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

Cynic, aapl again, one of my favourite stocks to short.. I'll say no more as the iphone 6 could well see me buying this one.

Hali - Not really, facebook closed above its IPO last night, how can you justify the sp, so I'm shorting and already in profit.

Short, good on you!

FTSE100, still short, 3 bets currently average 6598.2

my own inclination is to BUY FTSE and to a lesser extent, DOW
i am also inclined to buy sector indices rather than individual stocks

with the above in mind, provided you can live with the innate volatility of these indices, my choices remain NMX3720 (HG+HC) and NMX2350 (C+M) and i'm also inclined towards the banking sector (sorry; don't know the code), though i rather missed the boat when suggesting same the other day but not acting

I'm on the other side of the coin currently Cynic, I'm buying individual stocks typically miners and gold producers and selling FTSE.

Here's a daily of the banking sector, I think this is too near to the top of the upper range to warrent buying at the moment.


Household goods, I'd expect this to remain flat but it is at least trending up.


Breaking out but also looking overbought.


Looks as though it'll break out if it holds above 16035.


My views only...

thanks shortie .... you're a whizz with these charts ..... how heavily gold-orientated is the mining index (and what's its NMX code?)

http://www.ftse.co.uk/Indices/UK_Indices/Downloads/Appendix_B_Reference_Codes.pdf have a look a page 11, it'll depend on exactly which code you buy.

Typically I'm after zinc and gold at the moment, the old Cluff Gold and Griffin I've just added to my long positions. I'm not really one for sector plays as such, I think its easier to target companies and the commodities they mine.

I'm also keeping an eye on fertilister due to recent potash developments .

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Shortie - this is what you are trying to post.

FT article

Cheers Skinny, I gave up when I realised the link was on the full stop only. No expert in these matters like yourself.

U.S. economy adds 162,000 jobs in July
well below the 180k forecast, but for the usual perverse reasons, the effect on the market may not be great

I'm still running 3 FTSE short bets, average 6603.4. I debated opening a 4th this morning and in hindsight which I had of done. The reason why I didn't however was risk and I didn't want to over expose myself.

For me the FTSE, DOW, DAX etc, etc. prevailing valuations only make sense whilst low returns on cash hold good. It the expectation of a low cash return is removed regardless of the real economys capacity to gain lasting traction or not, virtully every asset class is vulnerable to a sharp fall in price. This is simply because a rising discount rate has no favourites.

as so often, there's almost certainly decent money to be made in either direction - always presupposing good timing as seen with hindsight!

Apple approaching the top of its range 46330 and starting to look overbougt on its dailys. One to watch right now but a potential short for next week.

well spotted - looks almost a racing certainty, which of course means it'll thunder ahead once one has placed a short!

A disappointing U.S. jobs report caught bond bears wrong-footed Friday, fueling a strong price rally in the $11.9 trillion safe-harbor Tresury bond market. In recent trade, the benchmark 10-year note rose by 25/32 in price, yielding 2.626%. Bond prices rise when their yields fall. Optimism had mounted over the past few sessions that employment would gather speed, which could allow the Federal Reserve to start tapering its bond buying in September. Traders had piled into bets wagering on bond prices to fall and that had sent the benchmark 10-year yield to near a two-year peak. The yield touched as high as 2.749% earlier Friday, looking set to break the 2.75% level some traders believe would accelerate the move toward 3%. But the smaller-than-forecast 163,000 new jobs number for July caused frenetic buying to cover soured bets on bond prices, sending the yield down to as low as 2.6%. "Everyone was leaning one way toward higher rates," said Larry Milstein, head of government and agency trading at R.W. Pressprich & Co. in New York. "The jobs data put into question the idea of Fed tapering in September." The 10-year yield has soared from this year's low of 1.61% on May 1. Fears that yields would keep rising as the Fed reduces support for the bond market have been the key driver pushing investors to shed holdings. Since January the Fed has been buying $85 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities, which had held bond yields near historic lows. The quantitative-easing stimulus aims to reduce long-term borrowing cost for U.S. consumers and businesses. Some traders warned the strength in bonds won't last long. The market is bracing for $72 billion in new debt sales in the coming week, and dealers may push up yields to lure customers to buy new offerings. The supply will include $32 billion in three-year notes, $24 billion in 10-year notes and $16 billion in 30-year bonds. Bets on the Fed cutting back on buying bonds in September would mount again if upcoming data show the recovery is picking up speed. The 10-year yield is still relatively low from a historic perspective. The yield traded above 5.5% in 2007 before the financial crisis sent bond yields tumbling. The yield hit a record low of 1.38% in July 2012. Some bond bears argue the yield needs to rise to reflect an improving economy as U.S. stocks persistently hit record highs. Without the Fed's buying, the yield should trade between 3.5% and 4%. "The only way we get yields below 2% again is for some massive unforeseen event to take place such as natural disaster, war, global disruption," said Tom di Galoma, head of fixed-income rates sales in New York at ED & F Man Capital Markets. Still, the selling in bonds would likely be more gradual this time compared with the spring swoon, traders said. One factor keeping up the pace of the selloff is the Fed's message that moving to cut back on bond buying doesn't translate into a shift into raising interest rates. The Fed signaled earlier this week after its monetary policy meeting that it will continue to keep its short-term policy rate near zero for a long period. Yields on shorter-dated Treasury bonds are anchored by the policy rates. The two-year note yielded at 0.305% Friday. For some investors, the large premium of the 10-year note over two-year note, near the widest in two years, could draw in buying interest. But the yield gap may continue to widen. A popular trade among traders has been to sell longer-dated bonds and buy shorter-dated notes. The trade is based on belief that Fed tapering would keep pushing up longer-dated yields while no rise in the policy rate would continue to anchor shorter-dated yields.

The market is bracing for $72 billion in new debt sales in the coming week, and dealers may push up yields to lure customers to buy new offerings. The supply will include $32 billion in three-year notes, $24 billion in 10-year notes and $16 billion in 30-year bonds. Maybe we'll see Wall St fall next week as traders shift from equities to bonds. No one wants to hold cash as there's no return with the current discount rate.

Lets see how far it extends 48000 maybe..top of its range 46330 and looks overbought but until it changes direction isn't worth a short play

Interesting Chart, note the CCI20 figure, maybe short today.

shortie - are you not having a pop at AAPL?

Not just yet Cynic, I'll leave alone for now as it needs to break support and confirm to me its not just testing support for a move higher... I have been closing out FTSE short positions from last week taking profits.