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

even so, the numbers are a good indication that the economy (been saying this about worldwide for ages and ages!) is picking up, which surely cannot possible be a "bad thing"

QE was only ever meant to be medicine for the sick
tapering will for sure only be gradual as and when it happens, and should not have a negative effect

fed government closes down=improving economy!

It depends on just how much easy money and a full time running printing press has had to do with the 'recovery'... Either way FED Taper and end of easy money should cause markets to fall.

wait and see, but cash dow has now recovered to b/e

I'm weighted long on the FTSE so I'd prefer a close above 6680 to confirm bullish sentiment still in play.

TWTR
i'm surprised to see that most trades seem to be only in 100 shares, which is <£3,000, with just a smattering at 3/500

was about to have a little play, but IG don't yet have stock available to borrow, so currently shorting through that route not possible, though apparently it should be some time next week

Shortie, if you are interested :- Ex-divs to take 11.6 points off FTSE 100 on Nov. 13

Cheers Skinny, I was wondering...

Well thats me short divi payment made and a little extra..

likely to be a shaky day today following a bad night in f/e

.

I like shaky, could well see the FTSE bullish sentiment reverse by close of play. If we close well below 6680.

6643 was last weeks low so first support should be around here.

i'm out for several hours quite soon, but not really in the mood for trying to make a quick turn .... may trim - aka bank profit - on some of dow long position, but nothing dramatic as i think any reversal will be just a bit of needed consolidation and thus short-lived

Taken a Cable long this morning after the figures.

U.K. stocks traded sharply lower on Wednesday after a drop in the country's unemployment rate spurred fears the Bank of England could hike rates sooner than expected. The data came ahead of the November Inflation Report from the central bank, with investors looking for any changes to the economic forecast after a recent string of upbeat data. The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.9% to 6,666.02, on track for the lowest close in three weeks. The benchmark extended losses after the Office for National Statistics said the U.K. joblessness rate fell to 7.6% between July and September, down from 7.7% in August. Analyst estimates were split, as some had expected the jobless level to remain at 7.7% in September, while other predicted a drop to 7.6%. U.K. unemployment has been in the spotlight lately after the BOE in its August Inflation Report laid out its forward-guidance framework and vowed to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.5%, at least until the joblessness rate falls to the 7% threshold. At the time, the central bank predicted unemployment would remain above the threshold until 2016, but with recent upbeat data, markets have started to price in a rate hike earlier than that. Some analysts also speculate the central bank will use the November Inflation Report, out at 10:30 a.m. in London, to adjust the forecast.

Out +72

What on a Cable long position?? Did you mean short in post 13436?

Long 1.5928, out 1.60

Well done Seymour, I'm going mad today, read Cable, wrote Cable, but thought FTSE100 for some bizarre reason.