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 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?

i think shortie is in PMG

oh! talk of conflicting indicators

US December jobs report misses forecasts
The US economy created just 74,000 jobs last month. Economists had forecast that the US economy generated 197,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7 per cent from 7 per cent.

cynic unemployment rate fell due to 300k people leaving the jobs market, no doubt the numbers will be revised in due course.

I am in Parkmead yes.

9:00 EST - There's some major head-scratching in the wake of the US jobs report. "What sticks out is you don't believe it," says Michael Jones, chief investment officer at RiverFront Investment, which manages $4.2B of ETFs. "Bond market just launched higher and stock futures weren't friendly." He thinks seasonal adjustments to temporary workers and a cold month likely distorted the data, adding RiverFront likely won't make a move in the stock or bond markets until other reports confirm today's print. Jones has been growing cautious on the global stock rally and in December began raising cash by selling US and emerging-market stocks.

:03 EST - Friday's nonfarm-payrolls number came in shockingly weak, but some investors don't think that alone is enough to usher in the long-awaited stock pullback. That's because the Fed still has its hand on the dial, even as it begins to reduce QE. "My bet is the Fed's $75B [a month of bond purchases] is too strong still to allow much of a pullback," says Michael Jones, chief investment officer at RiverFront Investment. "Given that the Fed is still supporting us, we probably hang in there despite the conflicting data."

Cynic did you have a read of the link to the article I posted on 13912? Just wondered your take on it as you follow the miners..