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

It has for a while. Oven gloves?

Ouch - stopped out and FTSE is still rising at 6220.

Maybe I will stick to what I know

Iain - long time no post!



Mervyn King calls for more action to boost economy

He said much has been done by the government and the Bank, but more was needed, particularly to restore confidence in banks.

Sir Mervyn said there were signs a "gentle recovery" was under way.

Google profits back on track as annual revenue hits record

Net profit for the final three months of last year was $2.89bn (£1.83bn), up 7% on a year earlier. Revenues were up by more than a third at $14.4bn.

Google shares rose by almost 5% in after-hours trading, following the better-than-expected results.

Separately, computer maker IBM reported a modest rise in profits.

Big Dave's EU speech due at 8.

Here's a link to a tongue-in-cheek article written over a year ago that is proving to be eerily close to the truth. Wall Street Journal

And here's how the tabloid press are going to be egging the Great British public on. The good ol' Currant Bun

This made me chuckle :-

"The Germans also like the new arrangements. "For some reason, we never felt very welcome in Belgium," recalls German Chancellor Reinhold Siegfried von Gotha-Dämmerung."

I'm sure this will make Fred smile (or not) :-

"David Cameron—now beginning his fourth term as British prime minister—thanks his lucky stars that, reluctantly yielding to pressure from the Euroskeptics in his own party, he decided to risk a referendum on EU membership. His Liberal Democrat coalition partners committed political suicide by joining Labour's disastrous "Yeah to Europe" campaign."

"LATEST:If Tories win next election, UK voters will be offered an EU in/out referendum once govt has negotiated a settlement, PM say"

I guess that's the death knell of the coalition then!

Still here Skinny :-)

GBP Claimant Count Change -12.1K consensus 0.4K previous -3.0K

GBP MPC Meeting Minutes 0-0-9 consensus 0-0-9 previous 0-0-9

GBP Unemployment Rate 7.7% consensus 7.8% previous 7.8%

GBP Average Earnings Index 3m/y 1.5% consensus 1.6% previous 1.8%

I've bitten the bullett on FTSE shorts, Camerons referendum on the EU will undermine the Pound and this I think will drive the FTSE higher.

I've taken my profit from the short last night and am looking to set up a long position from... somewhere (having got stopped out yesterday!)...

Big funds are apparently moving out of bonds and into equities, and the US should be voting today to extend the debt ceiling for the next 3 months to allow them time to sort things out... Plus we've had some good results from US companies. So, although we seem to be racing ahead, the markets do look as though they are set to continue!

USD/JPY 1-hour.

It won't be too much longer imo before the market decides it wants a few more of Shinzo's Shekels and equity markets resume the uptrend.

U.S. Stocks Little Changed on Earnings Ahead of Debt Vote

U.S. stocks were little changed, after benchmark indexes reached five-year highs, as lawmakers prepared to vote on the federal borrowing limit and investors weighed corporate earnings reports.

Google Inc. (GOOG) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) jumped more than 5.9 percent after reporting earnings that topped estimates. Apple Inc. advanced 0.1 percent before releasing results. Coach Inc., the largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, fell 15 percent after its profit trailed estimates, hurt by lower demand in North America. General Dynamics Corp. tumbled 2.7 percent as earnings and revenue missed forecasts.

German Flash Manufacturing PMI 48.8 consensus 47.1 previous 46.0

German Flash Services PMI 55.3 consensus 52.0 previous 52.0

Weekly FTSE100 Chart below, resistance next around 6250, RSI currently around 67 on this chart which adds so support 6250 may provide an upside break.



Daily FTSE100 Chart below, its been overbought for sometime now suggesting a break is just around the corner..!

AAPL 1hr chart, gaining again, resistance at 52000, worth a short play maybe..

Hmmmm.

From Dominic Picarda of IC:
"Eighty-six per cent of clients at IG Index are short of the FTSE 100 right now, according to its Insight facility. (My thanks to reader Neil Schofield for bringing this reading to my attention.) I can understand the logic of being short at these levels, depending on one’s timeframe. After all, the FTSE is more overbought than it has been at any time since early 2011. And, I think people have become so used to seeing the index struggle that they may not fully believe in the impressive breakout that we’ve seen.

Overboughtness is never a reason in itself to go short, however. It is an amber light, rather than a red one. As such, I would be allowing for the index to squeeze a bit higher still right now. Sentiment among IG clients is somewhat less bearish (67% short) for the DAX, which is logical given that it is not nearly as overextended as the FTSE. I continue to look for longs in the FTSE for now, and in EURGBP."

i am surprised to hear those numbers, as i know their chart analyst chap remains very bullish of both ftse and dow

for myself, i have just pocketed a very nice profit which has accrued from my dow long ..... a correction must surely be (over)due, though i cannot bring myself to short it.

AAPL
is clearly going to be hammered at the opening bell, and for the brave and nimble fingered, there ought to be an opportunity to buy (profitably!) after the initial knee-jerk reaction

Vodafone, miners push FTSE to new 4-1/2 year high

LONDON | Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:49pm GMT

(Reuters) - The FTSE 100 rose on Thursday as heavyweight Vodafone rallied on fresh speculation about a U.S. asset sale and strong data from China boosted basic resources shares.

Shares in mobile operator Vodafone rose 2.8 percent in volume 67 percent its full-day average for the last 90 days, with traders citing renewed talk about a possible disposal of the group's 45 percent stake in U.S. group Verizon Wireless.

The speculation was triggered by a comment by widely followed hedge fund manager David Einhorn, who also added to his Vodafone position.

Adding 7.7 index points, Vodafone was the single biggest contributor to the FTSE 100's 19.94 points rise. The index was up 0.3 percent to a fresh four and a half year high of 6,207.57 at 1225 GMT.

USD Unemployment Claims 330K consensus 359K previous 335K