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

prob best to leave it, though there may still be a few points to go ahead of tomorrow's budget

Strange session today. Dow Down. FTSE UP

Usually St Patricks Day gives a positive read in US.

apart from general volatility, there is now a fear that fed will raise interest rates in june
indications of this or otherwise are expected in the next day or two

FTSE
out at 6832 to bank a good profit
i had hoped for 6868, but it's rather battling the headwind from across the pond
also, my intent was always to sell ahead of the news (budget) as reaction to that is totally unpredictable

Where to now cyners, sell the news now or clench buttocks to test highs? Answers on a postcard :0)

my head says that unless wall street recovers its nerve - wait for yellen's pronouncements this evening - then i do not see that ftse can withstand the headwind created

I agree, down to Yellen to cock everything up or not. Tightened stops to lock in profits on stocks just in case.

US interest rates must assuredly rise sooner rather than later, but that is merely a reflection of the strengthening economy
however, there are a number of external international factors that rather muddy the picture

big cheesy grin for me on the DOW, but it must be admitted after a few palpitations and sweaty palms

in the wake of the surge of the DOW - has now breached 18,000 but will it hold it? - cash FTSE is up about 25 and is also at its all time high having burst through 6960 - but again, will it hold it, especially after such a strong day pre and post budget?

George and Janet.

Thank you

cash ftse has now fallen to 6950 so an interesting start to tomorrow

Last 10 days have been a white knuckle ride.

.

i've got lucky in that time :-)

as the dust from the budget and yellen settles, my inclination remains to short the markets
this applies in particular to FTSE with the impending election certain to unsettle

as i write,
FTSE is still a tad above the key 6960 mark, but it's not showing fresh impetus
DOW remains quite comfortably above 18,000 but is showing signs of small weakness

So close to 7000 again for FTSE.

DOW
chart below shows why this is getting interesting, at least on the bear tack
it surprises me that FTSE is holding against the wind, at least for now

crikey!
didn't expect to hit THAT target so quickly, so now out +178 ...... was only a small position, but as this morning was the first time it had moved back to positive, i'm sure not complaining :-)

FTSE
index has now tottered just below 7,000 so it needs to hold above 6960 for the close
this it should manage, though i remain generally bearish

OIL STOCKS
America's oil in storage just hit another record after rising for the 11th consecutive week.
Stockpiles rose 8.2 million barrels, or 1.8 percent, to 466.7 million barrels last week, the EIA reported today. Analysts had expected an increase of 4.75 million barrels. The amount of oil the U.S. is cranking out also edged up slightly, for the seventh consecutive week, to a rate of 9.42 million barrels a day.
Investors have been closely watching the oil gather in storage tanks, which has been rising steadily since the oil-price crash started last year. Stockpiles are more than 25 percent above their five-year average. Inventories aren't likely to max out, but even the possibility of coming close is adding pressure to an oversupplied oil market.