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

Pound rising against Euro.......(or more likely Euro dropping)......as the crisis unfolds.....the thing is there might be a last minute ditch deal but the Greeks are going to play this "can't pay won't pay" game all the time !.....if a deal is done....in a few months time same thing again...and so forth.....it's unbelievable the amount of debt clocked up !.....you wouldn't believe a small non industrialised friendly country like that would be allowed to borrow so much.....the thing is : does Merkel and Hollande give in yet again to their demands and put off the inevitable once more or are they just going to say enough is enough ?......I'm not sure......anything is possible...but as the drop into the abyss approaches the Euro could take up to a five cents knock short term...even the french call it mickey mouse money !...

if any greek deal is done given the huge amount of debt they have squandered on nowt it should include a caveat that more immigrants get dumped in their country than anywhere else in the eu............................. want something for the debt they will never ever be able to repay

The immigrant situation is another problem they could have done without.....

I was wondering if a longterm solution would be to have a secondary currency with the Euro that fluctuates only with the Euro for lesser nations within the Eurozone....(sorting it out would be complicated) ...

current market opinion looks to be that there'll be a fudge cobbled together to allow IMF loan repayment deadline to be missed (no automatic penalty), but that to the ECB at end july(?) to be met on time
failure to meet this latter payment would result in mandatory and severe sanctions

i think i have the above correct :-)

I'm starting to think a deal would be done but.....further down the line...there will be more trouble......

quite so
however, the debt is now just so ridiculously large and totally beyond the scope of greece EVER to repay it, that IMF will almost certainly have to agree to write off at least a good part ..... ECB probably cannot due to legalities surrounding

nevertheless, the quid pro quo will be that, inter alia, greece will have to raise its pensionable age to 65 and perhaps or even probably agree to raise capital by privatising public utilities and similar .... this hard left gov't will hate both!

Tough decisions to be made by the greek government ...

at best just a sticking plaster deal by those with selfish personal agendas to put it off to a later date - but should be enough to send indices north temporarily then back down again when profits have been realised by the relevant power brokers each to their own niches :-)

cynic 17865 - there are offers on the table but the greeks have said NON! :-) they also said there will be no part deal - only a deal if everyone agrees - there are deltas between the parties - but as i said above wouldnt be surprised if a sticking plaster applied yet again by the selfish brokering this deal to their own ends..................... up then down :-0!

rf 17863 - dont feel sorry for the greeks - about time they shared some real aggro from immigrants - the greeks have brought it (this situation) upon themselves - they didnt mind squandering a fortune in 2004 to host the olympics - what was going through their minds and a whole host of useless projects and lazy plans all of which they knew would bankrupt them but they didnt care one bit - who is next - spain? and the rest.................

i hear that the difference to be bridged is a relatively paltry €2bn

though tsipras may huff and puff in public, i think the greek public will string him up if the door is actually slammed in his face with all the ensuing ramifications

however, i certainly agree that any deal done within the next couple of days, and i too think it will be, will be merely cosmetic with further polemic and other rubbish to follow just a little down the road

yep he huffs and puffs ok lol - greece had a run in their banks this week - if that continues as our former treasury chiefs famously said 'the cupboard is bare' or in this case the cupboard will be bare in greece, say errrr cob today or monday / tuesday latest next week if lucky - they better get the drachma printing presses into overdrive if no deal ;
but yes most likely sticking plaster / cosmetic solution as no one has the knackers to really grasp this bull by the horns imo - that old chesnut 'put it off to another day'........... and make a few bob in the process...................

Closed FTSE long from yesterday 6743 +76 pts .

Sweet Jimmy B

Waiting For Wall Street today. Could be a real firework display again.

Another drop and i'd maybe go long again .

quite right jimmy ..... ftse isn't happy at the higher levels

nice

& russia.................. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/russia-greece-agree-build-gas-105003063.html#VyKQWXm

most of yesterday's DOW gain is still intact, but even so, it has now drifted well south of the critical 18,112

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