Citigroup tug of war.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) vowed on Wednesday to pursue its “legal rights” to settle a dispute with US lender Citigroup Inc. over a two-year-old $7.5 billion stock purchase deal.

Citigroup, in a statement issued late on Tuesday, had said that ADIA, had filed an arbitration claim, alleging “fraudulent misrepresentations”, and sought revocation of the investment agreement or more than $4 billion in damages if the deal is upheld.

Citigroup promised to “vigorously” fight the claims, which it said had no merit.

ADIA had invested $7.5 billion in Citigroup in November 2007, getting securities that must be converted into common stocks at a price in the range of $31.83 to $37.24 a share between March 2010 and September2011. Citigroup shares closed at $3.56 in New York on Tuesday.

Analysts said they were not surprised by the investment agency’s attempt to mitigate its losses, but warned that if successful, it could set a nasty precedent for similar investors in Citigroup that had lost money.

At the end of 2008, Citigroup had about a $1.92 billion loan exposure to the UAE, of which Dubai is a part.

Meanwhile,Republic Iran on Wednesday test-fired an upgraded version of its most advanced missile--the medium-range Sajjil-2 , capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe.About 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) range.

Iran touted the launch as a success proving it can deter any U.S. or Israeli military strike against its nuclear facilities.

It's a provocative act just in time before the start of new Moslem calender year to show its prowess by having this fireworks display.
The Dow,Wednesday 16/12/09 is 48hours to Quadraple Witching.

18/12/09.Moslem holiday.(Awal Muharram-a new calender year)

31/12/09:Asian index futures expiry.

9:30am:--A hefty 47.81 points gap down open.US current account balance for the third quarter hit a $108 billion deficit.

10:30am:--Opening gap being fully filled to find an early day's high.Bearish harami noted.

11:30am:--Hangman at bull pivot.

12:30noon:--MAV support line at risk.Bearish engulfing.

1:30pm:--Consolidation time but a graveyard doji is the warning sign.

2:30pm:--Prior bearish harami near the MAV support translated to further bearish hammering.

3:30pm:--A day's low is being found.Bullish retracement.

4:00pm:--Too bad another graveyard doji warning of follow through.

The focus today is on the FOMC policy statement .In light of ongoing improvements in the functioning of financial markets, it anticipates that most of the Fed's special liquidity facilities will expire on February 1, 2010.

The witches are trying to pullback the index to the MAV support line as noted by Wednesday's graveyard doji.As the trading range of the Dow is quite small for the month,the risk factor is quite high.