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

Dow down spades

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All gains on Dow lost in last two hours.

Crazy times on the markets

and all the way back up this morning

CHINESE IMPORT RELAXATION ETC
apparently the latest speech did not have much if anything new but probably lays the ground for defusing the threatened trade war, and just perhaps rather more in the longer term

who are likely to be the major beneficiaries?
seemingly, car manufacturers in the first instance
however, i think this will be the tip of the iceberg and base commodity producers will be in demand - eg KAZ (copper), GLEN (cobalt for batteries) and BLT (iron ore)

US down again today.

Mr T getting ready to rearrange the rubble in Syria.

Hopefully not.

Agree, gas attacks don't move the markets.

DAX
now 12,475 has been breached, this index is interesting territory with a potential swing to further upside

however, i am inclined to remain cautious until DOW also shows comparable strength by breaking through and holding 24,650

nor should it be forgotten that today is friday and the madman is still theatening fire and brimstone to be rained down on syria - though perhaps not today

The lunatics will sit on their hands and watch as gas has a field day and nuclear weapons are developed - how well the so called sane leaders have done.

talking of gas...... if Russia gets bolshie over Syria .... if he turns the gas tap off to Europe we're all in the proverbial....

Mine comes from Norway, slightly different smell to Russian gas. :-))

SUNDAY TIMES
biz section worth reading for comment on WPP, WTB and CNE

also
very funny and sharply observed caption to the cartoon on the front page of the main paper ...
"We will obliterate the entire West except for Jeremy Corbyn"

while european indices languish, keep an eye on DOW which is only 75 points away from an important break-out point (25,625)
break that and hold, and there could finally be some life in europe, more likely via DAX than FTSE

Good day for US Indices. Structual gap on the open might get filled just below 24400

DAX
just broken back above 12,500 but really needs another 50 points under its belt - 100 would give greater comfort - to confirm a new upward trend

China powers ahead:
China's economy grew 6.8% in the first quarter of 2018, according to government data published Tuesday.
China's government said last month that it's aiming for economic growth of around 6.5% for the full year, lower than the 6.9% that it reported for 2017.

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ignoring that it's probably overstated - but then it always is - then it augurs well for base metals

my own current choices (holdings) are
FXPO, BLT, AAL, GLEN

Struggled with Dow today. Only a few points on the board.

May be a breather for a day or two.

Crazy last 30 minutes in US

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markets all falling away once more, but then it is friday and goodness knows what inflammatory crap DT will come out with over w/e