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

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.

i really do not know at all

= Economic week ahead =

The focus of the week falls on Thursday, when the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee makes its October decision. Economists believe that a deteriorating economic outlook has increased the likelihood that the MPC (KOSDAQ: 050540.KQ - news) will decide to restart quantitative easing its asset purchasing programme at that meeting, in a bid to stimulate the economy.

It may, however, wait until its November (Berlin: NBXB.BE - news) meeting, when it will have to hand the Bank's latest detailed forecasts ahead of its next quarterly Inflation Report. Interest rates are expected to remain unchanged at 0.5pc for a significant period ahead.

On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics is expected to confirm its earlier estimate that the economy grew by 0.2pc in the second quarter. PMI data for the manufacturing, construction and services sectors are expected to show that activity weakened further in September, boding ill for the UK economy as a whole in the third quarter.

most likely more qe yet again - but most in the know are against this - it justt postpones the real trouble then when it arrives again it will hit even harder

no surprises with greece that alone may put the brakes on a bit - we'll see

and the trouble is potentially much worse than so far so hold on to your hats if it happens - gla

Gloom and doom - Bumpy next week


Kept this brief as it goes on and on.


Banking crisis set to trigger new credit crunch

Harry Wilson, 20:48, Sunday 2 October 2011

The global financial system is on the edge of a new credit crunch as the cost of insuring the bonds of banks across the world hits new highs, analysts have said.

yep afraid so - i expect to be very busy next week :-((((((((((((((

but make the right choices & ......................

gl

Monday bloodbath again looks like FTSE will open down over 100 points. Happy to be short today.



(c) Sky News 2011, 7:12, Monday 3 October 2011


Markets across Asia slumped overnight, after debt-ridden Greece warned it would miss its deficit targets.

Japan (NYSE: MCO - news) 's Nikkei 225 (Osaka: ^N225 - news) fell 2.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng (HKSE: ^HSI - news) fell 4.1% and Australia's S&P ASX slumped 2.2%.

The Euro also fell to its lowest level in more than eight months during early trading in Asia.

The reaction came after government draft budget figures from Greece showed the country would miss a deficit target set just months ago in a massive bailout package.

Greece's deficit for 2011-12 is now expected to reach 8.5% of its gross domestic product - down from 10.5% in 2010, but short of the 7.6% target.

Inspectors from the IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) , EU and European Central Bank are in Athens to decide whether Greece should get a key bailout instalment - cash the country needs to avoid going bankrupt next month.

Meanwhile, the German finance minister also ruled out a higher German contribution to the eurozone's rescue fund than approved by their parliament last week, adding to concerns across the world markets.

And new figures showed inflation had jumped to 3% in September in the 17 countries that use the euro - possibly ruling out an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank this week.

The inflation figure is the highest since October 2008.