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

Probably best not to Jimmy... lol

Yes - forget I said anything :-)

Sorry I'm late on stage, Skinners - I hadn't been keeping my Equity card up to date (actually, I'd been in the UK for a few days to see Mrs Carter and was on my way home on Friday afternoon)

Hils :-)

Just closed a short @6,699 - where this afternoon?

DOW does'nt look too promising .

NEW YORK--Crude-oil futures fell Monday as China posted a bigger drop in exports than expected, a potential bearish sign for demand. Light, sweet crude for April delivery was down $1.54, or 1.5%, to $101.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe was down $1.11, or 1%, at $107.89 a barrel. China over the weekend said exports fell 18% compared with a year before, the first year-over-year drop since September. Some analysts cautioned that distortions related to the Lunar New Year holiday may account for a big part of the decline, but, as Energy Management Institute analyst Dominick Chirichella wrote, the disappointing export data coincided with a drop in oil imports into China for February. "The data out of China have been consistently suggesting that China may not meet its growth objectives this year even though the leadership just projected a 7.5% (growth in) GDP for 2014," Mr. Chirichella said in a note, adding that he expects global demand forecasts to sink this week in a reflection of the weaker Chinese data. The state of Chinese demand for oil is especially important for Russia if other nations impose economic sanctions related to the crisis in Crimea, said Carl Larry, an analyst at Oil Outlooks & Opinions. Russia is the world's second-largest crude exporter behind Saudi Arabia. "If that market gets squeezed out of the West, it's going to go to the East," Mr. Larry said. Futures have largely been higher lately as a supply glut at the storage hub in Cushing, Okla., has dwindled over the past five weeks and amid the escalation of tensions both in Ukraine and Libya. Observers see these factors providing support for prices. "With mixed industrial production data out of Europe added in, oil would probably be even lower were it not for events in the Crimea and Libya," Tradition Energy analyst Addison Armstrong wrote in a comment Monday morning. The Libyan government has threatened to attack a North Korean-flagged tanker off the Middle Eastern nation's coast, saying rebels are seeking to export oil, according to reports in the media. As for Cushing, energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates said in a note that the ongoing supply drain there "appears sustainable for at least another month" and is "an important supportive influence." Additionally, the jobs report Friday supported the view that U.S. demand is increasing, Mr. Larry said. Rising oil prices aren't as worrisome in the U.S. as they were in the mid-2000s, he said. "Everybody's used to $100 oil now," he said. Reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, for April delivery was recently down 2.8 cents, or 1%, at $2.9458 a gallon. April diesel was down 4.02 cents, or 1.3%, at $2.9719 a gallon.

What does history shows about China meeting or failing to meet its targets?
Any statistics?

they just let a few million starve and send 10,000 to the farm collectives in outer mongolia - pour encourager les autres

FTSE testing the 50 day again.... Will sentiment now change?

6666.8 gone long

I've been long for what seems like hours but its been a slow hour!

Position closed +5.. Yeah I though the bounce would have been quicker.

Shortie - have a look at DLG, its ex tomorrow with 12.4p of dividend.

Direct Line @ 266 a share its a 4.6% yield covered 1.5 times and ISA allowed... Looks nice, whats the catch?

There's a special dividend of 4.0p and the final dividend of 8.4p.

From the results


"5.0% increase in final dividend per share to 8.4 pence per share and second special interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share taking total dividends for 2013 to 20.6 pence per share"

I only noticed it as a hedge if I were to be short the FTSE tonight.

Mmm, I wouldn't want to hold the FTSE short tonight at these levels as the 50DMA has provided support for the bulls several times now..

I'm still long atm - nothing much economics wise out of the US today though - Job opening figures apart.

I'm waiting for all the 6's again...!!