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

Merkel's euro push leaves east Germany out in the cold

EISENHUETTENSTADT, Germany | Mon Dec 3, 2012 11:50am GMT

(Reuters) - This fading industrial city, like many in Angela Merkel's former East German home, is stony ground for the chancellor's message of European integration and fertile soil for opponents trying to stop her winning a third term next September.

More than two decades after unification, income and jobs in the five eastern states, home to 15 percent of the population, still lag behind the west and trillions of euros in transfers have not stemmed an exodus that has left some areas looking like ghost towns.

Bank of England credit scheme sees moderate initial take-up

LONDON | Mon Dec 3, 2012 11:18am GMT

(Reuters) - British banks and building societies drew down 4.36 billion pounds from a Bank of England programme to boost lending in its first two months, in what analysts said was a moderately encouraging start.

Net lending by the banks involved rose by only 496 million pounds, but the BoE's executive director for markets, Paul Fisher, said it was too early to use Monday's data as a guide to the scheme's success - a view largely shared by economists.

Greece Makes Buyback Offer as Merkel Floats Writeoffs

Greece offered 10 billion euros ($13 billion) to buy back bonds issued earlier this year as the bailed-out nation attempts to cut a debt load that may threaten future international aid.

Greek bonds rallied after the so-called modified Dutch auction was announced today by the Athens-based Public Debt Management Agency. PDMA offered an average maximum purchase price for the bonds maturing from 2023 to 2042 of 34.1 percent, based on information in the statement. The offer runs until 5 p.m. London time on Dec. 7.

Nokia Speed Advantage Opens Way to Holiday Gain on IPhone

When Tommie Johansson was looking for a new smartphone in Stockholm last month, he quickly ruled out the iPhone 5. The reason: It’s too slow.

The Apple Inc. (AAPL) handset can’t connect to the newest networks of most European carriers. That creates a potential opening for Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) as it seeks to claw back lost market share with new phones that can take full advantage of the fastest networks.

USD Final Manufacturing PMI 52.8 consensus 51.7 previous 52.4

Bouncing off resistance, the above daily chart shows how strong 5910 is. Long term bullish bhunt?? See below...

USD ISM Manufacturing PMI 49.5 consensus 51.5 previous 51.7

USD Construction Spending m/m 1.4% consensus 0.5% previous 0.6%

USD ISM Manufacturing Prices 52.5 consensus 54.3 previous 55.0

Cheers Shortie - I am letting it run for time being - still with 5850 as my SL

Your welcome bhunt, it'll be interesting to see which way the FTSE breaks long term. Since the credit crunch we've seen a flag formation as shown in the yearly chart above (solid diagonal green support, and red resistance lines). Either direction could be argued at the moment however I feel the downside will prevail due to QE and money supply. Sooner or later the banking system will release QE funds into the open market which will affect exchange rates and cause a period of hyperinflation. We're already seeing this as unimpaired commodities soar in price. Take the UK, energy, food etc have all soared recently and the countries QE policy isn't about to reverse this trend any time soon. When the markets finally give way to QE and the central bank realises it can't print its way out of debt we'll be left with higher interest rates and over supply of money. Unless wage inflation is able to keep up then we're looking at a major contraction even a depression. Of course this isn't about to happen any time soon, look at Greece, the can keeps on being kicked further up the road. But something will have to give sooner or later and history tells us the giving normally occurs in the lining of our pockets... Of course you could argue this from the other side but lets face it, governments are unable to remove their structural deficit currently, without this first step the larger problem can't begin to be tackled. All this is IMO and I'm sure others will disagree, who knows we may end up needing a new thread...

ISM PMI falls to its lowest reading since July 2009 --Respondents note little impact from Sandy --Bigger drag is uncertainty of fiscal future (Adds details throughout) By Kathleen Madigan The U.S. manufacturing sector fell back into contraction last month as businesses harbor uncertainty over the impact of the so-called fiscal cliff, according to data released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM's manufacturing purchasing managers' index unexpectedly fell to 49.5 in November from 51.7 in October. The November reading was the lowest since July 2009. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity. The index fell below 50 during the summer, but improved in September and October. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the November PMI to fall but only to 51.0. Comments from the panel "indicate that the second half of the year continues to show a slowdown in demand; respondents also express concern over how and when the fiscal cliff issue will be resolved," the report said. Bradley Holcomb, who oversees the ISM survey, said few respondents mentioned superstorm Sandy. One member said shipments were delayed by the storm. In a conference call after the report, Mr. Holcomb said lagged impacts from Sandy could show up in later surveys. The bigger drag on the factory sector is coming from uncertainty surrounding future federal spending and tax policy, he said. "People are backing off from making any moves until [the fiscal cliff] is cleared up." The ISM report conflicts with another national factory index also reported Monday. Data provider Markit said its own U.S. factory index hit a six-month high in November. Mr. Holcomb played down the differences between the ISM and other reports. He noted the ISM has a long history and has been consistently hovering near the 50-mark since June. The ISM indexes were generally mixed. The new-orders index in November fell to 50.3 from 54.2 in October. The exports index remained contractionary for the sixth consecutive month, falling to 47.0 from 48.0. The production index rose to 53.7 from 52.4. The employment index dropped sharply to 48.4 from 52.1. The November jobs index is the lowest since September 2009. Economists think overall November job growth was very weak, in part because of Sandy. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expect November nonfarm payrolls increased only 80,000, down from 171,000 jobs created in October. Payrolls are scheduled to be reported Friday. With demand slowing businesses are more cautious about inventories. The inventory index dropped to 45.0 from 50.0 in October. More respondents also thought their customers' inventories were too low. The customers' inventory index dropped to a near-year low of 42.5 from 49.0. Manufacturers reported only a small easing in cost pressures. The ISM's prices index declined to 52.5 from 55.0 in October. The ISM said it will release its semiannual outlooks for the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors on Dec. 11.

Barry the Kenyan to take questions on Twitter on fiscal cliff at 19:00 GMT

Spanish Unemployment Change 74.3K consensus 90.0K previous 128.2K

Dang - stopped out at 5850. Still a handsome profit

lol! did tell you, but never knock or mock pennies in the pocket

I am convinced that this will rise to 6200+ over next few months so the gambler in me has gone back in with the same stake at 5855.!!!!

would not disagree ..... market sentiment has changed firmly for the better

Look and laugh learn! :-)

BORIS JOHNSON AT THOMSON REUTERS

And from that speech, referring to the Olympics: Boris: "The only piece of transport infrastructure to malfunction was a zipwire."

Well a FTSE100 rise to over 6200+ would require a weekly close above 5917. Market sentiment may have changed but I doubt the FTSE has the legs at the moment to reach such a level.

fair comment, and for sure a break through the surprisingly stubborn 5900 barrier is the short term objective to watch

By Ilona Billington LONDON--Activity in the U.K.'s construction sector contracted in November after a minor pickup a month earlier, as new business slumped, confidence plummeted and firms cut staff at the fastest pace in almost two years, a survey showed Tuesday. And, in a further blow to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's growth plans, which included kickstarting the economy with house building, the report also shows that residential construction has fallen for a sixth straight month in November. The monthly construction purchasing managers index from data firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply fell to 49.3 in November from October's 50.9. "A protracted decline in workloads, the double-dip U.K. recession and shrinking investment spending has made 2012 a year to forget for the construction sector," said Tim Moore, Markit's senior economist. "November's PMI survey suggests that construction output has yet to hit rock bottom." The survey highlights just how tough it is for the construction sector to maintain a sustainable recovery path as the economy stutters and consumer confidence has been weak for most of the year. New orders were the lowest since April 2009, business confidence the weakest since December 2008 while firms cut staff at the fastest pace since December 2010. Mr. Osborne has attempted to boost the residential construction sector in particular by offering a range of government guaranteed mortgages for newly built property. While those schemes have met with some success, the underlying economic weakness, wary consumers and businesses unwilling to invest substantially have all combined to keep activity and growth in the key sector muted. "Parallels to darker days of the economic crisis can be seen in the construction sector, which is under pressure from all sides," said David Noble, chief executive officer at the CIPS. "Businesses are now set for a bitter end to 2012 with little hope of respite in the New Year.

MONEY TALKS: George Osborne's Budget Tribulations

--The U.K. Treasury is stuck between big deficits and slow growth --It will be hard to introduce more austerity --But fear of a bond crisis will constrain spending --And what spending there is might end up being focused on infrastructure By Alen Mattich The British budget has become a semi-annual process. The official one comes in the spring. But there's also a not so mini version around now. And this year's, due Wednesday, may be less mini than most. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has to deal with below-target growth and above-target deficits and no sign that either will return to stable trend anytime soon. Keynesians tell him not to worry about the deficit and to use official borrowing to get growth going. Austerians tell him that's the road to disaster. He's likely to listen to both. Half way through a five-year parliamentary term, the economy hasn't been going Mr. Osborne's way. His initial promises of austerity were built on the premise that without a convincing program of fiscal probity, bond investors would abandon the U.K. market, leaving the country in much the same position as Greece. Actual austerity was for the future, once the economy started to recover. But any concerted recovery failed to come and instead the U.K. has struggled to post any meaningful growth, in spite of government deficits that have averaged around 7.5% of GDP since 2008, some of the biggest in the developed world. Fiscal tightening has largely been an illusion. Insofar as taxes have gone up, so too has spending. Keynesians argue that talk of austerity has had a chilling effect on growth, as have increases in consumption taxes. The U.K. has underperformed the U.S. because it has not expanded fiscal spending by as much. Mr. Osborne may relent on capital spending--a drop in which has been among the biggest sources of fiscal restraint, while weak construction spending has been a major drag on growth. After all, historically-low interest rates make it easy for the government to borrow for long-term projects. But there are good reasons for the Chancellor to remain worried about the state of British public-sector finances. Although bond investors remain indulgent now, there's no telling how they'll be tomorrow. And that's a problem because the U.K. has one of the world's biggest primary deficits--which is to say the gap between spending and tax revenue not including the cost of financing past borrowings. The U.K.'s is 5.6% of GDP for 2012, according to the International Monetary Fund, a proportion only exceeded by the U.S. and Japan among developed countries. By contrast, among the euro zone's most troubled economies, Spain's primary deficit is 4.5% of GDP, Ireland's 4.4%, and Greece's a mere 1.7%, while Italy is running a primary surplus worth 2.6% of GDP this year. Should bond investors suddenly turn their backs on the U.K. government, that 5.6% financing gap would trigger an immediate and deep economic crisis. Is it likely to happen? No, say the Keynesians. That's because a global excess of savings, low underlying inflation risks and a need for safe-haven security will keep the money flowing. Just look at Japan. But Japan may be a bad example. Yes, it has managed to run huge annual deficits for two decades and now has a total debt load of 237% of GDP and is expected to breach 250% later this decade. But as domestic savings dry up, the government will have to plug its hole from somewhere else. The opposition Liberal Democratic Party is threatening to force the Bank of Japan into outright debt monetization. If this happens, Japan will suffer a very big crisis indeed. And investors will panic about other economies with similar debt dynamics. Like the U.K.