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

NEW YORK--Gold futures eased from a two-month high Monday as relative calm in global markets limited demand for the perceived safe haven. The most actively traded gold contract, for February delivery, recently traded down $5.80, or 0.5%, to $1,258.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures pushed to the highest price since Nov. 19 on Friday, buoyed by a rout across global equities markets and volatile currency moves as investors worried about the impact of a slowing China and less Federal Reserve stimulus on emerging markets. Some investors view gold as a refuge in times of economic turmoil. But gold sagged Monday, taking cues from stability in global equities markets after the Turkish central bank said it would schedule an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to take steps to ensure price stability. Potential gold buyers were also cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Gold's gain amid the market tremors "was muted and short-lived," said UBS analyst Edel Tully. Global growth is likely to remain on track despite this month's jitters, she said, keeping gold prices under pressure. Platinum and palladium fell as talks to end strikes in South Africa resumed on Monday. Workers in South Africa's massive platinum-mining industry went on strike Thursday, part of a campaign for higher wages. South Africa is the largest platinum-producing country and the No. 2 palladium producer, and prices of both metals rallied to two-month highs last week in anticipation of the strikes. Platinum for April delivery recently traded down 0.6% to $1,420.20 a troy ounce. Palladium, produced in South Africa as a by-product of platinum mining, fell 0.8% to $728.75 an ounce.

6562 position closed

Some big moves in the US - twatter, SSYS & DDD were down 8%.

Apple currently up - they report after hours I believe.

UKX:

Bit of sideways action after today, maybe try the lower Bollinger Band (20,2), before heading down again to below 6500?

Closed for +20 - should fly now.

U.S. earnings not strong enough to halt world sell-off

(Reuters) - Emerging market equities posted their largest drop in five months on Monday to lead a global stocks sell-off, while Wall Street pared early gains as sentiment continued to sour.

Concerns about China's economic slowdown and its shadow banking sector, combined with expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will scale back its bond buying further, have put pressure on emerging markets dependent on external financing.

Also worth noting Japan reports record annual trade deficit

weak yen?

6545 gone short

11:51 EST - If Argentina were to devalue its currency, Citigroup (C) could suffer losses, say analysts at KBW. As of the third quarter, Citi's Argentine subsidiary had $4.2B in assets and equity was $749M, says the firm. If Citi were to write off the entire net investment in its Argentine subsidiary from 3Q13, that would be an impact of 17 cents a share, or 12 cents when giving the firm credit for its foreign currency forwards, says KBW. C down 0.8% at $48.94.

is this likely to happen?

Happened before>> Have a look on Wikipedia

but would this have a material impact on Citi, we think not but the knock on effect might prove interesting?

6528 position closed

talk about aotfs!
so suddenly dow is +20 instead of -100 at one point

talk about aotfs!
so suddenly dow is +20 instead of -100 at one point

Well done Shortie - I've had another +25 the other way - a strange concept recently!

Easy eh!

GDP up 0.7% in last quarter

FTSE tight range so far. Tempted to increase my stakes..