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

Closed @6,777.3 +17.

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - A surprisingly weak first-quarter read on the U.S. economy sent the dollar careening lower on Wednesday against the euro and the yen, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to maintain its zero-interest-rate policy. Inflation increased in the euro zone albeit at a lower than expected pace, data showed earlier on Wednesday. While the door for the European Central Bank to print money in a bid to boost economic activity is open given inflation is running below target, the data dampened slightly the expectation of anything being done imminently. ID:nL6N0NM393 ID:nL6N0NM34E Investors were whipsawed after a stronger-than-expected ADP private sector U.S. employment report pushed the greenback higher, only to see it undermined by a paltry 0.1 percent growth rate in first-quarter U.S. gross domestic product. Economists had forecast a 1.2 percent GDP increase. USGDPR=ECI ID:nLLAUFEARH ID:nLNSUFEAFV "That's why you are seeing the dollar move. We have the Fed later today and this certainly is going to give Janet Yellen's camp a lot more ammunition to remain on the more neutral to dovish side," said Richard Cochinos, currency strategist at Citi in New York. "Tapering will likely continue as expected, but give the Fed has suggested they are in very data-dependent mode this is the level of data that causes people to have a little bit of concern," he added. The Fed is expected to maintain near-zero interest rates and continue cutting monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $45 billion as part of its quantitative easing program. A decision is due at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). The dollar showed little reaction to a stronger-than-expected reading of U.S. Midwest business activity. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer was 63.0, up from 55.9 in March, which had been the lowest level for the index since August. Economists were looking for a reading of 56.7 in the month. ID:nN9N0MM021 The euro EUR= was off an earlier three-week low to trade up 0.38 percent to $1.3864, near the session high $1.3870. Investors sold the dollar to 102.27 yen, a loss of 0.33 percent on the day JPY= . The euro was flat against the yen, up just 0.02 percent to 141.75 yen EURJPY= . The debate over the scale of disinflation in Europe has dominated markets this week, and lower-than-expected April price growth in the euro zone of 0.7 percent initially sent the euro to a three-week low against the dollar. The Chinese yuan dropped to an 18-month low against the greenback, finishing at 6.2593 per dollar, down 0.02 percent CNY= . The currency lost 0.7 percent in April, and has depreciated 3.3 percent against the dollar so far this year. In 2013, the yuan strengthened 2.9 percent. ID:nL3N0NM3BC Dealers say the weakening yuan has led to the People's Bank of China recycling some of the dollars it buys in the process into euros to rebalance its reserves. "Every trader I know in London seems to be calling for a weaker euro. You can't find anyone who wants it higher, yet it does not want to fall," said a dealer with one London bank.

Twatter (sic) down 10%.

Cable still showing no signs yet of turning.... Yellen...

may be worth shorting TWTR insofar as the lock-in expires Monday

I'm already into the FTSE and Cable a little deep for comfort, and, will carry overnight... If Yellen hints at a rise in rates though I could well be laughing!!

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Nickel prices rose on Wednesday, posting their biggest monthly gain in 19 months, on tight supplies from Indonesia and concern over sanctions on top refined producer Russia. Other metals, including copper, slipped after disappointing data showed the U.S. economy barely grew in the first quarter as exports tumbled. ID:nLNSUFEAFV Business tailed off as traders squared up ahead of market holidays in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday and in London on Monday. Three-month nickel CMNI3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed up 0.96 percent at $18,325 a tonne. It is up nearly 15 percent this month, in the fifth consecutive month of gains. Prices are trading more than 30 percent higher in the year to date. An Indonesian ban on exports of unprocessed ore from January tightened supplies of nickel ore, which top buyer China uses to produce nickel pig iron for stainless steel. This could force mills to increase use of higher-grade refined metal. "It is probably going to take some time before Indonesia is able to turn its ore into refined nickel to export," said Caroline Bain, senior commodities economist at Capital Economics. "From the current price level I do feel it is overdone and we could see prices dropping back but I expect it to strengthen again going into next year as stocks would have been depleted by then." Sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine have fuelled concerns that exports of top refined producer Norilsk Nickel GMKN.MM could be hit. Norilsk and top Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal 0486.HK , however, are not among the 17 companies that the United States sanctioned this week. There were some signs that nickel's rally may be cooling, given prices failed to react to a 5.2 percent drop in Norilsk's first-quarter production, broker Triland said. ID:nL6N0NL2IX "The fact that the nickel price is closing mostly unchanged on the day is probably a sign that the market is tired and still due a downward correction," it said in a note late on Tuesday. COPPER SLIPS Copper, aluminium and other metals trended lower after U.S. first quarter GDP rose at an annual rate of 0.1 percent, the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2012 and compared to expectations of 1.2 percent. LME copper CMCU3 dropped 1.04 percent to close at $6,645 a tonne. Prices are flat for the month, giving up gains after having hit $6,798, the highest since March 7, in the previous session. A crackdown on credit in China has curbed the ability of traders and manufacturers to finance copper imports, squeezing domestic supply and helping driving domestic premiums to the highest in almost three years. Aluminium CMAL3 shed 0.77 percent to finish at $1,800 a tonne. Michael Widmer, metals strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said the world ex-China had moved into a market deficit, mainly due to a revival of global growth, but also due to increased use in vehicles. "We believe aluminium usage is also increasingly supported by structural industry changes, including tighter emission standards," he said in note. "We estimate that the auto industry could boost aluminium offtake globally by around 2.5 million tonnes over the coming 2.5 years." Zinc CMZN3 ended down 0.68 percent at $2,041 a tonne, lead MPB3 lost 0.19 percent to close at $2,106 and tin CMSN3 dropped 1.06 percent to $22,950.

and if not, on the other side of your face?

Well, I might have to settle for the Bentley after all...

you'ld love it and you should be able to buy one at relatively cheap price

My cable long worked out nice. It's all yours now Shortie.

Hope so, running 3 plays on Cable now and have only taken a small profit dabbling..

I'm amazed at the FTSE right now being so high, not sure I fully believe the data although the zero hours contract report made alot of sense.

Paxman's most memorable Newsnight encounters

There's a bit of currency chatter on this thread, so...

I don't know if it'll be of interest to any of you, but we ran an analysis of our top 50 traders (in terms of units bc traded) recently and were a little surprised to see that many of them were trading GBPAUD. It's not a cross that I'd ever looked at previously, but, having looked at it, it has a tendency to trend well across several timeframes with signals that have been pretty easy to follow, and I can see why it's attracted a bit of a following.

What about the most profitable pairs Hils? Same there?

I must admit I've started to look at some different pairs recently but not many.

I don't have access to that data for every client, Floss. But, for those I do, the two datasets do tend to operate in tandem.

Cheers Hils - just looking at that combo now.

What sort of spread do you get on GBP AUD? I'm still using s/b mostly which tend to have stupid spreads on some combinations.

Seymour - IG currently have 8 - 18139.9/18147.9

Thanks Skinny. 8 pip spread with IG, it's currently 4 pips with CMC, which I think is robbery!

Don't start Hils.......