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

Rarely bother to look the one on the PPV and never bother with the one on the Freeview. I only come on this thread so I can wind you boys up.

:o)

What a nice lady!

Hoyland woman jailed for microwaving pet cat

No - the PPV has sadly long lost its way.

Well if Ian or Mike bother to read this, it's mainly because they started copying Freeview threads onto the PPV imo. The main reason for going on the PPV in the first instance is to get away from all the shit on the Freeview - not to have it thrust into your face!

What ARE you trying to say! :-))

I think a third of the posters on here are MRSI and his multiple alter egos.

MRSI and his alter egos aren't particularly the issue, Skinners. They're pretty much confined to the Freeview which is where people expect to go if they're looking for a fight. And don't forget that most people are voyeurs - a punch up on a forum generally means page impressions which equates to ad revenues.

With the PPV, it's nice to have somewhere to go where everything is light hearted and where people tend to know each and get on. Remind me again, why did Ruthie stop posting? Did somebody drive her (and her army of friends) away?

I'll second that!

Shall I start an "Ask Fred" thread!

No need to start a new one, Skinners. If you use the search, you'll probably find a couple of "Fuck Off Fred" threads already in place.

Well, I for one can't upgrade... I got a MAM account for level 2 free with my spreadbetting account years ago to try out. Unfortunatly I need to re-register to upgrade the account I've got, that would mean losing my 'Shortie' profile. Maybe I'll do it one day, for now I can only imagine whats happening in the 'Traders Room'...

Sadly Shortie there isn't much point these days - if I spent the day on the PBB only threads - it would be pretty lonely.

Is that this years FTSE/DOW race over?

We'd all love to have Ruthie back, but I guess it'll never happen. Still, I have some of the old threads saved for when I feel nostalgic. Some great training in them - and Hils' Fx ones as well :-)

The NUN from Rochdale! :-)

Before my time

Shortie - I guess she stopped posting 3 or 4 years ago?

Wouldn't mind watching her grass grow!!

BEIJING--China's economy weakened sharply during the first two months of the year, deepening concerns that growth in the world's second-largest economy would decelerate further. The country's top leaders now have tough decisions about whether to set aside economic overhaul measures that could pinch growth in the short-term. The slowdown was across the board, including retail, manufacturing, housing and investment, as the National Bureau of Statistics released a raft of data on Thursday for January and February, which was combined to adjust for distortions from the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Some of the results were the weakest since the global financial crisis of 2009. "This is terrible," said Liu Li-Gang, a Hong Kong-based economist at ANZ Bank. "I wasn't expecting high figures, but this is worse than I thought." The results were announced shortly before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang gave mixed signals in a news conference about how wedded he was to meeting the country's growth target of about 7.5%. In an answer to one question, he detailed how hard the government pushed to meet the same target in 2013, as a way to head off unemployment. China's GDP grew by 7.7% last year. In an answer to another question, however, Mr. Li said "we are not preoccupied with GDP growth," and said he would be satisfied with a "reasonable range" of growth so long as it produced sufficient employment. Mr. Li didn't name a minimum level of GDP growth that he would find acceptable. Still, if GDP growth slows significantly, China analysts said, Mr. Li would come under increasing pressure to shelve reform plans that could initially hurt growth, even though they would bolster China's economy in the long run. Such measures could include requiring large state-owned enterprises to pay more in dividends to the central government, liberalizing interest rates and remaking local government finances so they depend more on taxation than on land sales. Mr. Li has a difficult choice, said Société Générale China economist Wei Yao. "He can't say, 'Give up on growth,' and he can't say, 'Growth at any cost.'" Among the data reported on Thursday for January and February, industrial output rose 8.6% year-over-year, the weakest showing since 2009. Growth in fixed-asset investment eased to 17.9% year-over-year, the weakest pace since 2002. Retail sales rose 11.8% year-over-year, the slowest since Feb. 2011. In the real estate sector, which is among the largest drivers of growth in the Chinese economy, Residential and commercial property sales fell 3.7% to 709.0 billion yuan ($115 billion) in the first two months of this year. Total property sales by floor area declined by 0.1% to 104.7 million square meters. Construction starts by area fell 27.4% to 166.9 billion square meters. Until Thursday's data dump, there had been little hard evidence about the direction of the Chinese economy. Purchasing manager surveys indicated slowing economic activity, as did trade data. But economists have questioned the reliability of trade data, arguing that exporters and importers have been using inflated invoices as a way to move money into or out of the country. Markets were already expecting the worst. The Shanghai Composite rallied slightly on Thursday, but remains down 4% over the past month. The Australian dollar, which is highly sensitive to Chinese demand, also regained some of the ground it lost earlier in the week. After the data release, Bank of America sharply cut its forecast for first-quarter growth to 7.3% from 8.0%, while other analysts said they were reassessing their forecasts. Andrew Batson, an analyst at Beijing research house Gavekal Dragonomics said that the first two months of the year often have weak readings, but, even so, "growth is decelerating; the trend is definitely downward." Li Guanqun, a 30-year freelance translator in Beijing, said the weak economy has cut demand for her services and convinced her to scrap a European vacation and visit the industrial Chinese city of Wuhan instead. "I think I need to find a part-time job to increase my income," she said. Meanwhile, China's largest alumina maker also said that the economy was deteriorating. "The situation is getting tougher and tougher," said an official at Aluminum Corp. of China, who asked not to be named. The official said alumina prices have fallen below its costs. If the pace of growth doesn't pick up over the coming months, economists said, China's leaders would feel pressure to stimulate the economy, most likely by cutting for the first time since May 2012 the reserves that banks are required to park in the central bank. That would free up more money for banks to lend. But it's unclear such a move would help much if demand remains relatively weak. Chinese Premier Li didn't say what he would do in case of a slowdown. "This year, challenges are still severe," he said. "We need to stabilize growth, ensure employment, prevent inflation, control risks and at the same time tackle inflation. We need to strike a proper balance and this we could say is highly difficult."

Long closed at loss and reversed 6588.5