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

FTSE posions closed 6596 in profit.

Tempted to by GJ at the moment, worth a read http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/tokyo-time-bomb-japans-looming-debt-disaster-8885

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Short closed +65.

Nice one Skinny, you debating going long now?

Thanks Shortie.

Yes - see what 9:30 brings.

6564 I've gone long, can't see the current range breaking regardless of news.

certainly the fall looks to have been triggered by nothing other than typical august malaise and the need for consolidation

GBP Retail Sales m/m 1.1% 0.7% 0.2%

Long @6,562

Any views?

Personally, I would only trade it long based upon the action on the hourly chart going back over the last week or so, but not with an entry from up there.

There are much easier calls with better risk/reward ratios to make in the FX market right now imo.

Thanks Hils - sanguine as ever! :-)

I was looking at a long position yesterday, I didn't trade however. I think GBP/JPY will head to 155 at the moment.

very easy to get sucked into "falling knife" syndrome, forgetting that what's cheap can get much cheaper still

FTSE averaged down to 6544.2, what were you saying about the falling knife Cynic...

cut palms or, if really bad, cut wrists :-)

i assume no obvious, let alone sensible reason for today's bloodshed

The U.K. government's borrowing costs climbed to a two-year high at a sale of longer-dated bonds Thursday as lack of confidence among investors over the Bank of England's plan to keep interest rates at record lows for the next three years hurt sentiment. The U.K. Debt Management Office sold 2.25 billion pounds ($3.51 billion) of the 4.50% 2034 gilt at an average yield of 3.52% and a cover ratio--a gauge of demand--of 1.48. The last sale of this particular bond took place in August last year but a sale in June this year of a bond maturing in 2032 attracted a cover ratio of 1.45 and an average yield of 3.004%. The average yield at Thursday's auction was the highest for the 2034 bond since an auction in August 2011 when the yield was 3.955%. Yields on other U.K. government bonds have also climbed in recent weeks amid signs of faster economic growth in the U.K. and less support among the Bank of England's rate-setting group for keeping monetary policy accommodative. The 10-year benchmark government bond yield rose to 2.66% Thursday after data showed that U.K. retail sales grew at a faster pace than forecast in July. The yield tail--the difference between the highest accepted yield and the average yield--was 0.7 basis points at Thursday's auction compared with 0.4 basis points at the June sale for the 2032 bond. A longer yield tail suggests that the debt office had to accept some lower-priced bids to sell the amount it intended to.

ah - thanks

This too shall pass! said the actress to the bishop. Anyone any idea which company Primark trade under?

Chris: All about Primark