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

U.S. stock futures moved higher early Thursday, as upbeat Chinese and euro-zone data soothed some of the sting from minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which indicated the central bank is on track to pare its bond purchases by the end of the year. Investors will get fresh data via weekly jobless claims numbers and leading indicators later in the day. Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) posted a second-quarter loss of $194 million Thursday. More retailers will report, with Dollar Tree Inc. (DG) among those expected ahead of the bell. Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) could be in focus, after the PC maker said it swung to a fiscal third-quarter profit late Wednesday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46 points, or 0.3%, to 14893, while those for the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.5 points, or 0.5%, to 1645. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index added 20.50 points, or 0.7%, to 3083. On the data front, initial weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect claims to bump back up to 330,000 from 320,000 in the prior week. At 9 a.m. Eastern, two reports are expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded in August and home prices rose in June -- via the Markit 'flash" PMI manufacturing index and the FHFA home price index. The leading economic index is due at 10 a.m., and economists expect indicators will rise 0.5% in July after no gain in June. Finally at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher will speak at the U.S. manufacturing summit. U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Wednesday after the minutes of the July Federal Open Market Committee Meeting confirmed views that the Fed will begin tapering its $85-billion-dollar-a-month bond purchases by the end of the year, even though no time frame was given. The Dow industrials stretched losses to a sixth session Wednesday, finishing below 15,000 for the first time since July 3. It ended at 14897.55, down 105.44 points, or 0.7%. The S&P 500 index lost 9.55 points, or 0.6%, to 1642.80. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields marked fresh two-year highs on Thursday, moving above 2.9% in Asia trading, and most recently trading at 2.913%, according to FactSet Research. Helping soothe some Fed-related unease, China's manufacturing data saw a surprise rebound in August, according to a preliminary reading of HSBC's Purchasing Managers' index. The PMI rebounded to a four-month high of 50.1, which brings it close to China's official data, which came in at 50.3 in July. In Germany, the yield on the German bund jumped to a 17-month high after data showed business activity in the euro zone expanded at the fastest pace in over two years in August. Separately, Germany's purchasing managers index rose to a 7-month high in August, data from Markit showed. Europe stocks rallied on the data, and Asia stocks also came off lows, but emerging markets were again under pressure with Philippine stocks plunging after severe floods and a public holiday kept the index closed. The Indian rupee fell to a fresh record low against the dollar, which was largely holding steady against major rivals. In commodity markets, gold prices slipped and oil prices were higher.

Watt St closed 14934 +17 pts

10min Wall St, 14972 is the first test, maybe not today though.

There are many undervalued stocks in the US which have to rise soon, like AMD, Cisco, etc,
I think we are very close or at the start of a bull run till Christmas.

I'm not sure the market would agree with you Ahoj on Cisco... Think I'll add this to my short watchlist looking at the below..

Short FTSE 6483.3

Short @6,512.

Added a further short 6512.5, two bets average 6497.9, 6510 first resistence then 6536 I make it.

I had 6,495.64 and 6,511.90 as resistance - but tempted to close before 3pm.

Out for +12 - I'll look later as its bound to tank now!

6512.5 closed at 6496.8 for +15.7, 6483.3 short still in play.

US Jul New Home Sales -13.4% To 394K; Consensus 490K

6384.4 FTSE closed -1.1 pts

Just over two weeks to the St Leger. Lets hope things get a bit more active on the stock market. All a bit dull atm.

U.S. economy grew at 2.5% annual rate in second quarter, faster than previously reported by Commerce Department.
so will the markets perversely now run scared?

You'd think so Cynic, any tapering will cause concern that growth might stall.

Debating going short on the FTSE, already been short once today and closed at profit, looking for above 6500, 6520-6535 shows resistance

6506 short

6462 closed for +56

FTSE 100 Daily Below, tempted to go long but will wait and see what happens this afternoon.

Rate decisions are due from the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank Thursday, along with the U.S. ADP employment report, while nonfarm payrolls are out Friday.

I have sadly sold all my CSR shares after a terrific run; there's a buying opportunity for someone here :-)