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

I think its a matter of course Cynic, how much money can the US print before it becomes a bad credit risk? How much debt will the world allow the US before their deemed and rated as a high risk of default? At what point will inflation soar and wealth be erroded as a result of increasing dollar supply? The time will come and history will repeat itself...

U.S. stock-index futures traded flat to slightly lower Thursday, with investors prepared to sift for clues to the Federal Reserve's next monetary-policy move a day after ringing in the new year with a historic relief rally inspired by a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21 points, or 0.2%, to 13,311, while S&P 500 Index futures lost 3.5 points to 1,453.60. Nasdaq 100 futures shed 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,736.75. The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its Dec. 11-12 meeting at 2 p.m. U.S. EST. At that meeting, the Fed pledged to keep interest rates at near-zero levels so long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5% and provided inflation in the year or two ahead is below 2.5%. While the move was seen as a more aggressive response by the Fed, it also offered the clearest exit strategy yet for withdrawing stimulus once the economy is clearly on the mend, said Ilya Spivak, strategist at DailyFX. That means "traders will be keen to scour the release for clues about the possibility of a sooner-than-expected withdrawal of accommodation," Mr. Spivak said in a note to clients. "While it is unclear whether investors would treat this as risk-supportive (in that it would imply a stronger U.S. economy) or risk-negative (in that it would foreshadow the removal of Fed support for the recovery), the reaction will be interesting to monitor in that it will set the tone for the markets' reaction to Friday's jobs report and forthcoming U.S. data in general," he said. Stocks surged Wednesday, with the Dow posting its biggest ever first-session-of-the-year point rise. Investors cheered a last-minute deal between the White House and congressional Republicans to avoid a combination of steep spending cuts and tax hikes that economists feared would push the U.S. back into recession. But analysts cautioned against getting carried away in the euphoria. While policy makers agreed on measures to avert the bulk of the tax hikes, the automatic spending cuts were merely delayed by two months. And the issue of the debt ceiling is also yet to be resolved. "The final package holds enough for both the bears--given that we will have to revisit the fiscal worries in the next few months--and for the bulls--who believe that the near-term risks have been pushed aside," said Joanna Shatney, head of large-cap equities at London-based asset management firm Schroders. Ahead of the Fed minutes, investors will get a look at two jobs reports that may hold clues to Friday's all-important monthly nonfarm payrolls data. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect payroll firm Automatic Data Processing Inc. to report private-sector payrolls rose by 149,000 in December after a rise of 118,000 in November. ADP data is due at 8:15 a.m. EST. U.S. jobless-claims data, set for release at 8:30 a.m. EST, are expected to show first-time applications for benefits rose to 360,000 in the week ended Dec. 29 versus 350,000 the previous week.

post 10405 is probably correct hypothetically or otherwise ..... however, that time has not yet come and nor is it likely to even within the next 12/24 months

on that basis, this particular doom scenario can be set to one side for "our" purposes - i.e. making money on the markets

ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 215k consensus 134K previous 118K

USD Unemployment Claims 372K consensus 356K previous 350K

dow shrugs and says, "so what; we having other things on which to concentrate"

EUR German Retail Sales m/m 1.2% consensus 0.9% previous -1.3%

EUR Spanish Services PMI 44.3 consensus 42.7 previous 42.4

EUR Italian Services PMI 45.6 consensus 45.1 previous 44.6

cash Dow is still amazingly strong - extraordinary, or at least i think so

I gave up up years ago trying to find any correlation between the DOW and reality - its a bit like the laws of aero dynamics and the bumble bee!

Ooops.

GBP Services PMI 48.9 consensus 50.4 previous 50.2

I agree with the apparent lack of logic for the movement of the DOW, though I'm still trying to get used to that idea!

I heard a horrifying statistic on the radio today: 7.8 million people in the UK are struggling to keep up with their mortgage/rent payments - double the level of a year ago, apparently! That does not bode well for the true state of the economy, imho

I also heard that Toya, food banks have also been reporting ever increasing numbers and there was also a report before Christmas about people working part-time as they can't get full time hours. I don't believe for a second the true state of the economy is what we're being told.

gov't statistics are never ever the truth, or not as you and i would recognise the word.
and why has it taken a generation for a gov't to work out that most university degrees are a total waste of time and that (real) apprenticeships should be encouraged in lieu and companies given financial incentive for so doing

Non-Farm Employment Change 155K consensus 150K previous 161K

Unemployment Rate 7.8% consensus 7.7% previous 7.8%

all a bit ho hum ...... markets just drifting back and forth

very dull day.. :(

6071.8 another short placed on the FTSE, averaging 6035.2 now with 3 open positions. Small stakes though....

i agree that it really does feel like the indian rope trick, or the 3-card trick shyster who will try to sucker in the punters before dumping them in the gutter

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