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

Italy Economy Minister: Haven't Heard Anything about a Debt Downgrade

By Eva Palumbo ROME--The economy minister of Italy's outgoing government Thursday said he hadn't heard anything about a possible downgrade of the country's sovereign debt by ratings company Moody's Investors Service Inc., speculation that has been circulating on trading floors since Monday, sending financial stocks lower earlier in the week. "I don't have any news about it," Vittorio Grilli told reporters after a parliamentary hearing, according to MF-Dow Jones. "I hope the opposite occurs." Moody's said in a statement Monday that it didn't comment on such rumors. Shares in the country's two biggest banks were trading higher Thursday, ahead of a meeting between center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani and President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome. Mr. Bersani is to report on the outcome of consultations between political parties on forming a government, after inconclusive elections in February. However, the chances of success are slim after the anti-establishment party, 5 Star Movement, said it would not support Mr. Besani. At 1028 GMT, shares in UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) were up 2.01% at EUR3.35, while Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) shares were 1.68% higher at EUR1.15 in Milan, with one trader attributing the rise to a rebound after stocks suffered heavy losses earlier in the week.

CAD GDP m/m 0.2% consensus 0.1% previous -0.2%

CAD RMPI m/m 2.2% consensus 1.9% previous 3.8%

CAD IPPI m/m 1.4 % consensus 0.6% previous 0.0%

USD Unemployment Claims 357k consensus 340K previous 336K

USD Final GDP q/q 0.4% consensus 0.5% previous 0.1%

USD Final GDP Price Index q/q 1.0% consensus 0.9% previous 0.9%

Toya - I added @6,445 - I know I shouldn't, but am tempted to stay short over the long weekend.

I was tempted to add around that level too but am determined not to fall into temptation... However, I shall keep a couple of short positions (one on the DOW also) over the weekend

Dow, and thus FTSE, are currently ignoring the rather/very poor US unemployment numbers, presumably offset by U.S. economy grew at upwardly revised 0.4% annual rate in fourth quarter

i'm also currently on the wrong side of both dow and ftse, but equally very tempted to add to that position ..... at least it's all easily made good by a long in HG+HC In dex

I'm short FTSE, EUR/GBP and DOW now may go long gold/silver this afternoon

Cynic: GDP had been estimated to be revised to 0.5% (in one report) and 0.6% in another - hence not all that brilliant since it's not come up to scratch on either.

Do we expect to see some 'profit taking' on the DOW as this is the last trading day of the first quarter?

Hmmm - BlackBerry surprises with quarterly profit

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — BlackBerry Inc. reported a net profit for its fourth fiscal quarter on Thursday morning, with shipments of the company’s newest smartphones hitting the 1 million unit mark, though total smartphone shipments came in below expectations.

The results were reported prior to Thursday’s opening bell. BlackBerry BBRY -1.90% CA:BB +0.89% shares fell 3% in premarket trades after an initial rise. The company is hosting a conference call at 8 a.m. ET, which MarketWatch will cover live.

FTSE 100, 10 chart minute

Thanks for that Skinny.

And good ol' Blackberry - I'm pleased with mine and have used them for years.

Closed latter @6,428+17 for now - still short from 25.

Hmm.... but can you play Hill Climb Racer on it when sitting on the throne? ;o) Android is the future!!!

Not on my nokia 6300 :-)

Harrycat: I'm not good with all those new-fangled toys! Even though I was well ahead in the 80s, being an early bird to produce educational software for schools. I like my Crackberry

Re the Italian downgrade rumour, sovereign downgrade rumours very rarely prove accurate.

Given that ratings agencies make their releases on the US close and always decline to comment on rumours, buying a financial journalist lunch and giving him a re-rating 'scoop' is a good way of getting the market to move the way you want with minimum downside risk.

Toya,

Have you got one of those latest iCans?

Mistress probably has more interesting toys