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

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.

I like your introduction to the above post Skinny - lol!

Mmmmmmmmm - I am out - but everything tells me that the FTSE is a screaming short - yet it still continues to defy gravity. Will I ever understand these markets? - No is the answer I think. So I will continue to sit on my hands

Toya - there were some 'ruder' connotations from memory!

I'm pleased you kept those to yourself Skinny :)

Clearly no need to hedge equity profits until a FTSE sell signal forms, at these heights I've got plenty of head room to take my time with the hedge also.

Worth a note is that since June the ECB has shrunk its LTRO repayment balance sheet by 5% whilst the FED has gained 5%, the BOE has gained 15% and BofJ has gained 9%. This explains why the Euro has strengthened recently, and would suggest that any correction may be seen in European markets first... DAX on watch for short signal.

To follow on from the above post, Dominic Picarda of IC:
"Just how much further can the likes of the FTSE 100 and EURGBP rise without some sort of decent-sized correction occurring? Daily relative strength index readings above 80% represent a very overbought situation. To give some measure here, the three times that EURGBP got so stretched, it went on to suffer dips of 4%, 12% and 6% respectively. The best moment to sell in each case was not when the daily RSI was at its highest level – as it is now – but once the price hit a new high but the RSI did not.

Applying this principle to the current situation, I feel able to continue seeking out small long positions in FTSE and EURGBP for now. The DAX is more interesting, as it is not nearly as overbought. Meanwhile, I think GBP’s weakness could extend further."

U.S. stocks are expected to open flat Tuesday, with investors on the sidelines ahead of some key economic data. "Despite the subdued start, the risk-on tone remains broadly supported by hopes of further improvement in the labor market and modest growth in 4Q GDP, both due in Wednesday's session," said ETX in London. "With consumer confidence data for January expected shortly after the opening bell along with earnings from Ford and Amazon, traders' resolve to keep building out this rally certainly has the potential to be tested yet again," said Fawad Razaqzada, Strategist at GFT Markets.

'The best moment to sell in each case was not when the daily RSI was at its highest level – as it is now – but once the price hit a new high but the RSI did not. '

Otherwise known as; 'negative divergence!'

I would say that that's the best time to take a profit rather than take a position... If the market is gaining and strength is falling then the risk of holding becomes greater. Each to their own assessment though. Also negative divergence doesn't consider momentum.

Only if there is hidden divergence Shortie, this overrides Neg/posi divergence... otherwise it can be very accurate...