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

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

DDD
QL has this as a nap for 2014 and assuredly that sector is going to be very strong indeed into the future

ASC
just playing a silly game, which one really shouldn't do
the fact that my exposure is very low shows what confidence i have in my choice :-)

Cheers for the article Skinny, one for LONG watchlist. Even though the stock is overvalued I never short if growth is sustainable. I dont know alot about 3D printing in terms of affordability but everything I've read suggests the market hasn't even begun to grow just yet. That said will 3D printing really be the next big thing and do I think I'll ever find myself wanting to purchase a machine...

Shortie - I remember saying that about mobile phones!!!

skinny - excellent article on DDD ..... makes a change for these to be intelligible to the likes of myself

Different ball game Skinny, the mobile was initially a status symbol when it first became mobile... Also the fact that it became mobile was a necessity. What need would there be for a mobile printer to show off..