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

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

Italy Bonds Erase Decline as Cyprus’s Banks Reopen; Bunds Drop

Italian 10-year yields were at 4.78 percent as of 12:41 p.m. London time, set for a weekly gain to 26 basis points. The 5.5 percent bond maturing in November 2022 rose 0.01, or 10 euro cents per 1,000-euro ($1,281) face amount, to 105.93. The yield earlier climbed as much as eight basis points to 4.86 percent.

Hilary - lol!! I'd forgotten I used to enjoy playing with those!

Chicago PMI 52.4 consensus 56.5 previous 56.8

I feel the DOW is determined to reach new heights today, come what may...

Just seen on MarketWatch.com that the S&P 500 index has "surpassed its all-time closing high"

that is true ...... it's still probably a short (i'm not), but 1600 will be the really critical level

Triple top?