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

Very hard to find much on Gotham HARRY ,i know they exposed Gowex and brought down the share price of QPP.
Here's a couple of paragraphs from the Telegraph.
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Over the last two years, Gotham City has struck on several occasions. Last week, it landed a killer blow. Within days of alleging that Gowex, a Spanish wi-fi provider, had cooked its books, the company admitted it was bankrupt and four years of accounts were worthless.
Gotham’s superhero image has been enhanced by a refusal to reveal any details about its identity, other than the name of its founder – Daniel Yu. The intrigue around the firm has been further fuelled by an assumption that its name is inspired by the fictional metropolis where Batman battles the city’s criminals.
Everything else about the organisation has remained a mystery – until now. An investigation into Gotham City by The Telegraph has uncovered details about the shadowy organisation and helped to unmask its publicity-shy figurehead.
Daniel Yu refused several requests to comment for this story. However, through interviews with friends and associates it has been established that the figure behind Gotham City shares fewer similarities with the Dark Knight than the world has been led to believe.
Despite rumours that, like most superheroes, he is operating under a cunning pseudonym, it is believed that Gotham City’s founder has decided to break with comic book tradition and use his real name.
American-born but of Chinese or Korean descent, Yu is a maths and science geek who grew up in New York City before studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most esteemed universities in the United States.
“He’s one of those people that you can tell is super smart as soon as you meet them,” one associate said.
Like many of the brightest graduates of the top American colleges, Yu sought a lucrative career in the financial services industry after finishing his studies. He worked for a large asset management firm on “the buy side” – Wall Street parlance for a trader.
However, at some point, he appears to have become disillusioned with capitalism, gaining a belief that those in powerful corporate roles who commit wrongdoing are able to escape justice by an indifferent regulatory regime.
“Daniel has a strong moral core. He hates the inequality in American civic and business life where executives who destroy capital, enterprises and lives can still reap handsome rewards,” one friend said.
After losing some of his own money investing in companies that committed fraud, Yu set up Gotham City two years ago and began searching for other culprits to target.
After bringing down Gowex last week, Yu wrote on Gotham City’s website: “We were victims of these corporate fraudsters. We believed this isn’t right, and that the world needs someone to expose these crooks.”
“And so, just as Batman catches criminals (and then submits them to authorities) using little more than his wit and some nice gadgets, Gotham City Research was born,” he said.

My post was really intended as a warning to those people holding Plus500 which seems to be flavour of the month with certain investors, but if GC are casting their eye over this company then Playtech might also get the treatment, when and if the merger goes ahead.

ditto QPP which of course has now been suspended
some margin traders will be very hard hit, for IG is demanding 75% margin as of 16:30 this afternoon (usual for QPP is 25%) and i suspect other sb/cfd providers will act simila
rly

delta - not such a dumb call :-)
just closed DOW long +48 albeit that that is now looking significantly too early (who cares!)

my own view is that the greeks won't actually commit suicide - ie a deal will be done with imf ..... that said, tsipras has dug himself something of a hole so may then struggle to get it approved in parliament
nevertheless, the initial "victory" will give a significant kneejerk north, though i can't see it lasting for long

=========

looking at FTSE, keep an eye on 6743
this important support was briefly under pressure this morning, but there has been a healthy recovery since to 6785

thanks cynic - been a good day so far :-)
heard a few rumours about the negotiations which are normally from a reliable 'source' and i am not talking HP, Daddies or ketchup!

agreed the ftse has had an interesting day - also watching the germans and a few others for pointers
gl

if you've got the time to glue yourself to the screen, then there's is and will be plenty of dosh to be made in both/either directions - or lost if you make a complete pig's ear! :-)

Pigs ear today

absolutely cynic - agreed
sorry to hear the pigs ear claret - hope it turns for you

the good news is that greece has rejected the 5 month bailout extension ;
greek gov meets tonight

fantastic news - greece to hold a referendum on the eu bailout which the greek gov has already rejected :-) - that will be a big fat NO then - real looking fwd to the markets re-opening assuming the eu dont come in with an improved offer.......................

yet tsipras thinks greece can still remain within the eurozone if i have read that correctly

guess the outcome will depend on how strong an argument the less-loony guys can put forward for accepting the bitter pill
sure glad i'm not greek!

==============

IG sunday trading markets will give a clue as to what the markets think

i should imagine serious volatility will be the order of the day for the next 10 days
not sure whether or not i'm glad to be on holiday and thus unable to monitor as i usually do

Day Traders paradise cyners, which rules me out, risky not so much FTSE but certainly Dow in normal market conditions (when they actually exist) let alone recent chaos :0)

cynic - aye - volatility should be the order of the day / week et cetera - more importantly enjoy the holiday

Latest verdict from Deutsche Bank:

“We would consider the recent turn of events as a particularly negative market outcome”.

yummy - perfect......................... :-)

it seems history about to be confirmed ref the greeks as described by one of their own philosophers - nothing has changed just a different generation............... that was one of the things aside from markets et al i was banking on.. some humans so predictable

chris - make hay while chaos abounds ;

Aye d your right, but golf and bowls to play and up here in Aberdeen have to make the best of any sun we get. Fine, day trading in the winter :0)

i was somewhat but not entirely surprised to read that ECB is not actually obliged to foreclose or similar in the event of default
for better or worse, i think there is little doubt that the markets are going to be in turmoil for next several weeks

an easy summation ......

Greece Referendum Not A Simple Yes Or No
Sky News
Austerity, deficits, loans and currencies. Greece's euro crisis is about lots of things, but in the end it has always been about something else: national sovereignty and democracy.
When Greece joined the Eurozone (without a referendum, it should be said) it ceded some of its sovereignty.
Since the country now shared a currency with fellow Europeans it would no longer have direct control over its monetary policy.
That was simply part of the deal - and it is part of the explanation for how it ended up in the mess it is in.
It meant a dilution of sovereignty in economic "peacetime".
As part of the single currency, Greece lost control of its own interest rates, and thus lost influence over the yield on government bonds.
The country could suddenly borrow at unprecedented cheap rates - despite not having the productivity to justify it.
So began the bubble that fuelled the Greek crisis in the first place (a simplified version of history, I admit).
But even during "peacetime" Greece still maintained a certain amount of control over its fiscal policy - taxing and spending.
When the crisis struck and it needed to rely on its fellow Eurozone nations (and the IMF, and ECB) for financial assistance, it effectively ceded most of its fiscal sovereignty too.
In return for the loans, the Greeks had to accede to certain demands.
There is nothing particularly unusual in this.
When the UK borrowed money from the US after the Second World War a whole host of demands came attached to it: that the UK should open up its economic system; that it should sell off a whole load of publicly-owned assets at cheap prices.
There was even talk about selling off the Crown Jewels.
None of this is particularly pleasant, but it is an unfortunate reality.
To make matters worse, in Greece's case, the lenders deciding those conditions discredited themselves repeatedly.
Their forecasts for the impact of austerity on Greece were completely wrong.
Their programme contributed to a depression deeper and longer than anything seen since modern records began.
But, having ceded its sovereignty - both monetary and fiscal - the Greeks could do little about it.
They had to suffer as a poorly-constructed bailout and overly-aggressive austerity was imposed on them.
In January the Greeks voted in Alexis Tsipras as prime minister on a manifesto which promised to cancel austerity.
The problem, of course, was that because of all of the above, in practice the Greeks did not and do not have the sovereign right to do that themselves.
The best Mr Tsipras could do was to try to get a better deal and improve the terms of the bailout, which is what he has been doing in Brussels and Athens for the past six months.
His decision to call a referendum next weekend seems to be a tacit admission he has failed.
There are a number of short and medium term problems, the most pressing of which is what happens to the financial system between now and next weekend.
The slow-motion invisible system-wide bank run afflicting Greece's financial system over the past couple of months threatens to turn into a rapid, visible one.
People are already being photographed queuing up to take money out of their bank accounts.
There is the question of what the Eurozone decides today at its finance ministers' meeting.
Do they grant Greece the five-day bailout extension they are demanding? Do they refuse?
Do they simply talk about plan b - the capital controls and restrictions they would need to impose to incubate Greece ahead of a possible euro exit?
What part does the International Monetary Fund, who will almost certainly not get paid on time on Tuesday, play in the saga?
But more than these short-term questions is the bigger medium to long term one: if Greeks do as their prime minister is suggesting and vote no to the current bailout deal, what does that imply?
As far as many here in Brussels are concerned, it means Greece will effectively have voted to leave the Eurozone.
But Syriza figures are insisting it simply means another stage in the negotiations.
The answer to that question will determine the way many vote.
In Greece there is both widespread disdain for the bailout and the conditions attached to it, and widespread support for euro membership.
So the way the debate is framed will determine the result.
But the reality is that if Greece did leave the euro, it would face even greater short-term austerity and pain than it has in the past year or so.
It would face more financial turbulence.
It might swap euro bailout conditions with even more shady ones from Russia or China.
It would regain some of its monetary sovereignty, but in exchange for this it would suffer a fair amount of pain.
There are no easy answers here, which is why what looks like a simple yes/no question is far more complex and unpredictable than it seems.

hmmmm - kerrrrchinnnngggg - xmas has come real early this year - oh yes :-D

'Regrettably, despite efforts at all levels and full support of the Eurogroup, this proposal has been rejected by the Greek authorities who broke off the programme negotiations late on the 26 June unilaterally. The Eurogroup recalls the significant financial transfers and support provided to Greece over the last years. The Eurogroup has been open until the very last moment to further support the Greek people through a continued growth-oriented programme.'

just keeps getting better - and hopefully will teach all those do gooding nutters in the eurozone a lesson - now these do gooders need to get a grip on the immigration crisis which will make greece look like good fun and a walk in the park in comparison; before everywhere is totally swamped! o/t did you notice population of uk went up 500,000 last year - as always those who are able to add to the economy leave the uk and they are replaced with unemployable immigrants seeking benefits et cetera - even worse some terrorists are hiding amongst the immigrants with zero checks happening - the UK has become the dustbin of the world! dont forget when you read the numbers of immigrants coming in - that it does not include their children on top - so multiply that total by at least 2 (probably x 3 or 4 is more accurate and they really do breed) and you will see the dire state this country is heading - the UK is too small and our infrastructure from transport, power, hospitals, sewers, schools et cetera can't cope - then of course the different cultures - there are schools now where english is the minority language! LOL!

atb for next week though - and beyond! :-)

birthday and xmas come together next week :-))))))))))))))

'Eurozone finance ministers have rejected a Greek request to extend a bailout programme beyond 30 June.'

shorting ftse via IG tomorrow looks almost too obvious a bet

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