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

EUR Flash Manufacturing PMI 46.5 46.8 46.8

EUR Flash Services PMI 46.6 46.7 46.4

GBP Public Sector Net Borrowing 16.7B 14.3B 4.4B

Spanish HPI q/q -0.8% previous -2.2%

def a good day at the ranch so far today! .... inter alia, cheekily bought into HG+HC Index this morning :-)

CAD Core Retail Sales m/m 0.7% 0.5% 0.4%

CAD Retail Sales m/m 0.8% 0.3% 0.9%

Just gone short FTSE @6,376.8

USD Flash Manufacturing PMI 52.0 53.8 54.6

USD HPI m/m 0.7% 0.7% 0.6%

snap Skinny 6372

Are you guys still short FTSE as it still seems to have legs!

Yes - I am.

I'd been long twice since Friday and closed the 2nd and reversed around R2 - ignoring everything else!!

I'll see if it gets above 6,411.74 and decide then - ho hum!

1HR Wall Street

FTSE 15min Cross forming for the downside...

6406 I'm short FTSE also..

Underwear change

Thanks Hils - I saw it and assumed it was fat finger.

Skinny - whats your analysis on your post of chart ? long or short

I am currently short

Nar1 - it looks like I shouldn't have reversed my long!



UK retools flagship credit scheme to get growth going again

LONDON | Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:09am BST
(Reuters) - Britain reworked its Funding for Lending Scheme on Wednesday in the hope of getting more credit flowing to small and medium-sized firms and injecting more life into the country's flat-lining economy.

The Bank of England and the Treasury said the FLS would run for an additional year until January 2015 and would increase incentives for banks to lend to smaller firms. Also, the scheme would include non-bank providers of credit, they said.

Apple's cash plan takes heat off Cook, buys him time

Wed Apr 24, 2013 4:37am BST
(Reuters) - Tim Cook wants investors to "think different" about Apple: less as a hyper-growth startup-like company and more as a mature but robust technology corporation with the world's most lucrative dividend.

If Wall Street follows Apple's famous advertising slogan of old, it may relieve some of the pressure on Apple's chief executive, quiet investors' grumbling about its recent share price slide, and buy the company time to do what it says it does best: come up with and market new products.

Nikkei vaults to nearly 5-year highs, aided by weak yen, strong U.S. earnings

Just as well I closed my FTSE short this morning for a -5 loss.
It has continued the climb up again.
Getting close to the "sell in May and go away" time!
Wonder if it will be appropriate this year?
TT

yesterday's momentary plunge on dow highlights the dangers and problems of setting stops