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

MarketWatch MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stocks gave up a loose hold on gains Wednesday, after a batch of data including stronger-than-expected euro-zone retail sales. Portugal was again a strong performer as its borrowing costs remained low. Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve, due later in the day, were expected to keep many investors in a holding pattern. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.1% to 329. The index closed at 329.40 on Wednesday, its highest closing value since May 19, 2008. The move was driven by upbeat German unemployment data and falling European borrowing costs, which were reflected in bond prices. Among stocks on the move, shares of Akzo Nobel NV fell 3.5% after the Dutch painting and chemicals company said it would continue to cut costs in 2014 and kept its outlook for 2013. Shares of Scor SE also fell 3.5% after the global reinsurer was cut to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan Cazenove, where analysts said the sector is in a soft cycle that will slow earnings growth for those companies. While Scor is best-placed to offset this with lower hedging costs, the analysts said, they cut earnings-per-share forecasts for it by 8% for 2014 and 4% for 2015, and reduced dividend forecasts. Shares of Air France-KLM SA rose 7% after the airline reported a rise in passenger traffic of 2.1% and a load factor rise of 0.9 points. The unit revenue per available seat-kilometer was "resilient," the company said. European stocks got a few pieces of data on Wednesday. Retail sales for the euro-zone rose at the fastest pace in 12 years during November, lifting hopes for a revival in domestic demand. The sales jump came as a surprise as the euro-zone's unemployment rate stayed stubbornly high in November, unchanged at 12.1%. Other data showed German manufacturing orders surging in November amid a glut of bulk orders. The data comes ahead of a monthly meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday. Some had been speculating that ECB President Mario Draghi may have to take a dovish tone, given the single-currency zone saw another fall in inflation on Tuesday. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will also announce a rate decision Thursday. The rally for Europe stocks on Wednesday was fueled by upbeat German employment numbers and falling borrowing costs across Europe's periphery, which helped lift the Spain IBEX 35 index to its best levels since mid-2011 on falling bond yields, but the IBEX flattened out on Wednesday. Portugal's PSI 20 held to a gain of 0.8% to 7,019.34, led by 2.8% rise for Banco Espirito Santo SA Among other indexes, the German DAX 30 index fell 0.1% to 9,493.20, and the French CAC 40 index was flat at 4,259.09. The FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 6,728.62 after the Halifax House Price index showed a drop of 0.6% in December, the first decline in a year. Among the heavyweights, shares of British American Tobacco PLC fell 1%. Away from the main indexes, shares of Mothercare PLC tumbled 27% after a profit warning. The international mother-and-baby goods retailer said worldwide network sales fell 4.4% in the 12 weeks to Jan. 4, with the U.K. hit particularly hard by promotional sales over the Christmas period. Mothercare's chief executive, Simon Calver, said the company remains cautious looking forward and full-year profits will likely be below the current range of market expectations. U.S. stock futures eased as investors awaited the Fed minutes of its Dec. 18 meeting, which will come after the close of European markets. The U.S. also has ADP employment data on tap for later, which precedes Friday's all-important nonfarm-payrolls data.

6742.8 short FTSE, small bet

6720.8 FTSE short closed

far too early :-)

just stopped profit 6694. 244 pts.

Not the time to monitor the FTSE today... Facebook short in profit as is MotherCare

i'm short MTC as well - thanks for that heads-up :-)
shorted MKS again late this afternoon, and that's also doing well having cut losses this morning

still short dow and s+p

I just post some of my positions and how I see it Cynic.

I know you think Parkmead is a cardboard company but you might want to look again at them. The Athena field should be very profitable because when it acquired Lochard Energy the company acquired tax losses which essentially shelter the Athena 30% interest from the UK North Sea 62% tax rate. Also on the Athena field capex has already essentially been paid for. With these considerations Athena should be very profitable for the company after operating costs... I think Parkmead will turn a profit this year now, rather than be forcasted to make a loss over the next two..

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks gave up opening gains on Thursday and turned lower as investors digested data on weekly jobless claims and focused on corporate earnings reports. The S&P 500 index (SPX) fell 5 points, or 0.3% to 1,832.98. The benchmark index has fallen in three out of four sessions since the new year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) lost 63 points, or 0.4% to 16,400.54. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite(RIXF) dropped 18 points, or 0.4% to 4,147.48. The number of Americans who applied to receive unemployment benefits in the first week of the new year fell to the lowest level since the end of November. In the week ended Jan. 4, initial jobless claims fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 330,000, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday. That matched the forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch. Investors are awaiting the official unemployment figures due to be released on Friday. Setting the tone for Friday's job data, was an upbeat report from Automatic Data Processing, showing that private employers created 238,000 jobs in December, exceeding estimates. Investors also focused on European Central Bank chairman Mario Draghi's relatively dovish tone during the press conference, following the central bank's decision to hold its main interest rates unchanged at 0.25%. Earlier, Bank of England also left the rates unchanged at 0.5%. Read the transcript from the live blog here. Douglas Cote, chief investment strategist at ING investment management, said that current pullback is reasonable and expected, given strong gains in the stock markets in 2013. "The baton has been passed down from the Fed to markets. Consistently good economic news is going to raise the questions of Fed accelerating tapering, which we believe will end by the end of 2014. Essentially, fundamentals drive markets: manufacturing, consumers and corporate profits -- all of which are growing and bode well for stocks in 2014. However, consistent good economic news begets more volatility. Markets will have to get used to higher volatility to be rewarded, as market-friendly quantitative easing is gradually withdrawn." * Central banks: On Thursday, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold. Janet Yellen, incoming Federal Reserve Chairwoman in an interview with Time magazine, said that the U.S. economy would see stronger growth this year. Kansas City Fed President Esther George will deliver a speech on banking and the economy to the Wisconsin Bankers Association in Madison, Wis., at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. * Movers and shakers: Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares fell 12.9% after the retailer reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and trimmed its outlook late Wednesday. Macy's Inc. jumped 7.5% after the retailer said it would lay off 2,500 workers and close five underperforming stores. Family Dollar Stores, Inc. shares slid 6.5% after the discount retailer's quarterly results missed expectations. Apple Inc. shares were in focus after saying it will try to reach a settlement with Samsung on their long-running patent fight ahead of a new trial that is scheduled to begin in March in California. Chief executives from both companies will meet before Feb. 19 with a mediator following a meeting on Monday to discuss "settlement opportunities." Apple shares rose 0.5%. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. climbed 5.1%, recouping some of its 10% loss from the previous session after the firm made veiled comments about its holiday sales. Airline companies added to the previous days gains, following an upbeat outlook on the sector from J.P. Morgan. Delta Air Lines, Inc added 3.7%, United Continental Holdings Inc. soared 10.5% while Southwest Airlines Co added 3.3%. * In other markets: Underpinning gains for stock futures, Europe stocks were rising, while Asia put on a mixed performance. Chinese inflation data for December met expectations with a rise of 2.5% on the year. The euro weakened against the dollar on Draghi's comments, while gold prices were steady, and crude oil was higher. Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its gold forecast by 11% for 2014 to $1,150 an ounce, citing the lack of investor buying as a key concern.

Happy New Year all - hope you are all making good money in this market.

Just dropped in to say hello - I have had a few little dabbles - nothing serious - but am happy to watch you experts.

Best wishes all

good quality and diversified miners
it is currently very strange (to me) that with world economies very clearly recovering (including uk which some here need to acknowledge!), though eurozone excepted, it seems very strange to me that even good quality and diversified miners continue to take a pasting

surely this is nuts, even if markets are rarely logical, but i'm damned if i know how determine when assorted sp's will start to recover .... i'll certainly be watching the likes of BLT in particular plus RIO and perhaps KAZ

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any thoughts from anyone else?

cynic is it not all about supply and demand, de-stocking by end users and projected mineral prices?

yes, but a company cannot de-stock indefinitely and mineral prices are a simple equation of supply and demand, so unsure why the present scenario persists

end users unsure about future demand, remember the Japanese just in time concept.

doesn't quite work that way with commodities .... anyway, the position currently is as it is

I was of the understanding that within metals demand had slowed not lowered whilst the market remained over supplied. This over supply is what's keeping prices low..http://www.nasdaq.com/article/mining-ferrous-non-ferrous-stock-outlook-jan-2014-industry-outlook-cm317214

6740.8 FTse 100 gone short

Anyone in Petroplex Energy Inc?

U.S. adds 74,000 jobs in December, government says. Unemployment rate falls to 6.7% from 7%.
markets don't like that as implies accelerated tapering
can't have a strongly recovering economy without (eventually) new jobs being created - or at least old ones revived

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if uk car manufacturing is indeed sharply increasing, that just may be the first catalyst to more jobs as the car industry affects many others

Or Parkmead. PMG?