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

I've closed some of the short, but I'm also long HSBA.

I'm going to run my shorts and just foot the dividend payment I think, Tullett Prebon will help, still debating HSBC and BAE longs to hedge..

Daily AAPL. looking overbought also.

TLPR looks interesting - do you follow it?

On and off, I figured that due to the +2x dividend cover the sp should be fairly secure.

The U.K.'s benchmark stock index retreated from an almost five-month high on Wednesday, as mining firms tracked metals prices lower and GlaxoSmithKline PLC fell after reporting a drop in earnings. The FTSE 100 index lost 0.4% to 6,671.08, on track to break a nine-day winning streak. Shares of drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) gave up 1.3% after the company said net profit fell 12% in the third quarter, as sales to China were hurt by a high-profile Chinese-government investigation, alleging the company bribed doctors and others to sell more drugs. ARM Holdings PLC (ARMHY) lost 2.1% after UBS cut the microchip designer to neutral from buy on valuation. Mining firms also added pressure in London, as metals prices dropped across the board. Anglo American PLC fell 3.4%, Antofagasta PLC dropped 2.9%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gave up 2.1% and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) erased 1.7%. Stocks in London failed to get a boost from an upbeat assessment from the Bank of England, which lifted its growth forecast for the second half of the year. The central bank said in minutes from its policy-setting meeting earlier in October that growth in the second half would remain around 0.7% a quarter or a little higher, stronger than expected at the time of the August Inflation Report. In September, the BOE upgraded the growth expectations for the third quarter to 0.7% from the 0.5% forecast in August. The minutes also showed all nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favor of keeping the central bank's interest rates and the asset-purchase program unchanged. Among other notable movers in the U.K., shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) dropped 2.3% after Citigroup reiterated its sell rating on the firm. Other banks in London were also on the decline, following European peers lower. The losses in the banking sector on the continent came as the European Central Bank said it will begin a thorough review of the balance sheets of 130 financial institutions in the euro zone in November, to unearth potential risks before moving closer to a banking union for the region. As part of the asset-review exercise, the ECB will ask these banks to set aside 8% of their risk-adjusted capital as a buffer against losses on loans and other parts of their balance sheets. Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) shaved off 1.9%, Standard Chartered PLC eased 1.4% and HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) slipped 0.7%. Shares of Sports Direct International PLC added 0.7% after the sportswear retailer said sales for the nine weeks to Sept. 29 rose 15% and gross profit climbed 19%. Outside the main index, Home Retail Group PLC jumped 4.8% after the do-it-yourself retailer said pretax profit rose 53% in the first half of the fiscal year. Bank-note printer De La Rue PLC sank 9.8% after lowering its full-year operating-profit guidance. The company said "the continuing overcapacity in the bank-note paper market has led to a worsening pricing environment in the printed bank-note market." Premier Oil PLC dropped 4.5% after the oil and gas explorer lowered its full-year production forecast, blaming gas export issues in both Vietnam and the U.K.

FTSE 100 30minute

10 Minute FTSE

Small short @6,726.7

I'm still running shorts, looking at Asia overnight a fall on the FTSE looks on the cards.

HOUSING MARKET
forget all the hype on twaddle in the press and worse still, on the NOWT thread

i have rather better than anecdotal insight in both the north east and south east (sort of kent)

in the first, house sales tend to die from about now until the spring, with many unsold properties merely being withdrawn to avoid them becoming "stale"
in any case, a major problem in NE has long been a supply of houses to sell, though selling has not been easy either - peeps with too high expectations
however, this has changed quite dramatically even in the last few weeks

in the kent area, houses in the correct location and realistically priced are now being snapped up almost as soon as they hit the market
it could be argued that this is a "cheap" area for commuters as there are very good road and rail links, which may well get even better in the coming years

To be fair, that's the same for any area which is within commuting distance to London. Certainly in Norfolk & Suffolk, any town or even village with a main railway link, is prime location and very desirable. It seems those on London wages but with property outside London are winning hands down. Of course that means that properties are really overvalued, though arguably that's all down to supply & demand.

Supply & Demand?... It was ever thus.

location, location, location......

of course to stan and twas always thus to hali

nevertheless, has been a long spell - 2/3/4 years - where houses could not be shifted except perhaps at knock-down prices
in a large part, this was due to the banks and similar refusing to lend, but also with peeps being too scared to buy for all sorts of reasons
thus, no demand even if there was supply
even great location did not always help

.

Apart from hopes and dreams you have to wonder whats driving the FTSE right now..

BP & RDSB today.