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

6825 position closed...

Short @6,823

I got my fingers crossed for you Skinny...

Cheers Shortie - I think if breaks up here - its 6,900 pdq.

The following are forecasts for this week's remaining data from a survey compiled Friday and Monday. DATE TIME RELEASE PERIOD CONSENSUS PREVIOUS (ET) Thursday 0830 Jobless Claims Jan 11 331K (20) 330K 0830 Consumer Price Index Dec +0.3%(28) Unch --ex food & energy Dec +0.1% (28) +0.2% 1000 Phila Fed Mfg Svy Jan 8.7 (17) 7.0 1000 Housing Mkt Index Jan 58 (14) 58 Friday 0830 Housing Starts Dec 0.975mln(27)1.09mln --percent change -10.6% +22.7% 0830 Building Permits Dec 1.02mln(14) 1.01mln --percent change +1.0% -3.1% 0915 Industrial Production Dec +0.3% (28) +1.1% 0915 Capacity Utilization Dec 79.1% (26) 79.0% 0955 Reuters/UMich Consumer Sentiment (prelim) Jan 83.5 (21) 82.5* 1000 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Nov N/A N/A *End-December reading (Figures in parentheses refer to number of economists surveyed.)

Fully agree, I'm cautious of it making a break for a new high right now.

Have to say with that 2% inflation figure I thought the FTSE would have gone the other way. If inflation continues to fall this adds to the increase interest rates arguement at the BoE.

Carney a few minutes ago....

Carney - favours higher leverage ratio for UK banks than Basel minimum

(Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday he wanted British banks to set aside more capital than the level agreed in a new international deal.

On Sunday, regulators from around the world reached a provisional deal on new rules designed to prevent banks from over-stretching themselves. Under the new leverage ratio rules, due to start in 2018, banks must hold capital equivalent to 3 percent of their total assets.

"My personal inclination is that we would gross up, not jack up, but gross up whatever the base level is for a ring-fenced bank and for systemic banks in order to ensure that leverage ratio fully performs its function," Carney told MPs.

Out for a whole +11.

short go with the flow don't fight it!

Anyone having any luck today?

yup - won on the golf course this morning! ..... now in quarter finals :-)

Not me - just watching - I'd want to short from higher - @6862.

I also seem to have the full set of RED blue chips today - a few second liners doing better (LAM) - C'est la Vie!

Well done, bet the course was soggy though!

More red than blue at the moment, nothing seams to be moving.. Might have a stab at working out the potential fall in AIM when ASC moves to the main market later in the year.

DDD worth watching today.

as in 3d systems corp nyse? P/E 194??? Really..

They've done a deal with hershey - link on the trader's thread.

:-))
bought DDD last night

just taken a small short on ASC, which i shall watch with interest - a bit silly really, as unlikely to make/lose much

BHT the other day wasn't such a bad call either :-)

Cheers Skinny, I'll have a look at DDD when I get a moment. Noticed you've been championing the stock for while also.

Cynic, on ASC my short is a technical play, sp showing signs of a continuation.

Shortie - ironically, I had this article before the Hershey news and am thinking of halving my exposure as its currently up over 80%.

3D Systems: A Great Company For The Long-Term That Is Currently Overvalued