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

Looks like Greece has had it. Maybe the Arabs will buy it.

G8 pledges $38bn to Arab states as IMF recognises Libya

Finance ministers from the G8 group of industrialised countries have pledged nearly $40bn (25bn) to several Arab countries to help with reconstruction and moves towards democracy.

The money will go to Egypt and Tunisia, which overthrew their autocratic leaders, as well as Morocco and Jordan.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognised Libya's post-Gaddafi leadership.

DOW looking grim again!
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were poised to take a hit Monday, following a sell-off in global markets sparked by fresh eurozone debt worries.
Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all more than 1% lower ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Investors were struggling with a new wave of anxiety over the possibility that Greece will default on its debts.
Adding to overseas jitters, France's top banks prepared themselves for a possible credit downgrade from ratings agency Moody's, according to Reuters. Traders expect the downgrade announcement to be issued at any moment as the 90-day window for the review comes to a close. The credit ratings agency issued the review on June 15."

DOW on offer @10,835 with cmc (not the low).

Moody's cuts SocGen and CreditAgricole, BNPP still on review

10,957 on offer ETX Capital DOW futures

Sarkozy 'will do everything' to save Greece

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon will "do everything to save Greece," amid a spiralling eurozone crisis, French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse has said.

Even invasion & occupation? Can't see anything else working.

Doubt he would sell them his Mrs. Skinny

UBS trader arrested by London police over rogue deal

Police in London have arrested a 31-year-old man in connection with allegations of unauthorised trading which has cost Swiss banking group UBS an estimated $2bn (1.3bn).

He was detained in the early hours of Thursday and remains in custody.

He should ask Fred the shread where to stash the money.

DOW was looking very good, but only +24 atm. Here's hoping I can let my modest profits run!

DOW now up 171 points

is the oil price about to tank?

Not as much as your Lloyds stock lol. Lost your trumpet that you were blowing last week Yorky.

Comment from pfgbest.com (Phil Flynn) on oil price:
"Obviously the oil market believes that demand will fall as well and the market seems to be suggesting further weakness as we move forward. OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri added to that mindset when he said global demand for oil is rising less than expected. Bloomberg News Reported that El-Badri said fiscal woes in Europe and high unemployment in the U.S. are curbing global oil-demand growth. Crude supply from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may be boosted by 500,000 to 600,000 barrels a day from Libyas eastern and western fields soon, he said at a conference in Dubai. Fighting in Libya since February has reduced the availability of light, sweet crude, or oil with low density and sulfur content. The countrys output fell to 45,000 barrels a day last month, according to Bloomberg estimates, compared with the 1.6 million barrels a day the nation pumped in January."

bernie when are you going to learn how to make it on the way up as well as on the way down, it's called trading. you should stop sharing a room with jim davidson and try to get out of the funny farm.

Says the investor. BTW my boy I trade both ways FYI

Looks like indices have built in some good news rumoured from the FED for Wednesday.

If it does nothing, today's gains and more will be lost in an instant

But, if it does, then they won't.