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

I know! :-(

Big Loss taken on FOGL today

Where next?

Testing 50DMA at the moment, I'm thinking lower but you never know if it manages to break it.

USD Core Durable Goods Orders m/m 1.5% consensus -0.6% previous 2.0%

USD Durable Goods Orders m/m 0.0% consensus -0.6% previous 9.8%

CAD Corporate Profits q/q 3.7% previous -4.9%

Don't forget Bennie is speaking now.

I'm rather sore at the moment having had 25% of my portfolio knocked out. On the positive side side though these losses in FOGL and Rockhopper have now been realised and have freed up some margin. 1 position left on FOGL now.

Mulling over a position on Wall St for this afternoon..

Thanks for reminding us of Bennie - I had forgotten!

Sorry to hear that Shortie - although that seems quite a high percentage to have in 2 stocks.

Bernanke Welcomes Students Competing in Economics Contest

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke welcomed college students to an annual competition the central bank hosts where teams from five different schools will give presentations on monetary policy.

Bernanke did not discuss the outlook for monetary policy or the economy in his remarks. Speaking in Washington, Bernanke said he will “be looking forward to the solutions that these groups come up with.”

USD CB Consumer Confidence 73.7 consensus 73.1 previous 72.2

Only 25% Skinny because I transferred cash out last week.

Ah right - bad luck anyway - hands up who hasn't been there!

I am still hanging on to my FTSE long @5790 - and hoping for steady and slow increase over next few months.

If you are looking for an opportunity, AMER has taken a bit of a bashing over last couple of days with news expected imminently (all indications would suggest good news - but who knows in this game). Amer currently @ 44p with general consensus that this will break 50p by Xmas and 80p+ by mid 2013. As always please DYOR - having realised some cash last week - I have bought back in today. Best

I've had my eye on AMER for a while - may get in to that now; thanks for reminding me bhunt

Shortie: bad luck indeed - I know the feeling well (unfortunately).

hi luscious ..... is it still raining in uk?

5792.8 all FTSE shorts now closed out in profit...

AMER have made a nice profit in previous months, have a single future remaining in this stock. I think Paragon PAG is worth a go at the moment, also Thomas Cook report tomorrow I think so one to watch.

Long @12,920, I've also had a dabble with Thomas Cook.

Closed +10.

Cynic: still raining up here, yes. I gather we're in for an icy blast later this week - best stay where you are, or travel further south!