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

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!!

TSLA.O
this is a scarily rated stock, though prob not as bad as ASC
anyway, i took a small position at $212.75 just after the results, and it's doing very well thank you

this helped ....
Morgan Stanley raises target price to $320 from $153; rating overweight

Can't say I've ever looked at these. Well done though Cynic, your eagle eye swoops the prize!

Quantum Leap nudged me in that direction, though i held off for a while as i thought it a bit scary, to say the least
worth having a look at, especially with their ambitions in china