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

free stock charts from uk.advfn.com

Nasa detects 'intelligent' alien signal

must have had feedback from some of the posters on mam!

DOW toying with 16,500 - high stamped @16,505.9

Small short FTSE @6,545.

DOW preparing to challenge its all time high @16,588.25 hit on 31st December last year.

Closed short @6639 and now long.

Closed +10.5.

Looking quite positive 13ma turning up - look at the previous times it has done so.

Anyone know the rule on buying back Aim shares sold at a profit today , is it that you can't buy back for 30 days . ???

So the Dow is near it's all time high. Why is the FTSE 200 points off? Lagging a bit.

Jimmy - a new one on me.

i dont think you can flip them for capital gains skinny
.

Yes jimmy, correct. It would be as if you hadn't sold any and taxed accordingly at the end of year. not explained very well but hope you get the gist.

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Oh I see - not something I get involved with!

Perhaps a look here might help you.

Thanks all , i'll check it out .

there's some sort of employment numbers just come out in usa, but not sure what they are .... anyway, pre-market has fallen back to pretty much neutral

The US ADP employment report said 191,000 private sector jobs were added in March. The number was much higher than February's 139,000, but still below economists expectations.

so now we know

Carney: Rates could rise before general election
03 Apr 2014 | 08:07

Mark Carney said UK interest rates could rise before next May's general election if there are continued sustainable improvements in the economy, according to a report.
The Bank of England governor told the Northern Echo he does not rule out a rate hike before the election next May.
However, Carney (pictured) called for a improvement in the labour market in the North of England as well as the South before such a decision can be made.
"The point is that if a recovery is just based in the South-East it is neither sustainable nor balanced. It has to include the North-East, we are here to make policy for the UK as a whole, " the Governor said in the interview.
Carney recognised an interest rate hike would be unpopular with mortgage payers, but said a hike in interest ratesshould be seen as a "welcome sign" the economy is recovering after a difficult period.
He stressed the hike would be gradual, despite the quick pace of the recovery in the UK compared to other European nations.
"We will set policy as appropriate to meet our core responsibility to meet the two per cent inflation target," the Governor said.
"We have been as explicit as we can about the nature of adjustments to interest rates, but we cannot be specific."
Carney also called for banks to act more professionally in order to improve their public image.
He said: "Banking needs to be treated more as a profession. We also need to improve infrastructure, both in how markets are organised and the codes of conduct behind markets."