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

should have trusted my instinct first thing this morning and extended my dow short then ..... have done so now at 16414 ...... it was ~35pts lower just after the open and then recovered about 60 pts

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looking a bit silly at the moment though that just wiped out my previous running profit

is the supermarket sector worth shorting or at least the "big 4"?

:-)) I would lean to yes rather than no. Especially MRW

From the Sains write up -

Retail analyst Clive Black at stockbroker Shore Capital described the cuts as a ‘contagion’ and he predicted further downgrades across the sector.

Well I'm short SBRY @326p - results tomorrow, MRW Thursday.

MRW doens't look like it'll bounce yet but I wouldn't bother shorting the sector.

Pound nearly at $1.70......interesting.....oil to rise further ?...

my dow short now back in the money and I confess I expect it to be even more so by the close of biz

Just bought BP (ex dividend tomorrow) to offset some of the 6.8 points on the FTSE tomorrow.

I'll carry my FTSE shorts over and absorb the divi tomorrow I think, I doubled by Cable short so am hoping for a pullback soon....

Skinny BP were ex div feb ???? nothing in forward diary?

Q1 results said dividend of 9.75 cents per ordinary share to be paid in June on BP.

4 times a year divi...

Balerboy - Financial Calendar

Shortie - I've added to my short today - hence the BP long (S/B).

This link is a more reliable source of ex dividend dates and is one stop - Upcoming UK Ex-Dividend Dates

Thanks skinny, just checking you hadn't been on the vino, the second link I already use ta.,.

Not convinced the FTSE is ready to fall, a rise to test 6870 wouldn't surprise me at all. As such I'm holding off adding to shorts at the moment.

Cable has my attention right now, I'm thinking it cant be far of testing support and that would see a fall back to around 1.66....

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Sterling rose to its highest against the dollar in nearly five years on Tuesday, buoyed by a survey showing Britain's services sector expanded faster than expected in April. The dollar .DXY struggled as U.S. yields US2YT=RR remained subdued with investors focused on benign inflationary conditions in the United States that are likely to keep the Federal Reserve from tightening policy in the near term. In contrast, expectations that the Bank of England may have to tighten policy early next year are relatively strong. Sterling overnight interbank average rates - the very short-term interest rates which form the basis of lending costs to the wider economy - are pricing in the chance of the first rate hike in early 2015. GBPOIS=ICAP Sterling rose 0.75 percent to $1.6996 GBP=D4 , with bulls now targeting $1.70, a level last seen in August 2009. Sterling, on a trade-weighted basis, rose to its highest since late 2008 =GBP of 86.9. The gains came amid higher-than-usual volumes on the Reuters Matching system. The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 58.7 in April from 57.6 in March, far above the 50 threshold for growth. A Reuters poll had forecast an unchanged reading. ECONGB The data followed a strong showing in the manufacturing sector too, all of which pointed to a firm start to the second quarter. Some economists are expecting the UK economy to grow at more than 1 percent, quarter-on-quarter. ECONGB In the first quarter, British growth was 0.8 percent, picking up from 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. That put it on course for a 3.1 percent expansion year-on-year. "Sterling/dollar for now looks on course to test $1.70 with data surprising on the upside," FXPro economist Simon Smith said. "But above $1.70, it could get a bit tough, with a lot depending on next week's inflation report from the BoE. If it is a hawkish report, we could see more gains." INFLATION REPORT The quarterly inflation report is due next week as the BoE moves towards a broader assessment of slack in the labour market and the economy as part of its forward guidance policy for markets. It starts a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. It could also address the issue of rising house prices in the inflation report. BoE deputy governor John Cunliffe said recently that it would be dangerous to ignore the momentum of rising house prices. ID:nL6N0NN372 Many economists argue that Britain's upturn is largely a matter of rising house prices in a small number of cities, fuelling the same sort of bubble that prefaced the financial crisis of 2007-8. As a result, many are now speculating that some sort of prudential steps maybe in store, potentially delaying a rise in rates that markets have priced in. Any delay in tightening monetary policy could prompt sterling to give up some of its hefty gains. "From a technical level, we are recommending to investors that they short the pound at $1.69-$1.70 and take profits to a drop to $1.66," Societe Generale currency strategist Alvin Tan said. The euro EURGBP=D4 was down 0.3 percent at 82 pence, not far from its two-month trough of 81.955 pence struck late last month. The shared currency has struggled against the pound given a widening gap between euro zone government bond yields EU10YT=RR and UK gilts GB10YT=RR . While the BoE is expected to tighten policy, the European Central Bank is grappling with the threat of disinflation in the euro zone. The ECB meets on Thursday in Brussels, though it is widely expected to stand pat on rates.

dow
banked nice profits on 2 from 3 short positions

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and now clear of all

i can't believe yellen will come up with anything that will frighten the markets, so another yo-yo session ahead

dow
small long at 16450