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

There's are a number of key economic indicators due out in the UK and US on Friday, with the market's focus likely to be on crucial employment report Stateside scheduled for release at 08:30 in New York (13:30 London time).

Thanks for the reminder DreamCatcher.

I found this an interesting read:
Are stock investors going insane?

The chap with his mouth open has gone insane, Toya. lol

Interesting read.

not a bad old day really ...... AAPL buy at 521.00 this morning was absolutely a good call, and have just banked most of the profit on my dow long

Anyone know what the consensus is for the non-farms tomorrow?

93k

Buba got out of bed the wrong side this morning. All this is 30 mins old now....

Buba Raises Germany's 2013 Jobless Rate Forecast to 7.2% from 6.5% in June; Sees Jobless Rate at 7.0% in 2014 [DJ]

Germany GDP forecast of 0.4% in 2013 sugg a negative quarter if Q1 stagnant as est; so far no "recession" but est negative Q4, 2011Q4 -0.1%

Bundesbank sees inflation at 2.1% in 2012, cuts 2013 to 1.5% vs 1.6%, 2014 1.6%; economy still good shape/clouded, downside risks to growth

Bundesbank cuts Germany GDP forecast 2012 to 0.7% from 1%, 2013 to 0.4%(!) from 1.6%, 2014 at 1.9%, contract in Q4, stagnant 2013Q1

U.S. payrolls grow by 146,000 in November. Unemployment rate falls to 7.7%, lowest since December 2008.

rockets away!

That was indeed an exciting result, but then we had the Consumer Confidence data - and they seem to lack confidence!

'The preliminary University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment gauge tumbled in December to a 74.5 reading from 82.7 in November, reports said Friday. That's far below the 82.0 expected in a MarketWatch-compiled economist poll.

(Reuters) - Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner called a news conference for 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT) on Friday to discuss stalled efforts to cut a bipartisan deal to avert the fiscal cliff, an aide said.

Thanks for that KidA - should give a boost to the DOW to finish off the week.

Or not.

Edit - same old, same old.

Good weekend to you all.

Quite so... I just thought that maybe the fact they are talking to each other might give the markets a boost. I closed a long FTSE position earlier so not really bothered. Probably set up another short - in case it hits 5920 again

German Trade Balance 15.2B consensus 15.9B previous 17.0B

World risks fresh credit bubble, Switzerland's BIS warns

Asset prices across the world have risen to heady levels not seen since the credit boom five years ago and may be losing touch with economic reality yet again, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.

“Some asset prices appeared highly valued in a historical context relative to indicators of their riskiness,” said the bank in its quarterly report.

Yields on morgtage bonds have fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. Spreads on corporate debt have narrowed to the wafer thin margins of 2007, even though default rates are currently three times higher than they were then for junk bonds and twice as high for investment-grade companies.

Thanks for that Skinny - an interesting read!

Italy's debt auctions to go ahead as planned: source

MILAN | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:49am GMT
(Reuters) - Italy will go ahead with debt auctions scheduled for this week despite a decision by Prime Minister Mario Monti to resign ahead of time, a source close to Italian treasury told Reuters on Monday.

"The debt auctions scheduled for this week are confirmed," the source said, quashing market rumors about a possible delay.

Italian political uncertainty after Monti's decision to quit pushed Italian borrowing costs higher on Monday and sent Italian shares tumbling.

Afternoon all, theres some nasty bugs around at the moment. Closed all positions Thursday at around 11 and went home to bed as wasn't feeling well at all... Not 100% today but back in the office. FTSE100 still testing resistance I see and DOW is on a new leg, 13092 limited support looking to test 13147 resistance but could go either way....

Keep away from me Shortie - not keen on bugs :)

I cashed in my short from 5920 earlier and have re-set it, in case we go up again.

I'm encouraged to read the article that Skinny posted (10101) - at last it seems as though some sense may return to the market!

Hmmmm - OECD sees economic traction in U.S. and Britain

PARIS | Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:57am GMT

(Reuters) - Economic growth appears to be gathering traction in the United States and Britain, while China and Italy may be about to turn up, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Monday.

Signals continue to point to weak growth in Germany, France and the euro zone as a whole, however, and likewise in Japan, Russia and Canada, the Paris-based OECD said in a statement on its monthly composite leading indicator (CLI).

The OECD said its October CLI reading for the United States and Britain remained above 100, which represents the long-term average of economic performance, rising respectively to 100.9 and 100.5, from 100.8 and 100.3 in September.