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

Come on ECB, let the bumps begin... The later they leave it the more I wonder if there going to disappoint... Lets face it the only reason why there's deflation in the EU is due to the fall in oil prices.. Not that the fall is going to put off people buying oil till later, its a commodity that you either need or don't... 6815 will do me nicely for a short. This entire rally is based on news over fundamentals of activity hence the rally makes little sense!

here you are ....

European Central Bank unleashes quantitative easing
The ECB finally embarked on a large-scale sovereign bond-buying programme on Thursday, after months of intense speculation on whether bank president Mario Draghi could overcome political debate and divisions among policy makers on the central bank’s governing council to win convincing support for a QE package.
The €60bn monthly asset purchases include asset-backed securities and covered bonds.
The government bond-buying scheme will commence in March and last until the end of September 2016, Mr Draghi said. The scheme would continue until there was a “sustained adjustment in the path of inflations that is consistent with our aim of achieving inflation of close to 2 per cent”.

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almost inevitably, indices take a dip on the news

indian economy
following on from the report that india's economic growth was predicted to outperform china's by 2016/2017, one of my major indian clients reported back as below

Indian economy is likely to pick up with a strong govt in the centre and a prime minister pushing the economic agenda hard. However nothing will ever happen fast in India.

House of cards....

And just a couple of hours ago I was profitably shorting the Dow. Haven't had time to look back in until now. Crazy!

Very tempting to just short, but I know better and will wait for the market to play its hand first.

Alpari (UK) Limited - in special administration (“the Company”)
Joint Special Administrators – Richard Heis, Samantha Bewick and Mark Firmin

I was appointed Joint Special Administrator of the Company together with Samantha Bewick and Mark Firmin on 19 January 2015.

In accordance with Rule 51 of The Investment Bank Special Administration (England & Wales) Rules 2011, I refer you to www.kpmg.com/uk/alpari where you can view Form 2.12B, notice of special administrators’ appointment.

The Company’s affairs are being examined by the Joint Special Administrators who will write to all clients who have a claim setting out their proposals for achieving the purpose of the special administration within the next 8 weeks. Any urgent communications should be emailed to alpariukclaims@kpmg.co.uk. Alternatively please monitor the website which will be updated as more information becomes available.

The Company traded under the following trading styles: Alpari FX, AlpariFX, AUK, Quantum FX and QuantumFX (this list is not exhaustive).

If you believe you are not a current client as you consider you are not owed any money, or do not wish to make a claim for monies owed, kindly confirm this by email to alpariukclaims@kpmg.co.uk or in writing to Alpari (UK) Limited (in special administration), 8 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8BB. On receipt of such an email/letter your contact details will be removed from the client list and no further correspondence concerning the Company will be sent to you.

Pursuant to rule 296 of the Rules, where the Special Administrators give, send or deliver any notice or other document to you by electronic means, you may request a hard copy of that notice or document. If you choose to request a hard copy, the Special Administrators must send it to you within 5 business days of receipt of the request.

Yours faithfully for Alpari (UK) Limited

Richard Heis
Joint Special Administrator

woo hoo!
good job you didn't short .... dow has gone nuts again as is now 17765

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have cashed in 2 of 3 long positions a fraction under 17800
inclined to think this is a bit far too fast, but shall watch and wait before shorting

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last one out at 17825

extraordinary ....
11 x 10 minute slots up on the spin ..... actually extended to 12 before breaking the run

have now shorted at 17828.6

easy pickings recently now we have the 1 trillion or so quantitative easing euros to add to the global mix -what fun!
gla

Sharecast -

US close: Stocks rally after ECB announces bond-buy programme

Thu, 22 January 2015


US stocks staged a late rally on Thursday, as investors digested the news that the European Central Bank will commit to a €60bn-a-month bond-buying programme until September 2016.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 259.70 points up at 17,813.98, while the S&P rose 31.03 points to 2,063.15 and the Nasdaq advanced by 1.8%.

something else to ponder..............................

Saudi King Abdullah dies
CNBC.com staff | @CNBC
21 Mins Ago
Breaking News
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

This story is developing. Please check back for further updates.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has died, state television reported early on Friday and his brother Salman became king, it said in a statement attributed to Salman.
King Salman has called on the family's Allegiance Council to pay allegiance to Muqrin as his crown prince and heir.
U.S. crude prices rose about 1.5 percent immediately after the news broke.
The succession to Salman was largely expected to be smooth. The Saudi royal family announced in March that 79-year-old Salman would succeed the king. Weeks ago, when King Abdullah was reported to be seriously ill, Saudi watchers told CNBC that the country's oil, domestic and geopolitical policies should remain virtually unchanged when Salman takes over.
Salman, who has assumed many state duties while also serving as deputy prime minister and minister of defense, was relatively well-liked by regional neighbors and in Washington, according to Karen Elliott House, author of "On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines—and Future."

Finland’s prime minister opened the door on Thursday to a renegotiation of the terms of Greek debt short of a writedown in the face value owed, ahead of elections on Sunday. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Alexander Stubb said that his country could consider extensions to the maturity of the debt and changes in the conditions attached to the debt, but no debt forgiveness. His Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach, agreed – FT.

6818.3 gone short

that was a brave call with so much going on

i was running short dow and that was very nice ... cashed in at last knockings last night purely as a precaution .... a bit prematurely as it happens, but it was a decent profit

i think shortie will be smiling this w/e as his position shows to be about 10 points in the money (cash ftse says so)

Manuel,

On which part of your chest do we pin the medals!

Have to be careful as you might go pop.

why do you think i go to the gym? :-)

monday outlook
the greeks looked to have voted in the anti-austerity mob, which is no great surprise
what that means for € and eu in general, i really have no idea, but i cannot imagine that it will be greeted with cheers by the markets in the morning

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A possible for shorting down to 320?