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

Chris - be careful :-))

skinners - I miss her wit:O)

EUR Revised GDP q/q -0.6% consensus -0.6% previous -0.6%

Hils, could the oil price volatility be a knee-jerk reaction, I understand these are quite common at the moment. :>)

Good ol Merve.

Bank governor Sir Mervyn King suggests splitting up RBS

Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King has said there is a case for splitting up Royal Bank of Scotland.

He told the Banking Standards Commission that there was a "good bank, bad bank" within bailed-out RBS.

The healthy arm, separated from the problem assets in the rest of the bank, would be capable of attracting funding to lend to the UK economy.

He said the arguments for restructuring RBS "sooner rather than later are powerful ones".

why not separate RBS and NATWEST give RBS to the scots as a "going away present"?

Interesting article on MarketWatch.com re price of oil and Chavez:
Why oil prices dipped on Chavez's death

Ha bloody ha, Plateman. :)

CC,

Fat Spanish Waiter. Dunno what you mean?

Not so sure Hils, put his CV in at Old Trafford last night :O)

edit - The Special One :O)

Fergie's not going anywhere, CC. Last night's defeat will make him even more determined to stay on and bounce back stronger.

Besides which, did you know that Jose's 16 year old daughter is enrolled at Camberwell Arts College? That'd be a long commute to make each day from Manchester. :)

USD ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 198K consensus 172K previous 215K

and dow just may have cracked 14,300 barrier

.

Interesting DOW chart Harry!

BOJ holds fire as Shirakawa era ends, braces for new leadership

TOKYO | Thu Mar 7, 2013 5:17am GMT

(Reuters) - The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged on Thursday, holding fire to wait for new leaders who are expected to usher in bolder measures to try to end nearly 20 years of mild deflation.

The result was by unanimous vote and in line with market expectations. Investors think new stimulus measures will come at the BOJ's next meeting on April 3-4, when Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, a vocal advocate of aggressive easing, is expected to have taken over as governor.

BoE faces knife-edge decision on bond buys

LONDON | Thu Mar 7, 2013 6:34am GMT

(Reuters) - The Bank of England will make clearer on Thursday where its priorities for nursing Britain's ailing economy lie, with opinion split evenly on whether it will unveil another round of bond buying after a policy meeting.

In the past week, dismal data on bank lending and manufacturing has been accompanied by a softening of rhetoric from the central bank, and a willingness to consider new and unconventional policy options to kickstart growth - despite the fact that inflation remains well above target.

Something very wrong with some of the charts atm. Suspect a MAM glitch. Yesterday evening they were showing the DOW up over 400 points, but in fact the decimal point had drifted in the wrong place!

Have gone short on FTSE @ 6444 with very tight sl - crazy markets

ECB to hold line on bond buys, keep rates at 0.75 percent

FRANKFURT | Thu Mar 7, 2013 8:17am GMT

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank will eschew dramatic action on Thursday to help Italy or other euro zone countries caught up in its backwash, despite the threat of political turmoil in Rome reigniting the bloc's debt crisis.

The ECB is expected to hold its interest rates at a record-low 0.75 percent and keep its growth and inflation forecasts largely unchanged at its monthly meeting, which got under way at 08:00 a.m British time.

I know you enjoy Twittering, Skinners...

Fight, fight, fight!

But the Shadow MPC are going hawkish on rates.