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

Well I was speaking to some Scotts at the weekend who are in the Yes camp... I was rather surprised when they suggested that English people wanted Scotland to remain in the UK and that Scotland leaving would hurt England...

From what I've seen in the media its a shame that the Scottish vote on Independence will probably be one of the most uneducated votes of all time...

Shortie - I've had conversations with friends and a typical attitude seems to be "if they want to leave, let them" - worrying.

Uneducated vote Shortie, I dont think so, the Scots are very canny people they realise they wont have a Tory party ever governing them again. I say good luck to them if the Yes vote wins.

Its a shame that its upset the market but the tories as usual have underestimated the serious situation going on, just look at Osbourne running around like a blue assed fly conceeding this and that in the hope of a no vote.........its way too late.

I don't think the Scots are voting against England so much as voting against the series of out of touch tory party administrations and their out of touch sense of social responsibility.

My guess is the bribery now being offered them by Cameron and Osborne will stick in their gullets and confirm their views of the London orientated disconnected caucus.

Good, or bad, haven't a clue, but feel that there is strength in numbers if you can satisfy the needs or wishes of the majority.

Same applies to membership of EU.

But then all political parties are pretty much out of touch... The one thing this country has in ample supply is politicians, its only a shame there's no demand for these resources elsewhere.... Did I same resources, politicians now-a-days are more like a form of waste, maybe a toxic one at that considering the cost of containment.

GF, Scott are very canny people..... LOL, really!!

Most Certainly they arent stupid enough to vote Tory.

That'll be why all the other polls still put the No vote ahead, even the SNP's Poll puts the No vote ahead I've heard!!..

No matter who wins the Scottish debate Alex Salmond will be guilty of dividing Scotland as the voting result will be very close and it is totally unrealistic to assume that life will return as normal after the result. Half of Scotland will be unhappy and disgruntled, to say nothing of how the English will react to a referendum they have had no voice on.

Totaly agree. Think they will start to realise they have voted wrong when companys move to England. If the Labour party was in power I dont even think this vote would be going on now.

If it is a yes vote Cameron will go down with the legacy of 'The Prime Minister that Lost Scotland'.... I'm sure the Conservatives will have a nice spot for that one on their walls of fame..

I think that beats "Tony (weapons of mass destruction) Blair the War Criminal" you know!!

I wouldn't get too worked up over Scotland personally, and I think the market was getting its knickers in a twist over something and nothing earlier, based upon a wicked bit of press that ignored the undecided vote.

Most of the English couldn't give a toss about Scotland anyway. If they go independent, there's no chance of the jocks reneging on their £140bn debt, they'll peg their currency to the pound, the oil companies are already domiciled in England, the banks have been re-domiciling over recent months, and the talk of lost business and border controls is just scaremongering.

Move along. There's nothing to see here.

We was just taking the P$%s Hillary and having some fun!! That's a spit on your neck, poke yourself in the eye end to that then!...

I'm looking on the bright side, if Scotland do vote for Independence then at least we'll have someone to vote for us in Eurovision....

It's your prerogative what you choose to discuss on the thread, Shortie, and my comments weren't aimed directly at either you or Fishfinger. To be honest, I don't even read 99% of what's posted here anyway.

I was simply saying that the market's reaction to the summink and nuffink story of Scottish independence was, imho, overdone, and that I don't think a yes vote would be likely to stop the FTSE having another crack at those recent highs again soon.

I'd have to agree with you there, the whole Independence thing in the media is completely overdone. The next day we'll all wake up and carry on as usual despite what politicians think..

France misses EU budget deficit target
Finance minister Michel Sapin says Paris will not aim to reach required level of 3% of GDP until 2017, blaming slow economic growth and low inflation


tells you a fair bit about the state of the eu economies - uk apart!

DOW
has now dipped below 17,000 though without great impetus
however, if it closes there, then it's quite likely to fall to ~16,900 ..... not a great additional tumble, but the US market has been pretty sluggish and directionless for a week or so

A rogue BP. trade!?

Tonight on BBC2 9pm part 1 of part 2 documentary........."Traders: Millions By The Minute".

I wish...

the markets suddenly like something that i have not yet seen
dow suddenly +90 with ftse hanging on to its coat-tails after hours

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watch for 17160 with preferably a surge through that, though it may stumble at that point