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

Closed DOW @13,050 for now.

I ran a short short, too, and am now going to sit by until we hear from the Fed tomorrow.

Looks like I was a bit quick on the PMI & confidence figures - good luck Toya.

Thanks Skinny.

The market looks to have turned rather pessimistic this afternoon. Gold is down. And Brent Crude is way down!

... although now starting to perk up again

I've had another stab @13,068.

I couldn't resist either :)

That was a lovely run up to 13079 and I've cashed in my profits. I'm going to go and play now!

I'm staying long, with a stop at 13000.... ever the optomist

I'm staying short :-)

Monti sees light in euro tunnel, but ECB hopes dim

OME/FRANKFURT | Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:20pm BST

(Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Tuesday that Europe was starting to see light at the end of the tunnel of the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis, belying a welter of deteriorating economic data.

Recession, Libor, Facebook pummel Europe's banks

ZURICH/LONDON | Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:31pm BST

(Reuters) - As if things weren't bad enough, one of Europe's banks took another knock on the chin on Tuesday from its role in Facebook's botched stock market flotation.

don't confuse target and immediate likelihood ..... nothing goes up or down in a straight line ..... nevertheless 13005 looks to have been a very good call at which to enter

Good game.... good game.. as Brucie used to say. Forget analysis I'm sticking to the Forsyth method.

Hi cynic: it's good to have targets, sure. But in how many years' time does your guru reckon the Dow will reach 14545, as per your post 8569?

I'm sure Rocky's target of 13000 shouldn't take too long to reach, meanwhile...

i'm not sure how far forward that looks, but it is based in part on % rises and falls ..... don't forget that futures or similar are for trading, so one doesn't necessarily hang on for grim death

Out of DOW @13,018.

Funding for Lending bank scheme launched

Banks and other lenders can start borrowing cheap money from Wednesday under the new Funding for Lending scheme.

The Bank of England will lend money at below-market rates to banks, and monitor their progress in lending the cash out to firms and households.

Some lenders have already slashed the cost of their long-term, fixed rate deals.

Economy to shrink in 2012: OECD economist

LONDON | Tue Jul 31, 2012 5:39pm BST

(Reuters) - Britain's economy looks set to shrink in 2012 after a surprisingly deep slump between April and June, as the euro zone debt crisis and weak domestic demand make a vigorous return to growth unlikely, the OECD's economist for the UK said.

NXT +138p on its trading statement.

Think I'll watch and wait until the FOMC Statement this evening

GBP Manufacturing PMI 45.4 consensus 48.6 previous 48.6

NXT never cease to amaze me - now up 250p.