoping for a recovery.

Sorry Mr.C but if FTSE Futures are anything to go by closing at 5040 down over actual FTSE close AT 16.30 5128 it looks like Monday open will be down around 88 points.

i fear you're right ..... w/e press makes dismal reading

Things will get better.

Flash on BBC news about 5.30 that documents seen
seem to indicate that Greece has failed the test.
Been monitoring since but no further mention.

Deficit targets missed in Greek budget draft -
18:04, Sunday 2 October 2011

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will miss the deficit targets set in its EU/IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) bailout this year and next as it faces worse-than-expected recession, sources said ahead of the adoption by the cabinet of the 2012 draft budget on Sunday.

Greece sees its 2011 budget deficit reaching 8.5 percent of GDP this year, missing a 7.6 percent target, the documents set to be approved by the cabinet show, two sources said.

The budget draft foresees that the deficit will be brought down to 6.8 percent of GDP, above a 6.5 percent target in the bailout that saved Greece from bankruptcy, the sources said.

In the same documents, Greece sees its economy contracting by 5.5 percent this year and 2 percent next year. This is in line with the IMF's World Economic Outlook, published last month, but much worse than the projections used for the July bailout negotiations, which predicted the country's economy would return to growth next year.

Athens blames its failure to meet EU/IMF deficit targets on the worse-than-forecast contraction of the economy, while its lenders say failure to push through much-needed structural reforms is also largely to blame.

A deeper-than-expected recession makes it harder for Greece to collect revenues and meet its deficit targets. It also makes the impact of austerity measures such as tax hikes and wage cuts weigh harder on people.

(Reporting by Ingrid Melander)

fwiw .....
19:45, Sunday 2 October 2011
ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek cabinet approved on Sunday a draft budget for 2012, the finance ministry said in a statement after a cabinet meeting.

"The budget draft will be submitted tomorrow to parliament," the statement said.

cynic, good news . Dare I say a reasonable day Monday.