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

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can someone keep an eye on international news as something nasty (ukraine?) may be afoot
Dow has quickly dumped 100 points

i currently have very poor connectivity

MINSK/DONETSK, Ukraine - The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine began peace talks in Belarus on Wednesday, while in Ukraine pro-Moscow separatists tightened the pressure on Kiev by launching some of the war's worst fighting

DOW over 17900 / oil up ? ...

oil has barely moved but dow bolted about 30 mins after close (21:30)
no idea why

this was almost certainly the reason .....

The US Congress gave final approval Wednesday to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would transmit Canadian crude to US refineries, defying President Barack Obama's veto threat.

oil
it very much looks that Saudi is cutting back on oil production, regardless of what they may be broadcasting
in the last 2 months Aramco, for which read Saudi Oil, has pretty much stopped developing new or even existing wells
while there will not be a sudden surge in crude prices, the effects will slowly filter through
i'ld still bet on it settling at perhaps $60/70, though longer term Saudi will want it back above $85 as that is the sort of level around which their budget is structured

Gone Short FTSE.

6950 STOP

Wrong call on FTSE

certainly is at the moment i'm afraid, but things do not go up indefinitely

Been one of those weeks. Just got it plain wrong.

well let's see what the new week brings and if the markets remain so gung-ho having digested the greek fudge

meanwhile, ukraine rumbles on of course

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as a marker, IG shows cash positions this morning
FTSE 6950
Dow 18132

an extract from sky news on the net

Greece Agreement 'Old Deal In New Clothing'
........... It was said that behind-the-scenes, the Germans were refusing to talk to Mr Varoufakis - that some Greek finance officials had been urged to get rid of their boss.
That would be a terrific mistake: their new finance minister is one of the biggest assets Greece has, particularly when it comes to explaining to an international audience why austerity has not worked, and why future deals might have to be different.
And there will almost certainly need to be another deal once these four months have elapsed.
In the meantime, Mr Varoufakis and his colleagues have a tough job on their hands explaining why what was agreed in Brussels was a triumph rather than a defeat.
Their previous feat - overturning decades of two-party domination in Greece - may end up looking easy in comparison.

correction under way perhaps
Dow now down 60 at 18165

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what an arsehole!
all recovered

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Is the FTSE going over 7000 ? i don't fancy buying in to this at the moment ,correction coming ?

It will at some point no doubt but with interest rates not going down in the foreseeable future, answer has to be not yet. Always the possibility of a terrorist event but otherwise can't see it going anywhere except up short term at least.

Waiting for the first sell off before I commit to shorting. As for now I am sitting on hands.

how short is short term?
confess i find it hard to believe there won't be a significant correction ahead of GE and after .... but then i'm amazed at the current strength

''but then i'm amazed at the current strength''-------- Is that the US market cynic?
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