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

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.

Yemen could be the next Black Swan if it turns to custard there.

Not looking too good again.

clearly i abandoned my dow position far too early, albeit with a very nice profit

my little ftse short is now just about in the money

Down is the new up Alf.

Up and down like cynic's draws.........

DOW
is going to close below 17,700 which is disappointing unless you're bearish

7000? Hope we don't just drift all the way down again!!!!!!

I do -):

Miserable left-winger.
2517

A bit of a bounce today. Hoping it lasts all the way into Easter, otherwise its no eggs for the Trouble :)

Another dustbin day on the FTSE 100.

50% Must be rubbish.

US jobs data was very weak as a result of which cash DOW dumped 170 points to 17589 - the US markets are closed today, but not sure about monday

my gut tells me that the drop is badly o'done but not sure if i'll dare back it with my wallet

Put your neck on it!

8-)