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

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.

sticky - you are frightfully full of self-importance for no good reason

i have indeed started the occasional thread, but unlike you, especially on the NOWT thread,i feel no need to commandeer them once they are up and running

if others have an interest and wish to give "my" threads oxygen, then i am delighted, but i'm sure not going to lose any sleep if they do not
no doubt you will have noticed that the ftse thread, which you choose to deride, again for no good reason, has a pretty good and sensible following

Chicago Fed National Activity Index Shows Slowing Growth in January

A gauge of U.S. economic strength pointed to slowing growth in January, providing additional evidence the nation's production, consumption and housing sectors are skidding into 2014. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index, released Monday, fell to -0.39 in January from -0.03 in the prior month. The three-month moving average, designed to smooth out month-to-month volatility, also declined, falling to +0.10 last month from December's +0.26. The index is a weighted average of 85 indicators of economic activity nationwide. A reading above zero indicates growth above the nation's history trend. Forty-four of the 85 individual indicators made a negative contribution to the monthly indicator, while 41 pushed it higher. The declines were focused in two areas. Production category fell to -0.36 in January, down from +0.06 in December. The consumption-and-housing category fell to -0.18 from -0.14 in the prior month. The employment and sales sectors saw their slight gains overwhelmed. The results echo earlier data signaling the U.S. economy has lost some steam. Housing starts in January tumbled 16% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000. On the consumption side, retail sales fell an unexpected 0.4% last month, while the consumer price index and the producer price indexes both posted only tepid gains. The production sector also struggled. Industrial production decreased 0.3% in January, led by a 0.8% decline in manufacturing output. Meanwhile, capacity utilization fell to 78.5% from 78.9%. The effects of this winter's fierce weather were initially cited in most of the declines. But the Chicago index gives additional ammunition to some economists who see the economy staggering a bit.

Dallas Fed Business Activity Index Slows in February

Texas-area manufacturers report almost no expansion in business conditions this month, according to a survey released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Dallas Fed said its general business activity index fell to 0.3 in February from 3.8 in January. The company outlook index dropped to 3.4 from 15.9 last month. Readings below zero indicate contraction, and positive numbers indicate expanding activity. Despite the slowing of the top-line numbers, the subindexes generally have improved. The production index increased to 10.8 from 7.1 in January. The shipments index rose further to 13.3 in February after it jumped to 9.2 last month from 0.4 in December. The new orders index, however, slowed to 9.5 from 14.4. The employment index rose to 9.9 from 8.6. The hours-worked index jumped to 12.0 from 3.4. Hours worked are at their highest in more than 30 months, the report said. Texas manufacturers are seeing some cost-pricing relief. The prices-paid index fell again to 21.9 from 26.8 in January and 31.2 in December, while the prices-received index was little changed at 11.2 from 11.0. Manufacturers in Texas pulled back on their confidence about the next six months. The expected-general-business-activity index fell to 15.2 to 22.3. And the company-outlook index--which tracks prospects for each respondent's firm--dropped to 20.6 from a three-year high of 33.5 in January. The expected-employment index slipped slightly to 37.5 from 30.5.

Looks like the odds are on that Yellen won't have the minerals to continue with the cuts..

I'm short @6,873 - too slow to amend the limit order!

Above 6900 I'll consider a further position, this rally might hit a new high I'm now thinking.

Good short call yesterday Skinny.

Cheers Shortie - unfortunately I put a limit in and it got closed +15 last night!

Had 1 long this morning +9. and just contemplating another.

I'm still holding 6817.4 short. Shame it was closed, I was just thinking Skinnys got to be happy with that..

I would normally of let it run, but I thought today may have been the day the FTSE high got taken out - heyho!

Long @6,802.

Long 6800

I thought yesterday we were set for a rally today. 6801 increased my short position.

Where's Harry Hill :-)

Closed for +14 for now.

Well done Skinny.

Cheers - for info a short is 2.7 points off the FTSE tonight.

Thanks Skinny, its always small when my bets are small, sods law!!