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'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.

Halifax HPI m/m 1.1% 0.2% 0.2%

CSR doing the business for me. Up 133% since I bought.

Apples & oranges. (FTSE /DOW)

Blue apples? I don't think so!

Sir Alex Ferguson is going to retire at the end of the season

Sir Alex Ferguson will step down as Manchester United manager at the end of the season after 26 years in charge.

The Scot, 71, has won 38 trophies since taking over from Ron Atkinson on 6 November 1986, including this season's Premier League title.

His haul includes 13 titles, two Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and five League Cups.

"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about. It is the right time," Ferguson said.

"It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so.

Countries which are growing fast (3.5% to 8%) have over 50% of the world population (India, China, Malaysia, Brazil). Market is ignoring the positive news from these countries. Relaxing single child policy by China should help as well.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-april-trade-data-beats-023948850.html

This combined with money injection around the world should push the value of cash lower and asset values higher.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds-credibility-tested-inflation-drifts-050452057.html

German Industrial Production m/m 1.2% -0.1% 0.6%

Tipping point? I think so, short DAX today for me..

GBP Manufacturing Production m/m 1.1% 0.4% 0.8%

GBP Industrial Production m/m 0.7% 0.3% 1.0%

GBP Asset Purchase Facility 375B 375B 375B

GBP Official Bank Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

CAD NHPI m/m 0.1% 0.1% 0.2%

USD Unemployment Claims 323K 333K 324K

Yen breaks through 100, Abenomics hits another milestone

TOKYO | Fri May 10, 2013 4:13am BST
(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scored another small victory as the yen broke below major support of 100 to the dollar, with analysts predicting further declines over the course of the year that would underpin the export-dependent economy.

The yen fell to as low as 101.20 per dollar, down more than two percent from Thursday's high around 98.65, and the lowest level in over four and a half years.

German Trade Balance 17.6B 18.0B 17.7B

Don't panic!

Italian Industrial Production m/m -0.8% -0.2% -0.9%