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

Just had a small long @6246.3.

no wonder italy is still a laughing stock ....

Italians wrung their hands at prospects of an inconclusive result that will mean more delays to these reforms .....

so why did so many of them vote for some buffoon?

Main driver is sequestration in the US.

A thing of beauty.

Main driver is sequestration in the US.

A thing of beauty.

Main driver is sequestration in the US.

A thing of beauty.

Jus in case you weren't aware!

Asian stocks fall on fears of Italian election deadlock

Asian stocks have fallen in trading on Tuesday, trailing European and US shares lower, amid fears of renewed instability in the eurozone.

The trigger for the declines was an inconclusive election result in Italy, and the fear that political deadlock would delay economic reforms.

Japan's main Nikkei 225 stock index lost 2.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.8% and Australia's ASX was down 1%.

@7:46am.

Nikkei 225 11398.81 Down -263.71 -2.26%

ASX All Ords 5021.80 Down -50.90 -1.00%

Hang Seng 22538.69 Down -281.39 -1.23%

We have seen it before.

Been putting a toe in the spot gold market - just as it started to fall - so lost a bit last week. have recovered some of my losses this week as gold seems to be recovering in wake of general fall in markets.

I keep dabbling - but really do not have the knowledge that you guys seem to have..

I Continue to watch and learn from you guys and gals

GBP CBI Realized Sales 8 consensus 15 previous 17

bhunt - If you are spread betting I would respectfully suggest you sit this one out. Having said that I never listened to anybody and suppose no pain no gain is a learning curve. As long as you are using money you can afford to lose. I haven't got a clue which way the market is heading at the mo, so for me personally I'm out. The trend has been buy the dips, if this continues it remains to be seen. If in doubt stay out. Good luck.

Making its way down to 6000-5950, and if it holds, rocky march to 7000-6950, then another visit to the 6000 area? Think Toya mentioned something similar.

it'll be interesting to see if the following bit of good news distracts us investors from their gloom over the italian buffoon

U.S. housing market continues its rebound, with home prices rising 7.3% in 2012, according to S&P/Case-Shiller.

CNA blue ahead of reporting tomorrow.

USD CB Consumer Confidence 69.6 consensus 60.8 previous 58.6

USD New Home Sales 437K consensus 381K previous 369K

USD Richmond Manufacturing Index 6 consensus -4 previous -12

FTSE 100 down 1.3% at 6274.32, staying in negative territory despite decent US data and comments by Fed Chairman Bernanke, as investors remain concerned about the situation in Italy. US new-home sales posted the biggest monthly jump in nearly two decades last month. Meanwhile, Bernanke reinforces his commitment to the Fed's bond-buying program. In London, banks are on the back foot, in line with European peers, on worries about political instability in Italy following the election there. Barclays is off 4.1%, Royal Bank of Scotland down 3.6% and Lloyds Banking Group 2.8% lower. Of the handful of stocks in the black, GKN is up 4.6% following FY results.

I'm still long from last night - hoping for a move up this evening.

I'm also long TSCO & BARC as of this morning and out of the money (just) on both.

I'm long FTSE at the moment too.

Rather interesting 1hr chart... Lets hope 6244 support holds.

Watch the risk off currencies.

Nikkei closed at the days low @11,253.97