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

what a very strange day ..... was initially shut out of my HG+HC position butr was making almost an equivalent amount on Dow short ...... bought back into HG+HC and made back 2/3 of my crystalised loss but ended up banking just a very small profit on the Dow position!!

shall now keep watching to re-open Dow short

Talking of the Russians did I here that they were/are hiving Gold away a while back?

We don't know why we are laughing at the cypriots because of their spendthrift former communist run government, thanks to Gordon Brown's extravagance in trying to buy votes labour left the famous note to George "there is no money left".Anybody seen "Prudence" lately, perhaps she is lying on the beach in the Bahamas with Tony and Gordon.

Over the last few years, Cyprus has become a magnet for Forex and Binary Options brokers. The attraction is that it's a geographical crossroads for western and eastern Europe and the Middle East, and also their tax laws are quite lax.

Some brokers have been proactive today in advising clients that their funds are held safely outside Cyprus. Others have been eerily quiet. I do hope that no news is good news.

EUR Italian Industrial Production m/m 0.8% consensus -0.3% previous -0.2%

GBP CPI y/y 2.8% consensus 2.8% previous 2.7%

GBP PPI Input m/m 3.2% consensus 1.7% previous 1.3%

GBP RPI y/y 3.2% consensus 3.3% previous 3.3%

GBP Core CPI y/y 2.3% consensus 2.2% previous 2.3%

GBP HPI y/y 2.2% consensus 2.6% previous 3.3%

GBP PPI Output m/m 0.8% consensus 0.2% previous 0.2%

From DP of IC today:
"European equities recovered their poise remarkably quickly yesterday. After a violent initial sell-off in the DAX and FTSE, both staged impressive comebacks. Based on this performance, we may have longer to wait for a more substantial correction to occur. In this environment, I would still seek long positions in these two indices for the moment. At the same time, I favour shorting EURUSD in particular, which is the more obvious way to play jitters over Cyprus and the Eurozone story more generally.

Having bounced back impressively quickly yesterday, the FTSE is currently trapped below its 55-fourhourly EMA (6456.8). I am hopeful of continued recovery to 6535 initially.

Position trade: A swing-chart buy-signal would be good for re-entering.

Day trade: A push above 6475.3 would get me long today."

EUR German ZEW Economic Sentiment 48.5 consensus 47.9 previous 48.2

EUR ZEW Economic Sentiment 33.4 consensus 43.7 previous 42.4

1Hr FTSE 6436 seams to be current support, I'm hoping for it to break.

1HR EUR/GBP, maybe some short term support here, 50DMA cross with 100DMA both on downwards track is interesting. I'm short expecting furhter to go..

Euro-Zone Construction Output Falls Sharply

By Alex Brittain Output in the euro zone's construction industry fell sharply in January, wiping out a modest improvement in December and adding to signs that the bloc is heading for another quarter of economic decline. Construction output in the European Union as a whole--which also includes non-euro-using nations such as the U.K., Sweden and Poland--fell to its lowest level since January 1997. Eurostat, the EU's official statistics agency, said Tuesday that construction output in the 17 nations that use the euro fell 1.4% in January from December and was down 7.3% from the corresponding month a year earlier. The month-to-month drop was the steepest in four months and follows a modest 0.3% increase in December. The fall in year-to-year terms was the most severe since May 2012. Output was likely to have been hit by heavy snow in parts of Europe in January. The figures come after Eurostat's measure of factory output in the currency bloc also fell in January. Together, they show the region's economy made a poor start to 2013, lengthening a 15-month economic downturn that has exacerbated its fiscal crisis and pushed unemployment to record levels. Tuesday's figures showed construction output rising 3.0% month-to-month in Germany, but falling 4.0% in France, underscoring the divergent fortunes of the euro zone's biggest two economies. While Germany looks set for a relatively quick recovery, boosted by its strong exporting industry, France is expected to struggle for growth as its government pushes through measures to curb borrowing levels.

Inflation last month at 2.8% and the best rate for savers is now.............2.8% (ISA)....and base rate is 0.5%........someone is making money out of this, but is sure isn't me atm. (Best 5 yr fixed rate ISA is currently 3.1%. What a con!)

CAD Manufacturing Sales m/m -0.2% consensus 0.7% previous -3.1%

CAD Wholesale Sales m/m 0.3% consensus 0.4% previous -0.9%

USD Building Permits 0.95M consensus 0.93M previous 0.90M

USD Housing Starts 0.92m consensus 0.92M previous 0.89M

February home construction rises modestly

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Construction on new U.S. homes nudged up in February with modest gains for single-family residences and apartments, as longer-term trends signaled a housing market that continues to strengthen, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Tuesday’s report also showed substantial gains in building permits, which indicate future demand.

Construction on new U.S. homes rose 0.8% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000, the highest level since December. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected construction starts in February to rise to a rate of 913,000 from an original January estimate of 890,000. On Tuesday the government upwardly revised January’s starts rate to 910,000. See economic calendar.

Starts for single-family homes rose 0.5% in February to a rate of 618,000, the highest level since June 2008. Meanwhile, starts for structures with at least five units increased 0.7% to a rate of 285,000, the highest level since December.

Might be a good'ish afternoon. DOW +50 start.

Harry - don't forget the DOW is open @1:30pm atm.

he he he ha ha ha...ohhhhh dear Harry. Slipping old lad, slipping.

It looks like the Cypriot vote is scheduled @4pm out time, but may be delayed again.

Cyprus considers zero tax on smaller bank deposits

Ah, looked at Bloomberg futures page and forgot time difference. Duh!
Feelgood factor didn't last long though for the DOW.

We all do it Harry dont worry bud

Just funny when you see it happen.

My warped sense of humour.

Glad its not as bad as cynics though.