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

cynic - the Hasbro news is from last week - as it the acquisition of Gentle Giant Studios - all positive news!

With the DOW apparently treading water since Friday - the FTSE is now out performing it YTD.

that's when DDD started to recover pretty strongly and is continuing to do so

6,800.

took a tiddly profit on C+M Index far too early, but can't be helped .... markets looked very soggy early on .... not sure why this late bounce, as dow is far from convincing

That was an interesting programme on on BBC 2 How China fooled the world ,Robert Peston .

Cheers for the chart skinny, appreciated.

Going down.

Michael Hewson ‏@mhewson_CMC 13m
*GERMANY FAILS TO GET BIDS FOR MAXIMUM TARGET AT BUNDS AUCTION

German 10-y Bond Auction 1.64|1.1 1.77|1.8

FTSE / DOW

Gold up again today...crude (not today)..but in a rising trend....I reckon the dollar has to drop....

Im amazed this thread is so quiet with all this volatility on the indicies and currencies at the moment. Posters seem to have just disappeared.

Is it a case of the captain not steering the ship!!!!!!!!!

What you on this morning gf........ cynic knocker tablets....

I've been having a dabble at Gold/Silver ,maybe we should set up a thread ,
I should just mention New York doesn't phone me for my opinion in the mornings, i'm a complete rookie and bet slightly lower than Soros.

maybe your not in their phone book.,.

Half term GF. Also, been concentrating on my SIPP & ISA which have been doing rather well :-)

In the absence of any decent leadership here (wink baler boy)I post the following controversial link.............

http://www.shareprophets.advfn.com/views/4123/with-a-p-e-of-133-there-is-plenty-left-to-drive-the-ftse100-higher

Who is the thread creater............lol.

6817.4 gone short.

Bucking the current autos trend...

Volkswagen Shares Plunge On Outlook, Scania Deal

By Neetha Mahadevan FRANKFURT--Volkswagen AG's shares plunged more than 7% early Monday after the car maker gave a cautious earnings outlook late Friday and offered what investors took to be a rich bid for the remaining shares it doesn't already own in Swedish truck maker Scania. Scania's shares soared 35% after the bid for its outstanding shares was valued at EUR6.7 billion ($9.2 billion), a premium of 36% on Friday's share price. The news prompted downgrades of Volkswagen's stock. Analysts called the offer price expensive and said the deal's timing is surprising given the need for an equity hike at Volkswagen. The EUR6.7 billion bid price will be funded by equity hike of up to EUR2 billion in preferred shares, with an additional hybrid offering of up EUR3 billion and the rest will be funded from cash reserves. "Although we like Scania as a truck company we think the deal looks expensive with very long-dated synergies," Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch said, after downgrading the stock to neutral from buy. Analysts at Barclays agreed, saying the bigger issue is the capital hike, the fourth in four years at Volkswagen. "Yes, (the capital increase) is small at an estimated 2.5% dilution, but investors could be forgiven for asking why the ordinary shareholders are never asked to chip in and what else is on the agenda," Barclays added. Volkswagen on Friday said a full takeover of Scania is essential to integrating its commercial truck activities. Volkswagen forecasts a long-term synergy potential of at least EUR650 million in operating profit a year, but says it will take about 10 years to realize that. While upbeat on potential synergies, Barclays analysts said a 10-15 year wait for EUR650 million of savings seems a long time. On the flip side, some analysts upgraded Scania, with Barclays suggesting Volkswagen's offer is too good to refuse. J.P. MorganCazenove called it "a generous offer" and expects minority shareholders to accept it, which should support Scania's share price around the bid level. Although analysts at UBS saw the offer as attractive for Scania, they questioned its value for Volkswagen. "We thought and still think that a bid on Scania makes little industrial and financial sense," they said. "Gross synergies are one thing to talk about at the time of acquisition but in the end we believe the truck industry is full of mergers and acquisitions that failed to deliver on early promises." On Friday, Volkswagen also released 2013 earnings and a lackluster outlook for 2014. On the whole, analysts said it was disappointing but not surprising given the company is usually cautious and perhaps rightly so given uncertainty in emerging markets. Barclays, which downgraded Volkswagen to equal weight from overweight, said the weak prognosis for 2014 and bid for Scania will likely dent sentiment, and perpetuate the view that management is more focused on being big at the expense of shareholder returns. "We don't subscribe to this view, but until a clear picture of better times ahead arrives we think VW will mark time against the sector," the bank added. Volkswagen will release its offer document on March 14, with the tender period set to end April 25. The offer will be subject to the condition that the car maker becomes the owner of more than 90% of the total capital of Scania.