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

rashman here, having been out all day (cooking masterclass at Quat' Saisons), missed all the gore but have just taken a modest plunge on long dow on the basis that 16175 was the previous resistance, so with luck, will now provide some support ..... so far so good

Raymond Blanc's pad in Oxford? Awesome! One day I will make the trip. Not to learn, just to eat.

This is good for ABM

I closed a short earlier +105 - unfortunately on a quick trip to the shops, I now find myself long @6,713.

Shortie - are you still playing with ABM?

sure glad i banked my little dow profit first thing this morning - it would just about have paid for dinner for 2 at Le Manoir, though probably without wine!

if you're feeling particularly wealthy - no doubt having followed Tomasz's ramblings - then you MUST go to the Waterside ...... you need to go with the mindset of "bugger the expense!" for it really is fantastic

No Skinny, have ABM on watch, it just sprung to mind following your gold chart knowing the stockpile they built...

Cynic, I feel particulary tired and unimpressed with the fact I gave to go and get a cocktail of jabs after work tonight for a business trip in 2 weeks to The Gambia.. No rest for the wicked, as tomorrow I'll spend the day being worn out by my 5 year old son. Sunday I might get some peice but I'm not counting on it as the wife has no doubt made plans...

GBP/JPY has dropped by 300 pips this morning! I've taken a small number of them but as I'm working as well I set targets so tend to miss the big moves. Shame, but that's life.

i'm sure there are far worse places to go on biz than The Gambia ...... cocoa futures?

anyway, i can smile, as my children have all flown the nest and are gainfully employed :-)

Its the jabs I don't like, this time of year it'll be hot and sunny in The Gambia.. hotel accounts I'm afraid, nothing exciting..

One to keep an eye on this afternoon, could well be about to break lower again.

5 iPhone-beating phone features

How some Android and Windows models are one-upping Apple.

The iPhone continues to dominate the market for high-end smartphones, but a growing army of competitors, mostly Android models, now boast some features that make even the most ardent Apple AAPL -0.48% devotees envious.

for myself, i can't work out where the markets will go this afternoon ..... i'ld like to think that they'ld recover, but probably for the best, i can't convince myself

tgif!

Poets day. P Off Early Tomorrow is Saturday.

9:19 EST - Based on how market reacted, a bad payrolls report isn't believed to be enough to stop the Fed from tapering QE next week. The question now is if financial tensions are. ED&F Man Capital's Tom di Galoma thinks there's a chance, noting Yellen "is very careful about disruptions." The coming FOMC meeting is Bernanke's last as chairman. Recall in September's surprising no-taper decision, a key reason cited by the Fed was a sharp rise in interest rates. This time, it's stocks and a whole slate of currencies selling off. While the bar is high for the Fed to deviate from its gradual-taper course, it's worth remembering how stress in financial markets have a place in the Fed's equation.

look or rather hope for some support for dow at ~16020

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modest dow long at 16090
i smell dinner at the Waterside :-) ..... but a way to go yet, remembering the size of the last bill!

Strong dollar with emerging markets being sold off... I'd assume that profit taking on fx is causing the sell off, either that or its fear of default as emerging market bubbles near the burst... Short indicies and markets long gold and anything unimpaired always resemble the begining of a crash...