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

New-home sales drop 7.3% in December to an annual rate of 369,000, the U.S. government says.
market has stayed remarkably sanguine in the light of those numbers

Off the Piste!

Taking it

Not convinced we'll reach 6300 today so I've gone short this morning from 6285 - that will probably guarantee that the rally will continue...

Yen crosses are all selling this morning as risk gets turned off, Toya, so imo your short should be OK.

Thanks for that info Hilary!

GBP/EUR back down to 1.17 and looking to go lower, with the sell off in the pound well under way its no surprise the FTSE is so bullish. Sure a sell off is due as the FTSE is more overbought now than at any time since 1997 but I think any sell off will likely be short lived.

Maybe a weak pound will increase exports and put the governments budget back on track to restore some confidence in the pound, maybe not. One things clear though, the FTSE must look cheap to foreign investors right now.

Dreamliner: Boeing 787 aircraft battery 'not faulty'

Airline safety inspectors have found no faults with the battery used on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Japan's transport ministry has said.

The battery was initially considered the likely source of problems on 787s owned by two Japanese airlines.

The world's entire fleet of 50 787s has been grounded while inspections are carried out.

Attention has now shifted to the electrical system that monitors battery voltage, charging and temperature.

Transport ministry official Shigeru Takano said "we have found no major quality or technical problem" with the lithium-ion batteries. Shares in GS Yuasa, which makes the batteries, jumped 5% on the news.

I cannot beleive this market - I was hoping to hit 6200 in Feb/March - but closed my long far too early expecting the market to drop, Hey ho I will just watch you experts as my head says that this will continue to rise - b ut my heart thinks it should turn and drop

It does seem to be racing ahead of itself... Looks like we could be heading up to 6300 today after all! I may have to close my short. I thought we'd pull back a bit and then I'd go long again. It's like a train without brakes!

USD Core Durable Goods Orders m/m 1.3% consensus 0.8% previous 1.6%

USD Durable Goods Orders m/m 4.6% consensus 1.8% previous 0.8%

Chocks away!

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for big-ticket U.S. goods jumped 4.6% in December, propelled by a large batch of orders for Boeing aircraft. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to climb 2.3%. Stripping out the herky-jerky transportation sector, orders rose a smaller but still solid 1.3% as booking for military hardware surged, the Commerce Department reported. Yet orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, only rose a scant 0.2% after two straight months of strong gains. And over the past 12 months these orders have actually fallen 0.3%.

Singapore's GIC invests in $1.6 billion UK property fund

LONDON | Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:36pm GMT

(Reuters) - Singapore's sovereign wealth fund has backed a 1 billion pound lending programme for British offices, shops and warehouse property that could bring much-needed funds into a debt-starved sector.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation GIC.UL, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, will underwrite the loans to be issued by commercial mortgage provider Laxfield Capital.

The programme targets lending of up to 1 billion pounds over the next 24 months, Laxfield Capital said in a statement on Monday.

Wow - that sounds good!

Caterpillar Earnings Surpass Estimates as U.S. Economy Recovers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as the U.S. economy recovers.

US: Pending home sales fall 4.3% in December

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Yahoo sees revenue climb this year, but long road ahead

Tue Jan 29, 2013 2:55am GMT

(Reuters) - Yahoo Inc forecast a modest uptick in revenue for the current year as it revamps its family of websites but Chief Executive Marissa Mayer warned it would be a long journey to revive the Internet company's fortunes.

In Yahoo's first financial outlook since Mayer became CEO in July, the company outlined a plan to trigger a "chain reaction of growth" by overhauling a dozen of its online services to increase the amount of time users spent on its websites.

Hmmmm - The world is flat, the cheque is in the post, Greek finance minister eyes 2014 recovery for economy

Greece's finance minister believes that the worst is over for his country.

"There is definitely a glimmer of hope; light at the end of the tunnel," Yannis Stournaras said.

As reforms were rushed through and a massive austerity package passed late last year, Greece secured a huge slice of bailout money from its international creditors.