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

Gold Futures Retreat Below $1,600 on Cyprus Deal
--Comex April gold down 0.7% at $1,595.60/troy ounce --Cyprus secures bailout, easing worries of a sovereign-debt default --Comex option expiration likely weighing on gold prices By Tatyana Shumsky NEW YORK--Gold prices fell Monday, slipping below $1,600 for the first time in a week, as the bailout accord between Cyprus and its international creditors limited investor demand for a refuge. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, was recently down $10.50, or 0.7%, at $1,595.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Cypriot government will receive 10 billion euros ($13 billion) in financing and will shut the nation's second-largest bank, imposing steep loses on deposits of more than EUR100,000. The deal bolstered the euro against the dollar to a one-week high amid relief that the worst-case scenario of a sovereign-debt default had been avoided. Gold prices, however, came under pressure as easing concerns about Europe's political and financial stability eroded investor interest in a haven. "Now that we have a deal in Cyprus, some of the shine has been taken from gold," said Marc Ground, a metals strategist with Standard Bank, in a note to clients. Gold prices are also facing pressure from the upcoming Comex gold options expiration, which occurs at the end of trading Monday. April options turn into April-delivery futures contracts, and with a large number of contracts centered around $1,600 and $1,575 are likely to influence trading throughout the day. Still, gold's losses are likely to be muted as buyers in India, the world's largest consumer of the precious metal, are slowly returning to the market after a two-month lull. Indian demand is rebounding, industry executives say, as the spring wedding season draws out purchases of gold jewelry as a traditional gift for newlyweds. Bachraj Bamalwa, chairman of All India Gems & Jewelry Trade Federation, forecast that gold demand may rise by as much as 50% to 150 metric tons in April and May. --Debiprasad Nayak contributed to this article.

Thanks Skinny, cant seam to post charts at the moment, working from laptop running win8 using Chrome.... The article explains the dip though.. One to watch tomorrow, maybe gold up markets down... Also USD/EUR reversal tomorrow.

Off topic - how do you find W8? I have a new PC coming this week W8.

Hey skinners, don't forget to check out the Coupon Code Shack if you need any software for your new 'puter. :o)

Thanks Hils - "Furious Scalper" sounds interesting! :-)

Mixed feelings really, the tile system is good for things like email, facebook, messenger all one one screen and will be better as more tiles and the world adopts it. I got 6MB of RAM and intels i5 and seams to be very quick as an operating system over XP. Desktop becomes a tile which although isn't a problem takes getting used to. Also as using a non touch laptop the touch function becomes justures on the finger mouse thing which again will take some getting used to. Would be logically with a touchscreen though.

Thanks, I had the option of W7 or W8 and finally opted for 8 and have mixed feelings from what I've read.

I've gone for an I7 3770 with 8GB of RAM - which I am looking forward to playing with.

Very nice skinny, that'll be a nice machine for gaming and media then... You could take over the world with that.. lol

who would want Hanwell in preference to Kensington :-)) ?

Looks like the houses of cards are starting to topple... DAX, DOW FTSE

Agree with you Shortie.

I think I might be on track to recouping my losses! Went short DOW at 14542 and FTSE 6426 (rather a random level, but had made a bit on a long earlier...)

I'm so excited - just had to share my good news with you guys!

My theory is that the Cyprus deal could still cause some 'contagion' and set a precedent for future bail-outs needing bail-ins

That's the way to do it! Yahoo spends 'millions' on UK teen Nick D'Aloisio's Summly app

An app created by a UK teenager has been acquired by web giant Yahoo in a deal the BBC understands to be worth "dozens of millions" of pounds.

Seventeen-year-old Nick D'Aloisio's Summly app summarises news stories from popular media companies.

Cyprus defends bailout deal amid recession fears

The government of Cyprus has defended a 10bn-euro bailout deal to save its banks from collapse, amid warnings the island faces deep recession.

Laiki (Popular) Bank, the country's second largest, will be wound up, but small savers will be protected.

Depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($130,000; £85,000), many of whom are Russian, face big losses.

President Putin has told Russian officials to restructure a 2.5bn-euro loan extended to Cyprus in 2011.

Mistress T - clearly some unexpected things get you excited (writes aide memoire to self) .... VERY happy i made a good call too + earlier banking modest profits in C+M and HG+HC Indices

Hi Cynic - indeed, nice surprises always excite me :)

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The rescue program for Cyprus reached on Monday is a new template for addressing banking problems in the euro zone, said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the chair of the Eurogroup of euro-zone finance ministers, according to Reuters. "If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be 'Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalize yourself?' If the bank can't do it, then we'll talk to shareholders and the bondholders, we'll ask them to contribute in recapitalizing the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders," he said, according to the report

dow melting like butter on a hotplate :-))

licking the lips i am Mistress

It's like the bottom's fallen out of a cold jar filled with hot, still-runny jam Cynic ;)

DOW not tested 14411 support yet...

Eurogroup Head: Cyprus Deal New Template For Euro zone - Report
By Geoffrey T. Smith The losses suffered by uninsured depositors in Cyprus as part of its rescue package may have to be repeated elsewhere in the euro zone, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said in a joint interview with Reuters and the Financial Times Monday. "If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be 'Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalise yourself?'. If the bank can't do it, then we'll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders, we'll ask them to contribute in recapitalising the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders," Mr. Dijsselbloem said. He said that the decision taken in the small hours of Monday by the 'Eurogroup'--the euro zone's 17 finance ministers--should be seen as proof of a new determination to limit the collective liability for bank failures, and reduce to a minimum the need for direct recapitalization of banks by the European Stability Mechanism, the safety net established by the euro zone last year. Asked what the decision meant for other countries with problems in their banking sectors, Mr. Dijsselbloem said: "It means deal with it before you get in trouble. Strengthen your banks, fix your balance sheets and realise that if a bank gets in trouble, the response will no longer automatically be that we'll come and take away your problem. We're going to push them back. That's the first response we need. Push them back. You deal with them." Although his comments represent a sharp shift in rhetoric by euro-zone officials, who have preferred to emphasize the ostensible strengthening of the euro zone's institutional defenses over the last year, they repeat basic principles that have been used in previous bail-outs: notably, that shareholders and creditors should first bear the cost of resolving failed banks. They differ mainly in the explicit reference to the 'bailing-in' of uninsured depositors.

Can you believe it..!