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

Thanks for the chart Shortie.

Looks like the 1:30 figures may be reasonable!

CAD Foreign Securities Purchases 5.62B consensus 9.45B previous 13.26B

USD Building Permits 0.9 M consensus 0.91M previous 0.90M

USD Unemployment Claims 335K consensus 369K previous 371K

USD Housing Starts 0.95 M consensus 0.89M previous 0.86M

Number of people filing for first-time jobless claims drops 37,000 to 335,000 in latest week, U.S. government says.

BoA numbers good but CITI horrid

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

dow going like a train now

Continuing claims higher.

USD Philly Fed Manufacturing Index -5.8 consensus 7.1 previous 8.1

Dreamliner: Boeing 787 planes grounded on safety fears

17 January 2013 Last updated at 14:48

All of Boeing's flagship 787 Dreamliners have been temporarily taken out of service amid safety concerns.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued a directive to temporarily take the planes out of service while safety checks are carried out.

I believe that's the highest finish on the FTSE since 2008.?

Just been filled FTSE short 6,167.75

I'm debating a further short. May wait till Monday though..

6171.8 is the highest point recorded so far, new top since 2009.

6073 then becomes the support

I have the IG high @6172.8 and actual @6164.67?

On edit :- and surely that's a new high since 2008?

I always said- Governments are in trouble, but companies are cashing in. Money printed goes to the hand of the companies.

6135 and 6053 are still the key levels I believe....

Waekness in Sterling I think has more to do with it than companies cashing in...

Well I was obviously premature in closing my FTSE long at 6040 - should have stayed the course - but I chickened out. hey ho.

Have stayed out since - but considering a short term short now we at these heady heights. Good luck all

according to my charts we have an intraday gap on the dow today at 13597sh
yet to be filled.
we also have a gap still intact from yesterday down at 13537
current price as i write 13606sh
not sure if this may help anyone. it is an observation only so please dyor
regards to all
jkd

An hour to go before I battle the snow to get home....

eat your heart out - i walk!

Traffic on the stairs seems to be flowing, fingers crossed.