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

Dow up 117 polnts LOL

I'm up, stairs. :-))

I'm at work DC :O)

Sorry to hear that Chris, a belated happy Christmas and an early happy new year. :-))

Same to you DC! By the way I use the term work loosely :O)

So are you drinking a pint. :-))

pint or not...someone is working to let someone not..:))
sofa , legs up, laptop with market on the left, remote controls on the right, movie in a front , drink in a hand,selection of six home baked cakes there next to chrismas tree, rest of treasury upstairs, dry night after sunny day..ftse will gap higher..maybe asc too..frickin end of the year..:)

Happy Christmas Tomasz. :-))

Happy Christmas Dreamcatcher to you :))

ftse's managing open gap really well, strong sign:)

Tomi Kilgore NEW YORK--U.S. stock futures tilted slightly higher, as growing optimism about the economy and gains in overseas markets helped extend recent gains to record highs. European markets were broadly higher, with the region's benchmark index heading toward a 5 1/2-year high, as investors returned from a two-day holiday in an upbeat mood. About 90 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 15 points, or 0.1%, to 16437. The Dow Thursday rallied 122 points, or 0.7%, to hit the 50th record high of the year. The Dow also posted its sixth-straight gain, the longest winning streak since the 10-session stretch ending March 14. S&P 500 index futures edged up one point, or 0.1%, to 1837 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained two points, or 0.1%, to 3584. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell. Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, which advises on $4 billion in assets, said investors should just sit tight, and not read too much into the market's moves in the near term, as volumes should remain very light. "The stock market is being driven mainly on yearend squaring up of positions," Mr. Pavlik said. "You can't take anything from what the market does the next couple days." There are no major economic data scheduled for release. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 3.013%, after settling at a 2 1/2-year high of 2.990% late Thursday. Rather than being spooked by the recent run up in Treasury yields, which raises borrowing costs for home buyers, investors are taking it as a sign of an improving U.S. economy that can sustain its growth even though the Federal Reserve has started reducing its monetary-stimulus efforts, analysts say. "There is a lot of optimism being built up about an improving economy," Mr. Pavlik said. But while "the market's preference is to try to rise for the remaining days of the year," investors shouldn't scramble to get more involved in the market than they already are, he said. The dollar rose against the yen to reach Y105 for the first time since October 2008, but fell sharply against the euro to levels not seen since November 2011. Front month February crude oil futures inched up less than 0.1% to $99.64 a barrel, while December gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,212.90 an ounce. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.7%, and on track for a sixth-straight gain to the highest level since May 2008. Germany's DAX 30 index rose 0.8%, France's CAC 40 gained 1.1% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.7%. Investors shrugged off the turmoil in Turkish markets, in which stocks extended their recent slide after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to replace nearly half of his cabinet in the aftermath of a corruption scandal. In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite ran up 1.4% as interbank lending rates eased. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average erased early losses to end up less than 0.1% at a six-year high. In corporate news, WPCS International soared 54% in heavy premarket trading after the company announced late Thursday that its BTX Trader unit released a beta version of a bitcoin trading platform. Twitter fell 0.9%, pulling back from a rally that has produced a 76% gain so far this month. The microblogging site's market capitalization through Thursday reached $39.9 billion, topping that of Target and Time Warner. General Motors slipped 0.1% after the auto maker and its Chinese partner, said it will recall more than 1.46 million Buick and Chevrolet cars because of defective fuel-pump brackets.

DOW looking to open above 16,500.

5715 shorting Facebook..

5686 position closed

Spike to 6,777 on the FTSE.

margin call for cynic ? dead silence..consider a bit of collection from all here to support poor old man

Well I'm certainly prepared to step up to the plate... Is 5p any help -):

this is so great from you Stan, surely even well above anticipated..:))

your offer is most generous stan, but fortunately not remotely required

fwiw, i shall be looking to bank some further profits from asst'd long positions over the next couple of weeks, but with a view to re-buying following weakness, perhaps as soon as the second half of january

good spirit and propaganda should remain as top play