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

The 18th is when the months options are either exercised or walked away from if the strike price has been achieved, its also when the months futures close out also. Not sure what this has to do with rallys though, a trip back to the charts I think is required to see if there is any clear pattern.

Sure enough the 18th last month also saw a rally but this doesn't appear to go back any further, maybe due to the strong downwards pressure during Jan & Feb. 12800 tested strongly today which causes me some concern. We have also seen the sp move above 50 DMA so will be interesting to see if there is any support at this level or if profit taking will kick in and cause yet another sell off.

I'm no expert on charts but for anyone that plays with the beast ie us crude may find some dramatic moves when the ma's cross on the 3 minute chart

Reckon a reversal on EURUSD is due at anytime, it can only (surely) be a matter of time before Euro zone relents on its hawkish outlook...

Lack of jungle juice in Scotland....hell !...they will all be coming down south...that should add a few pennies at the pump !

Re GBP/EUR - this news from Reuters:

"The Bank of England will next week announce plans to swap 50 billion pounds ($99.8 billion) of government bonds for UK bank mortgages in an effort to break a lending squeeze gripping the home loan market, the BBC said on Friday . . .
A debt swap scheme, similar to one the United States announced last month, could make banks more willing to lend to each other at lower rates and could ultimately mean the BoE may not have to cut interest rates as aggressively as markets have been betting on." [my italics]

I reckon that would mean GBP rising against EUR - the Euro is in any case being talked about as too strong against other currencies.

reasonable supposition Ms T, especially if the tide (sentiment) is turning against Euro and/or more pro-

How nice to see you agreeing with me Cynic!

too scared of being soundly spanked if i do not!

Right...you've tempted me..I like the sound of Cynic's proposition = "I'll disagree with Toya" (only joking !).

You guys had better watch out! - Actually I was scared of pronouncing my female logic, knowing the kind of threats made against it here! Fear of spanked bottoms all round then...

does that include you? ..... or do you like being trussed up at the same time as well?

Trussed up? - I'm no chicken!

you said it, not i!
but how do you feel about the stuffing, with/without string(s)?

Prefer no strings attached Cynic

but the stuffing acceptable i assume - lol!

I particularly like the stuffing!

cynic any view on emed ? be nice

yes: 'nough of this nonsense: what's the ftse going to do next?

Yes, 'nough of this nonsense. What's the FTSE going to do next?

is this thread working?