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

Powered by IST's
Deltastream


Loch Ness Monster. More scope to the upside than downside don't you think?

looks best left alone to me

If I were trading it, I'd be looking for a bounce @4,800.

Yep same here Skinny when I looked at it the second time.

In fact youd have med term negative symmetrical triangle pattern.

Would do this mean for the Bankers chart then??.

Perhaphs wait and see like Im doing with the whole market at the moment.

Will keep my mining long going with a following tight stop. Probably be out tomorrow afternoon, but then who knows with the market.

Off subject but last night I paid dividends on my short UK 100 DFTs but didn't receive any dividends on my long UK 100 Mar 14 Spread. I'm trying to find out why? A call later will probally be inevitable...

On the above banking chart I'm with Cynic looks best left alone, I'm reading it as a break in 4800 for a short play on the basis of Skinnys last chart and the declining RSI. A retest of 4550 I think is more likely before any upside.

Did you go short on the DOW, I debated it but didn't.

No - the FTSE is almost range bound, but I'm still largely short!

shorts dow = burning shorts, shirts, underpants and worse :-)

now, when dow gets to 16,000 or preferably a bit higher, then that's the time to short

Hi Guys ( and girls) - just thought I would pop in say hello and take a look at what you have been up to - you are all far too technical foe me - but you seem to be doing well.

I took out a sizeable long a couple of weeks ago at 6661 (average) AND HAVE A 6700 stop on it. Came close yesterday - but am hoping to run it into 6800 over next couple of weeks on current phase of muted euphoria that appears to be driving the market through to year end.

As you may remember - I am a fan of AMER - which despite its excellent results - its SP seems to have stalled for now - I am still hopeful of a subsatntial rise from here over the next 12 - 18 months. Have also invested in IRONveld (same management team as AMER) which I expect to reap handsome rewards over next 3 - 5 years (my AMER replacement) and Verona Pharma (VRP) - which is fairly new to me - but has had good write ups in papers and an excellent review in the Lancett. As always DYOR

Be lucky- sorry sounds like I am trying to push the above - but just passing on a couple of shares that I have modest investments in and what I think are reasonable long term investments.

Best wishes to all

MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets were little changed on Thursday, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of policy decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, and waited for the first estimate of U.S. third-quarter economic growth. The Stoxx Europe 600 index stuck close to the break-even mark around 232.20, after gaining 0.4% on Wednesday. Shares of Commerzbank AG rallied 8.3% after the German lender reported better-than-expected profit for the third quarter, boosted by improvements in cost cutting, a lower tax rate and lower loan-loss provisions. The main revenue driver, net interest income, also exceeded expectations. Siemens AG (SI) climbed 2.5% after the industrial major reported a slight drop in fiscal fourth-quarter profit, but announced plans for a share buyback. On a more downbeat note, HeidelbergCement AG lost 3.3% after the cement maker said it will become tougher to reach its financial targets as currency effects are weighing on operating income. More broadly, investors were waiting for potentially market-moving events on both sides of the Atlantic later in the day. In Europe, the ECB was likely to claim the spotlight, with its rate decision and monthly news conference on tap. The central bank has left monetary policy unchanged over past meetings, but after a weak inflation reading for October out last week, analysts started speculating that a rate cut could be on the cards at Thursday's meeting or in December. The rate decision is out at 12:45 p.m. in London, or 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time. The main event, however, is likely to be Draghi's news conference at 1.30 p.m. London time. Read: Don't take your eye off the European Central Bank and Mario Draghi "We think it will not unveil any new measures, although -- with an eye on the markets -- Draghi's rhetoric will certainly be dovish. But while some members of the Governing Council had already favored further policy easing before these latest CPI data, the majority seems unlikely to be panicked into taking any new action," analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets said in a note ahead of the meeting. The Bank of England is expected to keep policy unchanged. The decision is due at noon local time. At 1.30 p.m. in London, the first estimate of third-quarter gross-domestic-product growth in the U.S. is out. Although economists surveyed by MarketWatch predict the U.S. likely expanded by 2.3%, some see growth as high as 2.7% while others predict 1.7% or even less. U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street. Back in Europe, Germany's DAX 30 index inched 0.1% higher to 9,046.48. France's CAC 40 index was flat around 4,286.46, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.2% to 6,727.27.

bhunt, I'm currently running a long FTSE March 14 Future and short DFT's, currently weighted short. I think having a 6700 stop is a little high, I think bullish sentiment will remain as long as the market closes above 6680.

I've got AMER on watch and will have a look at IRONveld (thanks for the tip)...

Cyners and co........

IG Markets....

David Jones ‏@DavidJones_IG 4m
Our busiest day so far in terms of volume for the Twitter grey market - not surprising. We are seeing two-way flow, implied price around $43

ps, cyners do you think we should have a twitter thread like the post office one?.

that's a hefty premium!
however, i'm off to golf shortly so won't be around for NY opening

Me neither off out fishing.

I'm still yet to even sign up to twitter or create an account.

Shortie, just about in the same position as you.
I have an account which I opened last year to check on travel problems caused by snow. Haven't a clue what to do though. Can't see what all the fuss is about!
TT

I've never had an account. From what I gather though you follow other people on there like celebrities, businesses, tipsters etc. When they tweet it appears in your news feed, I suppose its a PR marketing tool really for those that wish to maintain some kind of social status. I wonder if the queen is on there tweeting away every hour, can't see it personally..

FRANKFURT--The European Central Bank unexpectedly cut its main interest rate to a fresh record low close to zero, reflecting heightened worries in Europe that dangerously low inflation threatens the region's tepid economic recovery. The Frankfurt-based central bank cut the main interest rate at which it lends to banks to 0.25% from 0.5%, and slashed its emergency lending facility by 25 basis points to 0.75%, the ECB announced Thursday. The governing council decided to keep the deposit rate on bank funds parked at the ECB unchanged at zero. Market attention will now turn to ECB President Mario Draghi's monthly press conference, due to start at 1330 GMT, for an explanation of the central bank's surprising decision and what effect it will have on the euro and the bloc's recovery hopes. The ECB had kept the main interest rate unchanged since May, preferring instead to rely on the forward guidance it issued in July to keep interest rates at current or lower levels for "an extended period of time." The vast majority of economists had expected the ECB to stand pat Thursday. But a worryingly low inflation reading for October, reported last week, caught investors and government officials off guard and may have put pressure on the ECB to take action sooner rather than later. The rate cut suggests the governing council decided it couldn't tolerate such low inflation in the euro zone, and had to act fast to prevent the recovery from losing track. The lowering of its key rate leaves the ECB in a precarious position. Since rates can't go much lower, its traditional monetary policy tools are virtually exhausted. Should inflation and the strong euro continue to plague the euro zone, the central bank may be forced to resort to non-standard, but more controversial measures, such as more long-term loans to banks, a negative deposit rate or large-scale asset purchases to increase the money supply. Consumer prices in the euro zone rose only 0.7% in October from a year earlier, down from a 1.1% increase in September, and far below the ECB's target to keep inflation close to, but below 2%. The October inflation rate marked the slowest pace of consumer-price growth since the depths of the global financial crisis, fueling fears that near-zero inflation could squeeze profits, burden households and ultimately result in a "lost decade" in Europe. Making matters worse, a strong euro is undercutting euro-zone exports, threatening to derail the region's nascent recovery and irking government officials. On Tuesday Italy's finance minister called on the ECB to rein in the strong euro and do more to tackle stagnant prices. France's industry minister last month also said the central bank must combat the currency's appreciation. The ECB's rate decision may not have a lasting effect on the euro or inflation. Record high unemployment in the euro zone is pressuring wages and spending, and banks are still reluctant to lend to the real economy, another key source of growth. For these reasons, inflation may remain low for some time, economists have said.