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

From DP of IC:
"I was caught out by yesterday’s weakness in the FTSE and EURGBP. No matter, though, as the downside was hardly significant in the scheme of things. A poor GDP figure from Germany was the main cause of the negative tone. It came as a stark reminder that the Eurozone remains in poor shape, even in its economic fatherland. The recent strength of the Euro will be doing little to alleviate the bloc’s difficulties, either.

For my part, I still fancy the FTSE to make further upwards progress in the very near term. The UK index is definitely to be preferred over Germany’s DAX right now. Meanwhile, I would be looking to short the end of any intraday rallies in GBPUSD, as I think worse is in store for sterling."

Iain - it was all over by 10:15.

CAD Manufacturing Sales m/m -3.1% consensus -0.4% previous 1.7%

USD Empire State Manufacturing Index 10 consensus -2.1 previous -7.8

USD TIC Long-Term Purchases 64.2B consensus 34.3B previous 52.4B

USD Capacity Utilization Rate 79.1% consensus 78.9% previous 78.8%

USD Industrial Production m/m -0.1% consensus 0.2% previous 0.3%

USD Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 76.3 consensus 74.8 previous 71.3

Japan shares up as G20 statement stokes weak yen hopes

Japanese shares have risen after finance ministers of the G20 group of nations avoided singling out Japan for criticism over the recent yen weakness.

The yen has dipped nearly 15% against the US dollar since November amid Japan's efforts to stoke inflation.

There were concerns that a criticism from G20 may prompt Japan to alter its aggressive stance. The fears were that it would result in the yen rising again and hurt Japan's plans to spur growth.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 2%.

US banks are closed - Presidents' Day;

German ZEW Economic Sentiment 48.2 consensus 35.3 previous 31.5

EUR ZEW Economic Sentiment 42.4 consensus 35.5 previous 31.2

Was hoping that the DOW would open with a surge as they missed a day of trading, but +28 isn't going to set the markets alight.

I've had a small short @6,341.

.

USD NAHB Housing Market Index 46 consensus 48 previous 47

Still short skinny?
FTSE still looks strong!
TT

TT long time no post - no out -15.

So much for resistance!

Been lurking for some time now.
My long term holdings are doing fine but speculative oilers not so good.
And now, just waiting for the FTSE to move back down but it doesn't want to just yet!
TT

I did think it would hit 6,400 quite quickly after 6,300 - but have had a few shorts of late.

Good luck with the oilers - my biggest is BP - no words required!

Seems like there's no stopping the FTSE! I had toyed with going long(!) this morning but have stayed out of it - that's because I seem to do well for 4 days out of 5, and then blow it all on the 5th day when greed and carelessness set in.

Dell sales fall ahead of buyout but beat forecasts

Computer maker Dell has reported quarterly profits and revenues ahead of expectations, in what could be its last set of results as a public company.

The world's third largest PC maker said net profit in the fourth quarter fell 31% to $530m (£345m) compared with the same period a year ago.

Revenue fell 11% to $14.3bn, hurt by a shrinking consumer business, but still beat analysts' forecasts.

Founder Michael Dell has offered to buy the business for $24.4bn.

GBP Claimant Count Change -12.5K consensus -5.3K previous -15.8K

GBP MPC Meeting Minutes 0-0-9 consensus 0-0-9 previous 0-0-9

GBP Unemployment Rate 7.8% consensus 7.7% previous 7.7%

GBP Average Earnings Index 3m/y 1.4% consensus 1.4% previous 1.5%