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

Dow up, Footsie up, Gold up, What's the Dollar doing?

Wow - my gold has just gone from £5k loss to £2k profit - moved the sl up to guarantee some profit - but my FTSE short still underwater - but looking more promising

I'm still short from yesterday pm, I also got filled last night @6,511, which I closed this morning @6,498.

Plenty of my long(er) term holdings at highs (hardly surprising) and I've put a few limit orders in to sell 50% of these.

Silver money going into Gold perhaps?

Silver looking good also I think

Pound falls on weak manufacturing data

The pound has fallen against the dollar and the euro after official figures showed UK manufacturing output fell by 1.5% in January from the month before.

The drop came after a 0.9% rise in output in December, and has added to fears of a third recession since 2008.

The pound hit a new two-and-a-half-year low of $1.4832 against the US dollar. The euro also rose to a two week high versus the pound of 87.77 pence.

Construction and Building worth keeping an eye, especially if the government decide to invest in the sector to spur growth.....

Gold rising nicely now on that news

All I need now is for FTSE to drop some

A cheap pound will only rally the FTSE as equities become cheaper to foreign investors...

Not that anyones interested but 15 minute FTSE chart below, maybe worth printing and hanging on your dart board or worthy of a match!!

I've got one last limit in - after that, I'm a watcher.

Heard that one before skinny, mind you though can't talk, I've been going against the grain which I know is wrong... Just no discipline at the moment... Oh well, work will be cut out next month making losses back..

There's your chart Shortie!





GBP NIESR GDP Estimate -0.1% previous 0.0%

Out of Gold at 1594 - still think it has more to go - but want to hold onto my profit,

Now for the FTSE !!!!

HEARD ON THE STREET: UK Faces Growing Vulnerability

By Richard Barley The U.K. economy seems to be stuck in stasis. Despite a vast budget deficit, a 25% depreciation in sterling, negative real interest rates and GBP375 billion of quantitative easing, the economy is neither growing nor rebalancing toward exports. Tuesday's bleak industrial production and trade data just confirmed the gloom. The market is beginning to realize that the U.K.'s problems run deeper than previously appreciated -- and there are no quick or easy solutions. The latest set of figures have revived talk of a triple-dip recession. U.K. industrial production fell 1.2% on the month in January, far worse than the 0.1% rise economists had pencilled in. That leaves the index of industrial production at a level last seen in May 1992, Capital Economics notes. Manufacturing was down 1.5% on the month, despite survey data that had suggested resilience, a worrying development. Since then, Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers index for February has suggested a renewed fall in orders both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, the trade data hinted at a headache for the Bank of England in its calls for weaker sterling. While the headline trade deficit narrowed to GBP2.4 billion, this was flattered by a big swing in the deficit in oil; underlying exports of goods excluding oil and erratic items fell 5.4% on the month, RBS notes. But at the same time, import prices rose by 1.4% on the month, a move that the Office for National Statistics said might be attributable to the decline in sterling. The inflationary consequences of lower sterling may well be felt quicker than any rebalancing in the economy. The problem is that inflation has broadly been running higher than wage growth since 2008, the ONS notes: real wages are being steadily squeezed. That reduces spending power, both draining demand from the economy and preventing households from paying down debt -- which then further weakens confidence and inhibits demand. But it is difficult to see how policymakers can address this problem. More government spending or unfunded tax cuts would raise concern about public finances; efforts to boost credit availability look like pushing on a string given existing debt burdens. The market is betting on more bond purchases by the BOE, meaning sterling is likely to fall and government bonds to rally. Tuesday, the pound hit $1.4832, its lowest against the dollar since June 2010, while 10-year gilt yields fell to 1.95%. But the risk is that further rounds of QE may prove counterproductive, by distorting the government bond market, importing inflation and raising red flags for foreign investors. The longer the U.K. stagnates, the more it looks vulnerable to a crisis of confidence.

shortie you plagiarising skunk you (11314) ..... what did i write in post 11286? :-)

meanwhile i have taken all my money off the table for longs on dow and HG+HC Index ...... i'm not brave enough to short the dow, but it is looking singularly disinclined to go further north

My Ftse short - now in profit - just

on balance, i think shorting ftse is no bad move, though arguably it has a further 50/60 pts upside