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

Probably the best idea if you're going to be suspended above ground for several hours!

but at least not on the end of a rope!

================

i see that at the end it sold off again to 13150 ..... an interesting level that could now bounce, though looking more likely to keep heading south - qui sait?

and now back up to 13183, so clearly some fun and games ahead .... having done well in both directions in recent days, i'll try not to be too much of a smartarse, difficult as that may be

EU leaders promise further steps to quell crisis

BRUSSELS | Fri Dec 14, 2012 2:30am GMT

(Reuters) - European leaders agreed to press on with further steps to shore up their finances and sustain momentum in tackling the debt crisis on Friday, a day after clinching a deal on banking supervision and approving long-delayed aid to Greece.

After more than eight hours of late-night talks at a summit in Brussels, leaders promised to push ahead with setting up a mechanism to wind down problem banks, although it was unclear when the facility would be completed.

EUR German Flash Manufacturing PMI 46.3 consensus 47.1 previous 46.8

EUR German Flash Services PMI 52.1 consensus 50.0 previous 49.7

EUR Flash Manufacturing PMI 46.3 consensus 46.6 previous 46.2

EUR Flash Services PMI 47.8 consensus 47.0 previous 46.7

CAD Manufacturing Sales m/m -1.4% consensus 0.0% previous 0.4%

USD Core CPI m/m 0.1% consensus 0.2% previous 0.2%

USD CPI m/m -0.3% consensus -0.2% previous 0.1%

AAPL
heart in mouth, i topped up here at 509.25 .... so far so good

Cyners....

zerohedge @zerohedge

Apple release iPhone 5 in China in middle of December, blames weak launch on winter weather.
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45m
Marc @EvoDriver_1

@zerohedge people at Foxconn have too good of benefits... Remooove the catch net!
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42m
Lavern Cheas @LavernCheas6854

@zerohedge I can't believe this page is giving them away: http://tinyurls.us/46
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Honey Badger @jeff60150

@zerohedge just like a golfer blaming the wind for a bad shot. Apple...you so funny!
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Arno van Rooyen @Arno_van_Rooyen

@zerohedge well the launch in ZA was an absolute abortion. Mobile SP's ironing out kinks post launch date delaying stock delivery.

A HAAPLbinger Of Things To Come: Why Apple Breached Its "Generational Bottom" All Over Again

Interesting hils - its quite a way down.

what a cheery little soul you are hils, but very many thanks all the same!
perhaps i'm too in love with AAPL, or perhaps buying at 509.25 will prove to be quite a smart move, though i shall be happy just to take a respectable profit - as and when, or even if and when

Cynic: 'Apple slid 4 percent to $508.75 after UBS cut its price target on the stock to $700 from $780.' - that's still high enough to give you plenty of profit, eventually.

Yen Short Position Largest Since July 2007!!!

Thanks for that info, Hilary

Thinking back to a recent post of yours: expect the US indices to follow the Yen down

No Toya, the opposite happens.

The cheap Japanese money is looking for a higher return. So, when risk is on as is the current case, it tends to go into equities and boosts equity indices. When risk is off, it tends to shift to perceived safe havens where fixed income returns are higher, such as Switzerland and New Zealand.

The problem comes when the world and his wife are all short and there's nobody left to enter the market and add to the short side. When that happens, the raft of short liquidations can be vicious and take the market by surprise. The fiscal cliff situation hasn't been enough to dent the JPY flows, but any bad news out of Europe over the next couple of weeks could result in the market turning sharply.

Got it - thanks Hilary!

Wow, that's some gap up on the Yen pairs!

Careful with the Yen, I'm debating buying GBP/JPY

Still short on FTSE, I'm now set to roll over daily.