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

Is that a triple top I see?

It is - but I was reading on a US website that a similar formation is currently on the S&P chart, and the analyst concerned (can't now recall who it was) didn't believe we would really continue upwards. It doesn't necessarily have to be the case - does it??

I thought a triple top or bottom, was a potential reversal sign?

There was a similar pattern in the 1st half of 2011 - It was discussed on this thread I believe.

Ah right - thanks Skinny. That makes a lot of sense to me!

I'll have a look back at 2011 as well

Have a look here starting at post 6011 - obviously the chart is current and of course it could all be wrong!

Bear in mind that latest polls suggest the LDP are heading for a comfortable victory on Sunday and the Japs are likely to be very quantitatively eased. That money's gonna be looking for a home....

Yep - as ever - interesting times!

Not overbought on RSI and MACD looks like there could be a wee bit more mileage left yet. WTFDIK, no position either way. :O)

Eerily consistent volume over the period :-)

Thanks guys :0)

Chris - look at the RSI back in 2011 @the 3rd top.

Approaching strong resistance 5990 if it gets that high, 5912 resistance currently still in play, still short from yesterday and looking to add to my position today at around 5945.

Thanks skinny, klal spot on so far 1st resistance 5939 not breached yet.

Chris - yes I saw that.

Caveat is I'm just making an observation.

:O) skinny, mine as always is what are those crazy yanks gonna do?

A bit late :- GBP 10-y Bond Auction 1.80|1.7 previous 1.82|1.9

CAD Trade Balance -0.2B consensus -1.2B previous -0.8B

USD Trade Balance -42.2b consensus -42.7B previous -41.5B

I just heard this analogy for the fiscal cliff - well it made me smile.

Lovely - thanks Skinny!

Comex Feb gold down 0.2% at $1,710.90/troy oz --Caution ahead of FOMC decision keeps gold under pressure --Support from weaker dollar keeps losses in check By Tatyana Shumsky NEW YORK--Gold prices edged lower as investors weighed concerns about the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting against the support of a weaker dollar. The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, was recently down $3.50, or 0.2%, at $1,710.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Federal Open Market Committee commenced its two-day meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the final policy-setting meeting for the year. The central bank's commitment to keeping interest rates low and add liquidity into the financial system through purchases of government debt catapulted gold prices to record highs last year, and have kept the market supported in recent months. Some investors were worried that easy money policies will trigger higher inflation down the road and flocked to hard assets like gold and silver in order to guard their wealth against such risks. Precious metals tend to keep their value better than other assets during times of high inflation. Ahead of the FOMC decision, gold traders have been speculating about the future of the soon to expire 'Operation Twist', which involves selling short-dated treasurys to purchase longer-dated treasury bonds. Standard Bank's commodity strategist Marc Ground said he expects that the central bank will turn Operation Twist into "an open-ended commitment of $45 billion a month in outright bond purchases," in a note to clients. "As anticipated, we are in for a bumpy ride towards Wednesday's FOMC announcement," Mr. Ground said. Andrey Kryuchenkov, commodities analyst with VTB Capital, said that while the recent spate of better-than-expected U.S. employment data "does not change a thing for the Fed in the short run" it will make the bank's job more difficult in the longer run, leading market participants to "question the longevity of monetary easing in the U.S." A weaker dollar offset some of the pressure on gold prices. The greenback slipped against a trade weighted basket of currencies, with the ICE Dollar Index falling to 80.080 recently, from 80.335 earlier. Dollar-denominated gold futures appear cheaper to buyers using foreign currencies when the dollar weakens.