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

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?

Indeed a triple top Skinny. I'm not actually trading the S&P but I know it's been a big target for the US this month.

I've just gone short DOW at 14560 - having fallen into temptation (I'd already set a short earlier at a lower level but just couldn't resist this).

Damn - it's racing away already! And I'd edited my earlier target of 14580! That'll teach me...

ah, but will that herald a reversal or another stonking upward surge?

Time will tell :) But it could just be a reaction to the S&P topping

2 hRS DOW

Thanks Shortie