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

Out of Gold at 1594 - still think it has more to go - but want to hold onto my profit,

Now for the FTSE !!!!

HEARD ON THE STREET: UK Faces Growing Vulnerability

By Richard Barley The U.K. economy seems to be stuck in stasis. Despite a vast budget deficit, a 25% depreciation in sterling, negative real interest rates and GBP375 billion of quantitative easing, the economy is neither growing nor rebalancing toward exports. Tuesday's bleak industrial production and trade data just confirmed the gloom. The market is beginning to realize that the U.K.'s problems run deeper than previously appreciated -- and there are no quick or easy solutions. The latest set of figures have revived talk of a triple-dip recession. U.K. industrial production fell 1.2% on the month in January, far worse than the 0.1% rise economists had pencilled in. That leaves the index of industrial production at a level last seen in May 1992, Capital Economics notes. Manufacturing was down 1.5% on the month, despite survey data that had suggested resilience, a worrying development. Since then, Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers index for February has suggested a renewed fall in orders both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, the trade data hinted at a headache for the Bank of England in its calls for weaker sterling. While the headline trade deficit narrowed to GBP2.4 billion, this was flattered by a big swing in the deficit in oil; underlying exports of goods excluding oil and erratic items fell 5.4% on the month, RBS notes. But at the same time, import prices rose by 1.4% on the month, a move that the Office for National Statistics said might be attributable to the decline in sterling. The inflationary consequences of lower sterling may well be felt quicker than any rebalancing in the economy. The problem is that inflation has broadly been running higher than wage growth since 2008, the ONS notes: real wages are being steadily squeezed. That reduces spending power, both draining demand from the economy and preventing households from paying down debt -- which then further weakens confidence and inhibits demand. But it is difficult to see how policymakers can address this problem. More government spending or unfunded tax cuts would raise concern about public finances; efforts to boost credit availability look like pushing on a string given existing debt burdens. The market is betting on more bond purchases by the BOE, meaning sterling is likely to fall and government bonds to rally. Tuesday, the pound hit $1.4832, its lowest against the dollar since June 2010, while 10-year gilt yields fell to 1.95%. But the risk is that further rounds of QE may prove counterproductive, by distorting the government bond market, importing inflation and raising red flags for foreign investors. The longer the U.K. stagnates, the more it looks vulnerable to a crisis of confidence.

shortie you plagiarising skunk you (11314) ..... what did i write in post 11286? :-)

meanwhile i have taken all my money off the table for longs on dow and HG+HC Index ...... i'm not brave enough to short the dow, but it is looking singularly disinclined to go further north

My Ftse short - now in profit - just

on balance, i think shorting ftse is no bad move, though arguably it has a further 50/60 pts upside

Nicely in profit now - but it has taken some patience. Am thinking of letting this one ride a while with a stop loss = to my buy price for now.

Lets see what happens overnight - I have a feeling that tonight and tomorrow will see more falls

French CPI m/m 0.3% consensus 0.5% previous -0.5%

Sorry Cynic re: the construction index post, just looked back and seen your post.. Whoops, all the same added to my watch list as what goes up must come down and I'm rather liking the index for a potential short..

FTSE down this morning I see, fingers crossed this is the start of a reversal...

Plagiarist! post 10568 - can't be bothered to look back any further :-)


Just taken some short profit and hopefully add later.

I am still running my short - very nicely in profit now with a SL at 6460 for now

30 Minute Chart, running two FTSE shorts from yesterday and got rather stung with the overnight dividend... Support at 6391 (initial) then 6362... ;-)

EUR Industrial Production m/m -0.4% consensus -0.1% previous 0.7%

Some biggish Ex. Divis today so not really surprisingly down.

Shortie - the overnight dividend charge for me £11.94 per £1 short - interestingly Reuters had it worth 10.71 FTSE points.

Best I don't make any comment on the below....

£10.71 per £1 is what I paid Skinny + 36p per pound overnight fee which I get charged as standard for carrying over.

I know I shouldn't have - but I moved my sl up to 6465 - cos I do not think the drop is over yet !!

Moved my stop down now to 6445 - good decision to adjust my previous stop

Very lucky well done! :-)

Luck plays a large part in my decisions - I tend not to take too much notice of all the information available cos I dont know how to analyse it - but I do watch the charts and take note of the economic diaries.

I dabbled about 2 years ago and lost too much money cos I was just takiing a punt - but I have been watching you guys - and now I take bigger "punts" over a longer period of time - and so far I have done very well.

I have learnt not to always be in the market - which was my downfall last time

I currently have a small punt in gold long and am out of the FTSE for now