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

just to clarify the latest posts
i wonder how many sort of crossed in the ether and who, if we don't say so, is talking to who? i.e is S's post no.12256 is it addresed to me or to ahoj?
just looking for clarification. anyone who may have any problems with my responses and to whom they are adressed please let me know and i will correct.
thanks and good luck
regards
jkd

cynic - the DOW tends to bite me more!

jkd post 12256 was for ahoj, only noticed your post after I had posted, sorry for the confusion.

Skinny, I'll second the bite on the DOW...

S
that's ok thanks for your confirmation. it does happen and it's not your fault.
regards to you
jkd

I am still out - main reason is I have no cash having put it all on AMER in anticipation of a steady rise from here. Ho Hum

EUR German Factory Orders m/m 2.2% -0.4% 2.3%

Wow

Thinking about adding a miner or two to the portfolio e.g. BLT.

You want extra mayo with that BLT, Floss? :o)

chartists will tell you that ftse is now sitting right at the very top of its resistance band ...... now pays yer money etc

That's an epic idea Hils :-)

Now if I was a betting man- which of course I am not - Then I think I would be selling both the FTSE (@6552) and the Dow (at 15004). Alas I have no cash.

Edit - with a stop of 6565 on Ftse and 15025 on Dow

Shame your not a betting man bhunt as you'd have been on the money!

I'm still short and have added today @6,559 AND just realised it's Tuesday evening -so ex dividend day tomorrow!

Looking at current prices - looks like I was lucky that I did not have any money - cos looks like I would have lost it by now !!!!!!

PS - if you are short, remember you will be PAYING the dividend - not receiving it

Hence my post.

GBP BRC Retail Sales Monitor y/y -2.2% 1.9%

UK retail sales post steepest fall in a year - BRC

LONDON | Wed May 8, 2013 5:29am BST
(Reuters) - Retail sales plunged unexpectedly last month, hurt by an earlier Easter this year, although the underlying trend appears to be improving, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday.

Sales values fell 2.2 percent from a year earlier on a like-for-like measure, which strips out changes in stores' floor space and is favoured by company analysts. That was the steepest drop in a year and confounded analysts' forecasts for a 1.8 percent rise.

The total value of sales dipped 0.6 percent in April, breaking an almost year-long run of growth.