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

Whilst looking at gold, worth a read if your trading.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/01/1482892/gold-as-collateral-not-stock/

Greece says concludes privatisation of gambling monopoly OPAP

ATHENS | Wed May 1, 2013 4:20pm BST
(Reuters) - Greece agreed on Wednesday to sell a stake in gambling monopoly OPAP (OPAr.AT) to investment fund Emma Delta after the sole bidder for the firm raised its offer, the country's finance minister said.

"The first big privatisation in our country was successfully completed," finance minister Yannis Stournaras said in a statement, without giving further details.

--The U.S. debt ceiling, suspended in January, will take effect again later this month --Treasury can use "extraordinary measures" to stretch out its spending ability --Treasury says it will "provide greater clarity" at a later date (Recasts; adds comments from briefing) By Jeffrey Sparshott WASHINGTON--The Treasury Department said Wednesday it can keep borrowing "for a period of time" after the debt ceiling resets next month, but it didn't endorse Wall Street projections that the U.S. can stay below the borrowing limit into September. Improving finances could allow some breathing room that hasn't existed in recent years, a Treasury official said. Lawmakers in January approved a short-term suspension of the debt ceiling, allowing the government to keep paying its bills while the White House and Congress negotiate new spending and tax plans. The measure suspended the debt cap until May 18, when it will re-emerge at the level of debt on that day. U.S. debt stood at $16.719 trillion Monday. If May 19 comes without an agreement, the Treasury would have to deploy extraordinary measures--such as halting pension investments and juggling its accounts--to keep debt below that new level. In the past, the Treasury's steps have bought about $200 billion leeway, or only two to three months of additional time.

CNY HSBC Final Manufacturing PMI 50.4 50.6 50.5

China factory growth eases, adds to recovery risk

BEIJING | Thu May 2, 2013 4:35am BST
(Reuters) - China's factory-sector growth eased in April as new export orders fell for the first time this year, a private survey showed on Thursday, suggesting the euro zone recession and sluggish U.S. demand may be risks to China's economic recovery.

The final HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 50.4 in April from March's 51.6 and was largely in line with a flash reading last week of 50.5. Fifty divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.

China's official PMI on Wednesday painted a similar picture, falling to 50.6 in April from an 11-month high of 50.9 in March as new export orders fell.

Spanish Manufacturing PMI 44.7 44.6 44.2

Is HAS on your radar skinny? PE 13.46, PEG 2.50, Div Yld 6.49%, EPS & EPS growth both in +ve and possibly this is a growth sector once we start to come out of recession?

Thanks Harry, I'll have a look - it hasn't come up before when I've looked at yields - especially @6.49%.

GBP Construction PMI 49.4 48.1 47.2

Hmm....have just checked same data with another website & some of it is very similar, whereas div yield is way off! I'll get back to you!

Yield (1.67+0.83)/ 93p = @ 2.69% (2.688)

French 10-y Bond Auction 1.81|2.0 1.94|3.1

The below FTSE350 companies all pay +7% yield and are well covered Harry.

PHNX, FGP, RSL, IAP, POG, LRE

LRE chart looks interesting, although the dividend policy is causing me a bit of head scratching atm.

I'll leave you to scratch... lol

Thanks Shortie. I have those on my list to look at. I already hold POG.

UK Commercial Property Trust Ltd ( XLON : UKCM ) was this one of yours Skinny? 6.7% yield

They are on my list - ex dividend next week I believe - I've got quite a few doing very well in the sector - mainly SIPPed.

On edit - yield is just over 7%.

I was debating XLON over LMP, still undecided though. DAX mainly has my attention still.

Shortie - I take it you mean UKCM?

EUR Minimum Bid Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.75%