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

Spanish Unemployment Change -5.0K 30.2K 59.4K

Spanish Manufacturing PMI 44.2 46.2 46.8

Italian Manufacturing PMI 44.5 45.4 45.8

I think the PMIs are very good given the crisis in Cyprus and the media coverage. The statistics are sentiment driven.

EUR Final Manufacturing PMI 46.8 46.6 46.6

EUR Italian Monthly Unemployment Rate 11.6% 11.8% 11.7%

GBP Manufacturing PMI 48.3 48.9 47.9

GBP Net Lending to Individuals m/m 1.5B 0.9B 0.8B

GBP M4 Money Supply m/m -0.5% 1.1% 0.9%

GBP Mortgage Approvals 52K 54K 54K

Activity in euro-zone factories shrank in March at its fastest rate in three months and new orders also declined at a faster pace, suggesting the industry will continue to struggle in months ahead. The figures add weight to evidence the region's economy shrank in the first three months of the year, lengthening a downturn that has already lasted 15 months and casting doubt on euro-zone leaders' hopes that a recovery will begin soon. The euro-zone purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector fell to 46.8 in March, its lowest level since December, from 47.9 in February, data provider Markit said Tuesday. A reading below 50 means activity was shrinking month-to-month. Markit had previously estimated a slightly more negative figure for March of 46.6. "The euro-zone manufacturing sector looks likely to have acted as a drag on the economy in the first quarter, with an acceleration in the rate of decline in March raising the risk that the downturn may also intensify in the second quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. The worsening state of euro-zone factory activity at the end of the first quarter is bad news for the bloc's leaders, who are banking on an upturn in the economy later this year to help ease their fiscal crisis and prevent other countries from needing bailouts, following aid and loans for Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Cyprus. All eight euro-zone countries that Markit provides detailed figures for showed activity contracting in March, as factories in both Germany and Ireland lost momentum, having grown in previous months. Falls in output accelerated in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France and Greece. A gauge of new orders taken by companies across the bloc--which helps indicate how activity will progress in coming months--fell at its sharpest rate since December.

EUR Unemployment Rate 12.0% 12.0% 11.9%

The number of people out of work in the euro zone climbed to a record in February, as the region's fiscal and debt crisis wore on and businesses continued to retrench. Eurostat, the European Union's official statistics agency, said Tuesday that 19.071 million people were unemployed in the euro zone in February, the highest since its records for the 17 nations that now make up the currency bloc began in 1995. Some 33,000 more people were out of work in February, leaving the jobless rate unchanged at 12.0% of the workforce. January's rate was revised higher, also to 12.0%, the highest figure in Eurostat's database. Unemployment in January jumped by 222,000, according to the revised figures, marking the sharpest rise in joblessness in 10 months. The figures showed continued divergence between the stronger and weaker countries in the currency bloc. Unemployment was lowest in Austria, at 4.8%, and Germany, at 5.4%. Both rates were unchanged from the prior month. In Cyprus, the latest victim of the euro zone's debt crisis, the jobless rate jumped to 14.0% in February from 13.7% in January. In Spain it rose to 26.3% from 26.2%. Greek unemployment in December--the most recent month that data are available for--fell to 26.4% from 26.6% the prior month.

By Ilona Billington LONDON--The pace of decline in the U.K.'s manufacturing sector was little changed in March from February, which means the performance of the sector in the first quarter of this year was weaker than the fourth quarter of 2012, a survey showed Tuesday. The data--which showed demand remained subdued, while prices increased and job cuts continued, suggest that the sector likely weighed on output as a whole over the first three months of the year. That means that the services sector, which accounts for 77% of the U.K.'s economy, must post a strong performance in order to avoid a second straight contraction in gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year. Data firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply's monthly Purchasing Managers Index for the manufacturing sector rose to 48.3 in March from February's 47.9, but remains below the key 50 level which separates expansion from contraction, confirming that the sector continues to shrink. Markit also said that the average manufacturing PMI for the first quarter was 49.0, below the average 49.2 in the fourth quarter. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires last week estimated that the PMI improved to 49.0. "March PMI data indicate that the U.K. manufacturing sector contracted again during the opening quarter of 2013, to remain a drag on the broader economy," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit. "The ongoing weakness of manufacturing and the hard to estimate impact of bad weather on first quarter growth suggest that this is still touch-and-go and that any expansion will be disappointing nonetheless," Mr. Dobson said. The weaker than expected figures also increase the likelihood that the Bank of England could extend its bond-buying programme, otherwise known as Quantitative Easing, when it makes its monetary policy announcement at midday on Thursday. Economists surveyed last week by Dow Jones Newswires forecast rates and policy will remain on hold.

4HRS WALL ST. New high being recorded

Ironically I've just gone short FTSE @6,478.

I debated going short on the FTSE Skinny, with the data out it should be a fair play but looking at the Euro this morning the markets have a mind of their own..

Breakout or a potential short here on EUR/GBP, resistance and support lines added. Maybe worth a punt.

I must be honest, it was almost a 'flip of the coin' (technical term) decision.

Plenty of big guns outperforming the index this morning, so it might have some legs....

2 HR FTSE chart for you, range is looking narrow if tradable.

Thanks Shortie - just debating whether to add to VOD, which is one of my bigger SIPP holdings atm.

Yeah I hold VOD also in a ISA, good news this morning regarding the tip off but I'm just gonna hold. An offer of around 40% premium to the current price sounds too good to be true, I'm holding a nice profit anyway so don't want to risk averaging up on the likelyhood this is all nothing but smoke.

Vodafone M&A talk lifts FTSE

LONDON | Tue Apr 2, 2013 11:36am BST
(Reuters) - The FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday, with a surge in telecoms group Vodafone pushing the index back towards 5-year highs reached at the start of last month.

Traders added that technical indicators pointed towards the likelihood of more near-term gains for the stock market, which in March matched a record streak of 10 consecutive monthly gains.

The FTSE 100 index rose by 0.6 percent, or 36.35 points, to 6,448.09 points - moving back towards the 5-year peak of 6,533.99 points reached on March 12.

USD Factory Orders m/m 3.0% 3.1% -2.0%

USD IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism 46.2 46.1 42.2

6,500 so far.

Quite so Skinny - lol!

My Short FTSE is looking very red :(