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

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 :(

I was too late to ride the upward DOW earlier but am not sure I'm brave enough to short it either!

1 Hour Wall Street below.. 14680 running short.

sooner or later there has to be a pretty serious correction, he said with buttocks clenched

I went short at 14670 in the end - fingers crossed

Cynic - a 100+ fall now/overnight would be handy and a bounce back here by opening.

Nordic equity markets end firmly higher, as risk appetite strengthens amid reports that lenders will ease the terms of Cyprus' bailout package. OMXN40 closes +1% at 1176.30, with Oslo's OBX +0.8% at 437.85. Defensive stocks such as Denmark's Coloplast and Novozymes outperform, gaining 4.5% and 3.5% respectively, while Swedish and Finnish cyclicals post declines; Assa Abloy ends 1.3% lower, Outokumpu down 3.5%. Wednesday's focus will be on the US ISM non-manufacturing survey [1400 GMT] and before that the ADP employment report [1230 GMT], ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls. (niclas.rolander@dowjones.com)

As-expected gains in February factory orders eased some worries about US growth, keeping Treasurys down for the day. Still, some traders are cautious about the "spring swoon" seen in each of the past two years--a fear that will keep Treasurys in demand. Short-term economic data got inflated, "setting the stage for a possible pullback in the spring," says Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. Volumes this morning have been modest with cash trading at 84% of the 10-day moving-average, according to CRT Capital, and should stay this way ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report. Ten-year notes off 6/32 to yield 1.861%.

For anybody who likes a rumour punt, the story just starting to gain a little pace is that Infitialis (stock whistleblower) are putting together a fraud negative report on $LNKD

Do you mean a fraud negative report on $LNKD or a fraud negative report about $LNKD.

Dow Jones and S&P climb to new highs

New York's Dow Jones and S&P 500 share indexes have set new all-time highs.

The rallies mean the stock markets are returning to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis.

The Dow rose 89 points, to close at 14,662, after an earlier intraday high of about 14,684, The previous record high of 14,285 was set in March.

And the broader S&P 500 closed at a record high of 1,570, suggesting investors are regaining confidence in the US economy.

Investors Grow Cautious as Bank of Japan Gets Set to Meet

TOKYO—Can the reality match the hype? Financial markets are already reflecting ideas that the much-anticipated meeting of the Bank of Japan's policy board this week, the first under leadership that has vowed aggressive action to end Japan's economic slump, won't meet expectations.

Japan's Great Monetary Experiment Begins — Here's What You Need To Know

This is it – the moment the Abenomics-watchers have been waiting for.
Wednesday night, the Bank of Japan will conclude its first monetary policy meeting with new BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at the helm.

So far, Japan's great "Abenomics" experiment – which seeks to employ bold policy tools to overcome more than a decade of deflation – has been mostly talk.