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

CAD Foreign Securities Purchases 1.19B 5.36B -6.28B

USD Building Permits 1.02M 0.94M 0.89M

USD Core CPI m/m 0.1% 0.2% 0.1%

USD Unemployment Claims 360K 332K 328K

USD CPI m/m -0.4% -0.3% -0.2%

USD Housing Starts 0.85M 0.98M 1.02M

Philly Fed Manufacturing Index -5.2 2.5 1.3

CSCO on a run :-

Wall Street edges up, led by tech after Cisco's results

NEW YORK | Thu May 16, 2013 12:22pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced modestly on Thursday as Cisco led gains in blue chips and technology stocks following strong earnings, offsetting concerns about softer-than-expected data on the manufacturing sector and labor market.

Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) shares surged 12.5 percent to $23.86, lifting the Dow and the Nasdaq after the network equipment maker posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and said current-quarter revenue could increase.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O), up 1.9 percent at $437.19, and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N), up 1.6 percent at $21.31, also ranked among the day's big tech gainers, along with International Business Machines (IBM.N), up 1.3 percent at $205.87.

Wall Street started off Thursday's session slightly weaker after data showed the biggest jump in weekly initial jobless claims since November.

Other data showed housing starts slid in April, falling sharply below analysts' expectations, while business activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region contracted in May, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

But market participants were more optimistic about the sustainability of the rally that has driven the S&P 500 up more than 16 percent for the year.

"The very latest evidence on a rise in initial claims is unlikely to be seen as a sign of changing seas for the labor market in the long run, and at the end of the day, is a single data point," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI edged up 12.16 points, or 0.08 percent, to 15,287.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX inched up just 0.10 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to 1,658.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 9.35 points, or 0.27 percent, to 3,480.96.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) fell 2.2 percent to $78.14 and weighed on the Dow after the world's largest retailer posted a quarterly profit that missed Wall Street's expectations, with sales down 1.4 percent at U.S. stores open at least a year.

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O) gained 5.8 percent to $89.75 after the electric carmaker said it aims to raise $830 million through a stock-and-debt offering that will be used to repay its U.S. Department of Energy loans with interest. The stock has surged more than 50 percent since the company reported earnings last week.

Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKb.N) fell 0.7 percent to $111.98 after Standard & Poor's downgraded the company's counterparty rating to "AA" from "AA+" with a negative outlook, citing the company's reliance on its insurance operations for dividend income.

In other data, the U.S. Consumer Price Index posted the biggest decline since December 2008, indicating inflation pressure remains tame and giving the U.S. Federal Reserve latitude to maintain its current monetary policy.

The end of a 10 day run today.

Dollar firmer on Fed remarks, Asian shares mixed

SINGAPORE | Fri May 17, 2013 5:31am BST

(Reuters) - The dollar held firm near a 10-month high versus a basket of currencies on Friday after a U.S. Federal Reserve official said the central bank may begin to taper its asset buying this summer, while Asian shares were mixed.

U.S. equities had sagged on Thursday after John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said the Fed could begin easing back on the monetary gas pedal this summer and end bond buying late this year.

UBS lifts financials to overweight, cuts telecoms

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- UBS on Friday upgraded its stance on global financials to overweight from underweight, citing an improvement in the global economy and stronger capital levels. "The global economy is healing, capital has been rebuilt and the sector has moved from being a net issuer to net distributor of cash," the analysts said in a note. Additionally, they lifted European banks and diversified financials to a small overweight from a small underweight, reflecting a view that both the micro and macro outlook for financials are improving. From a banking perspective, UBS upgraded the U.S. to overweight due to the housing market recovery, strong balance sheets and attractive valuations, while Europe's banking sector was lifted to neutral with a preference for Nordic and U.K. banks. To accommodate the upgrades in the financial sector, UBS cut telecoms to underweight and energy to neutral.

FTSE gains in volatile options expiry trade

LONDON | Fri May 17, 2013 12:02pm BST

(Reuters) - The FTSE edged higher in volatile trade on Friday, as demand to buy the index on options expiry day helped counteract early weakness after central bankers voiced concerns over U.S. monetary easing.

By 11:31 a.m., the FTSE 100 was up 21.03 points, or 0.3 percent, at 6,708.83, having dipped to 6,682.04 earlier in the session.

CAD Core CPI m/m 0.1% 0.2% 0.2%

CAD CPI m/m -0.2% 0.0% 0.2%

CAD Wholesale Sales m/m 0.3% 0.4% 0.0%

USD Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 83.7 77.9 76.4

hanging on to my gold - also took FTSE long at 6705.

Both doing well so far..My view is that over the longer term, FTSE will continue to rise and Gold will continue to fall with short term volatility. My stop on FTSE is currently at bought price

stay VERY alert ..... dow really is looking very tired and is of course very seriously o'bought

Totally off topic, but have you ever been to UAE (Abu Dhabi) Mr C (or anyone else)?
Am heading there in Nov but need to know if I can US$ as currency or do I need to take Dirhams? It's only for three days so not keen to buy Dirhams if I don't have to.

yes - AD, like the rest of UAE, is very expensive, so if you are paying your own way, then do your research on where to eat ..... Tripadvisor is a good starting point, but you'll need to be able to read between the lines as many reviews are written by transatlantic friends whose criteria are somewhat different, certainly from my own.

you can use plastic universally, but you'll certainly need AED for taxis and the like .... whatever you do, do NOT change money at any airport ..... strangely, your hotel may well give you a decent rate, though when i last needed to change money in Dubai, by far the best ROE was in the local Spinneys (owned by Waitrose) where there was a small bureau de change

if you want to know any more, ask again

btw, i assume you are flying Etihad, which is very good ..... also AD airport is small, so very quick to get in/out

Thanks. No, I am flying GulfAir, via very short stop in Bahrain.
I use and contribute to Tripadvisor which is an excellent website for information. One of the hotels appeared to very good, but a chap onTripadvisor warned of the ladies who patrolled outside in the late evening. His wife wasn't very keen, though I think he was intrigued!
So you are saying that US$ are no good in UAE? Shame as I have a few and that would have saved me changing more currency.

good luck gulf air ..... has a poor reputation locally, akin to "our" klm!
very surprised to hear that AD allows streetwalkers - sounds most unlikely in the extreme to me! ..... you'll often find a good selection of very attractive "professionals" in the hotels, but for sure they will all be "spoken for" :-)

change your $ for AED when you arrive in AD, as otherwise you'll effectively pay for a double exchange

Thanks for that. All I need now then is a few suitable basic phrases in arabic and I shouldn't get ripped off any more than any other traveller! ;o)

F*** off is universal harry ;)

F*** off is universal harry ;)

LOL! Just a bit louder when talking to foreigners!

just do your homework, perhaps starting with one of the travel guides ..... avoid the "camel tour" like the plague - sounds great, but trust me, it's crap!