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

They have kicked the can Harrycat, but we will no doubt see continuing wrangling now over the next 2 months. I can't see them coming to some agreement way ahead of that deadline somehow... maybe you have more faith in politicians :)

GBP Manufacturing PMI 51.4 consensus 49.2 previous 49.1

uk politicians - some ...... american politicians - none whatsoever! ..... they're as bad as the self-serving union leaders of old

Just had a small short at this level - just sitting on 6000.

I'm also short FTSE @ 6002.5.

COR!!!!
That took me totally by surprise.
Cash Dow suddenly jumped 150+, but apparently it is/was because the futures market does not open until 11:00

Rubs hands together gleefully - like Shylock some would say :-)

Hmmm - that was a rather expensive jar of coffee and marmalade!

Stopped @6015 Filled @6030.

New highs on the FTSE250.

Cynic nice to see someone on the right side of the DOW jump, that cost me 150 points, and am now out of the DOW.... FTSE however I have extended my short positions to now average 6019.9. If the house of cards continues the ralley I'll extend further... As the below hourly chart shows, FTSE is massively overbought at the moment.

I had an early profit on a short-Short first thing, from 5990, but am jolly glad I took my profit. Then re-set to 6040 - if it doesn't hit that, then I shall revise it down a bit

i banked 50% of my Dow at 12258 - yummy yummy - and have a trailing stop on the balance

Well done Cynic, I got caught this morning so my wedge lost a little weight, no play on the DOW currently but I'm heavily exposed to the FTSE now.

well you made plenty previously and you can't always call them right - it would be too easy!

shortie - was it you who told me about HG&HC index? .... if so, many thanks, as it has been most fruitful, though it is very "heavy" and volatile ..... i never know where to set limits on it, so just bank a decent profit when it's offered - as now, albeit that it has continued north a bit

Just seen a headline:
US construction spending falls 0.3%

But:

U.S. manufacturers expanded their business in December after contracting slightly in November, according to the closely followed ISM index. The Institute for Supply Management index rose to 50.7% from 49.5% in November

sold balance Dow at 13348 as it looks to be out of puff - no surprise really

FTSE 140pts up on the back of low volume what does that tell us?

i agree with you hali, and indeed after a quick thought, i have shorted Dow at 13342 ...... it is of course the first day of trading of the fiscal year in usa, which helped rationalise my decision

have also sold a slice of AAPL at 548 but shall retain core (groan!!)

Well - I have chickened out. Was targeting 6200 - but nerves have got the better of me and I bottled at 6040 having trousered a very, very healthy profit. Was not prepared to loose it - although I still expect it to get to my 6200 I am afraid to say I bottled it.

Happy New year to you all - mine has certainly started well - and at the risk of being shouted down - do take a look at AMER - I still think it has legs and is starting to be picked up by many on their radar. Good Luck all - I will look in from time to time.