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

FtSE short closed 6563 +21

Considering going long as a move back to 6590 looks likely

6566.8 gone long

2 Hr Wall St

Looks probable Shortie - no figures now til 1:30.

What do you think on the DOW skinny, its not looking overbought so could well continue north. RSI has been improving, its above support and appears to have broken out of the trend...

WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce an initiative on Wednesday to devote $600 million to address a central challenge of today's economy: How to train workers for skills they need for jobs that are open but hard to fill. American companies will need 522,000 software developers and computer programmers over the next 10 years as well as nearly 110,000 pharmacists, 224,000 electricians and 941,000 customer service representatives, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To try to fill the void, Obama will announce during a visit to Oakdale, Pennsylvania, a plan to use $500 million in existing Labor Department funds to pay for a competition. The goal of the competition is to spur employers and community colleges to work together and develop training programs that are designed to get workers prepared for specific jobs that already exist. Another $100 million will be drawn from a Labor Department fund to support programs aimed at training apprentices in new fields with fast-growing occupations such as information technology, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Employers need people trained as welders, machinists, dental hygienists and even electrical power line installers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Administration officials who briefed reporters about the initiative said the aim is to address the needs of a fast-changing economy. "The pace of change - technology, globalization - has changed the nature of work and the speed at which necessary skills change," said a senior Obama administration official. Obama, joined by Vice President Joe Biden, is to announce the initiative at an event at Community College of Allegheny County on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. The plan is part of an effort launched in Obama's State of the Union speech in January to act with his own presidential authority in the absence of a consensus from a divided Congress. While the economy has rebounded since bottoming out early in Obama's first term, many Americans remain unemployed or underemployed, and Obama has made it a priority of his second term to help the middle class and reduce income inequality.

Yes I agree, its currently @+80 above last night's close to trade, as I'm in and out this week - I'm (famous last words) going to wait until this afternoon's numbers.

Stock futures firm ahead of Yellen, B. of A. earnings

Yahoo shares rally 7.6% premarket.

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed higher on Wednesday, ahead of remarks by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who is expected to hammer home her dovish policy message. Earnings from prominent companies such as Bank of America, Google and IBM, along with U.S. housing and industrial production data, should also keep investors busy.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJM4 +0.34% picked up 80 points, or 0.5%, to 16,285, while those for the S&P 500 index SPM4 +0.45% gained 9.70 points, or 0.5%, to 1,849.30. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NDM4 +0.54% climbed 20.50 points, or 0.6%, to 3,511.50.

An interesting read :- Charting the S&P 500’s dead-cat bounce

Lawmakers Back High-Frequency Trade Curbs in EU Markets Law

High-frequency traders in the European Union are set to face some of the toughest rules in the world, after legislators backed rules that they said would curb volatility and make markets safer.

Makes you laugh when they talk about speed traders preying on slower traders, what rubbish.

CAD Foreign Securities Purchases 6.08B 4.57B 1.09B

USD Building Permits 0.99M 1.00M 1.01M

USD Housing Starts 0.95M 0.97M 0.91M

Brazil's economic activity slowed sharply in February from January, central bank data showed on Wednesday, suggesting a weak start to the year that could pressure the central bank to halt its year-long campaign of interest rate hikes. The central bank's IBC-Br economic activity index BRIBC=ECI rose 0.24 percent in February from January in seasonally adjusted terms, slightly below the market forecast for an increase of 0.3 percent. Economic activity growth in January was revised up to 2.35 percent from a previously reported 1.26 percent, according to central bank data. The index for December was also revised to a bigger drop of 2.26 percent from a decline of 1.40 percent previously. The Brazilian economy is expected to post a fourth straight year of subpar growth as a slow global recovery and supply bottlenecks at home hurt activity in Latin America's largest economy. "It reinforces our forecast of moderate growth in the first quarter of 2014," economists with Santander Global Banking & Markets, adding they estimate the economy will grow 0.4 percent in the first quarter versus the previous quarter. The central bank has raised rates by 375 basis points to 11 percent since April of last year to battle inflation that has remained stubbornly high despite lackluster growth. The sharp increase in borrowing costs is expected to further slow the economy, which is expected to grow only 2 percent this year, economists said. The bank has warned it is near the end of the tightening cycle despite a spike in food prices caused by a drought in southeastern Brazil. In the 12 months through February, economic activity grew 2.57 percent from 2.29 percent in January. The IBC-Br index, a gauge of activity in the farming, industry and services sectors, rose a non-seasonally adjusted 4.04 percent over the same month a year ago.

6585 ftse long closed... +18.2

Well done Shortie - I have a limit in @6707 & 6627 for a short.

Thanks Skinny, think I'm gone for this week, well until Wednesday anyway... Have a good Easter..

where are you off to shortie?
skiing in val d'isere?

No such luck Cynic, family and friends time I'm afraid. As my wife has entertained our son all week no doubt the rest of the week will fall on me... Maybe I'll get to do some kitesurfing if I'm lucky...