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

have now banked a very nice profit on half my dow long

at the risk of being a bit greedy have today bought into AMZN and PCI (see thread) and also topped up FOGL (to ride the momentum but with a view to bank some profit before drilling result)

Mistress has just berated me for not commenting on FTSE ..... guru says, though it's a bit late now, to buy aggressively on a break above 5710 with a shortish term target of 5989

Am I forgiven now Mistress, though i fear you may have burnt your knickers a bit should you be wearing any!?

Hi Cynic - thanks for checking out that figure... and no, I won't be showing mine here :)

GBP Manufacturing Production m/m -2.9% consunsus -4.0% previous 1.2%

GBP Industrial Production m/m -2.5% consensus -3.3% previous 1.0%

Industrial output takes hit from extra holidays in June

LONDON | Tue Aug 7, 2012 9:57am BST

(Reuters) - British manufacturing output shrank sharply in June, as the extra public holidays to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne lowered output, data showed on Tuesday.

However, the decline was slightly smaller than initially estimated, pointing to a modest upward revision of second-quarter gross domestic product.

The Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing output fell 2.9 percent after a 1.2 percent rise in May. Economists had forecast a slump by 4.1 percent on the month, though analysts have struggled to predict the impact of the additional days off.

Good old Merv - Bank of England expected to cut UK growth forecasts

The Bank Of England is expected to cut growth forecasts close to zero from the 0.8% predicted in May as the double-dip recession intensifies.

The quarterly inflation report is likely to indicate no growth for 2012 compared with 2% predicted a year ago.

Governor Sir Mervyn King is expected to be asked about a possible interest rate cut from the current record 0.5%.

This smacks of 'headless chicken mode'

Facebook opens doors to real-money gambling in Britain

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc will allow users in Britain to wager real money on its service, opening its doors to gambling for the first time as revenue growth slows at the world's No. 1 social network.

On Tuesday, Gamesys, an independent gaming company, launched a version of online Bingo for Facebook users in Britain who are at least 18, and which the company said will pay winners real money. Gamesys also announced plans to offer virtual slots gambling on Facebook.

as it must surely be time for the markets to take a breather, i have closed the balance of my dow long for a more than acceptable profit

Should be o.k. today, imo as there is a only a 10 yr U.S. bond auction today which should go without a hitch. Thursday may be a bit different as U.S. unemployment claims figures will be released, but not really much on the immediate horizon to dent confidence that I can see. (Maybe next tues when U.S. retail sales figures are out?)

Early downside probably due to a raft of heavy weight Ex dividends today.

Yes, a little money back from BT to swell the coffers! ;o)

How about STAN - ex dividend today and up 55.5 as I type.

Yes, but that assumes that you bought after the bad news & the sp tanked! Win, win if you did!

Harry - I traded it 3 times yesterday against a SIPP holding - not a comfortable day, but Ok in the end.

skinny - mine was merely precautionary .... the longer term prognosis for dow remains very strong, but the indices are very much for trading .... meanwhile, i continue to hold amzn, goog and aapl over the pond

cynic - I agree.

Further to post 8684 above - I do think facebook has lost the plot and is looking desperate.

i don't like FB as a product so would never buy into it

BoE slashes UK medium-term growth outlook

LONDON | Wed Aug 8, 2012 10:32am BST

(Reuters) - The Bank of England has sharply cut its forecast for medium-term growth in Britain's economy due to worries that factors hurting growth since the financial crisis may be more long-lasting than first thought.

In its quarterly Inflation Report, the Bank said that growth in two years time was likely to be around 2 percent a year, down sharply from the forecast of 2.67 percent just three months ago.

This marks a break with previous Bank forecasts, which have usually shown strong rebounds in growth, even after short-term weakness.

German 10-y Bond Auction 1.42|1.8 previous 1.31|1.5