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

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

EUR M3 Money Supply y/y 3.5% consensus 3.2% previous 3.3%

It would seem that DP of IC is starting to get nervous! :
"There’s an old trading maxim that volatility happens around the highs and lows of moves. We’ve certain seen a fair bit of that over recent sessions, so perhaps a high is or has formed. After the strong run in equities we’ve had in 2013 so far, this would not be especially surprising around now. A bit of Eurozone-angst makes an obvious trigger for a bout of selling to occur. However, I firmly believe it’s important to keep an eye on the bigger picture. European equities remain cheap and the ECB has scope for further monetary intervention if the markets seize up again.

I am playing wait-and-see with the indices, but certainly am not averse to shorting if the opportunities arise, despite my bullish big-picture view. I would buy EURGBP and sell GBPUSD today too."

GBP Second Estimate GDP q/q -0.3% consensus -0.3% previous -0.3%

GBP Prelim Business Investment q/q -1.2 consensus 2.2% previous 3.8%

GBP Index of Services 3m/3m -0.1% consensus 0.1% previous 0.6%

By Ilona Billington LONDON--Confidence among U.K. consumers declined in February as worries over the economy increased, highlighting just how tough the road to a sustainable recovery has become. A survey published Wednesday by the European Commission and conducted by pollster GfK reported consumer confidence fell to -16.8 in February from -16.2 in January. All sectors surveyed showed weaker levels of confidence in February compared with January, with the sharpest decline in the services sector, which fell to -11.5 from -6.4 in January. The broad-based weakness meant the economic sentiment indicator slid to 97.1 in February from 97.6 a month earlier, and gives a clear indication of how tough the economic environment is in the U.K.. The Office for National Statistics on Wednesday released its second, more detailed release of U.K. economic output, which showed gross domestic product contracted 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the third. That was unrevised from the preliminary calculation released in January. The U.K., which Friday saw its credit rating downgraded one notch to Aa1 by ratings agency Moody's Investors Service, is struggling to post economic growth while consumers and businesses suffer amid the tight austerity measures imposed by the coalition government. While the government has announced various programs aimed at boosting growth and confidence, a lack of government infrastructure projects at a time of caution among private-sector firms over spending and investment plans means the ailing economy is struggling to gain a foothold on the path to sustainable expansion.

Skinny did you hold a FTSE100 DFT long last night? I picked up a nice dividend overnight...

Hardly a surprise!

Italian 10-y Bond Auction 4.83|1.7 4.17|1.3

On edit :- yes I did - it all helps. I was tempted to close @6,296 this morning for +50 - but didn't.

I also held the BARC & TSCO which I have closed.

I got rather badly burned last week - and not on a sandy beach, either :( So I'm currently staying out of the indices but have been reading a few analysts change their tune this week:
Whereas previously they were talking about 'buying on the dips' they have now turned to 'selling on the rallies'.

This would be my inclination, too. But as I can't always be keeping an eye on the screen, I'm not risking anything for the moment - just savouring my profits on BLNX and on my own activities outside trading

USD Core Durable Goods Orders m/m 1.9% consensus 0.3% previous 1.0%

USD Durable Goods Orders m/m -5.2% consensus -4.8% previous 4.3%

".........and on my own activities outside trading". Being a bloke, my imagination is now out of control. A pointer in the right direction would relieve the pressure a bit! ;o)