how do you see the dow index going today Dow Jones and S&P commentary: Signal Watch Dr Bob Hard Right Edge Raptor Research Charting by Snoball: Dow Chart S&P Chart Drinks & Break Time at: GD's Famous Tea Room & Watering Hole"

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hey snoball - remember i was asking that something was happening on the 11th. well it is greenspan talking so from past experience i might look at doing a short and a long (after he has finished talking unless he has given bad news)

Morning all.
I'll be watching with interest zarif.

hi everybody.
Snoball have updated the chart link
I have got a long and short open atm.
With John snow (not snowball) talking it usually takes a nose dive -the effect some people have!!!! - so will watch closely.
Also i think greenspan is talking tomorrow.

rgds
zarif

zarif - when is snow talking?

Quiet in here. Just like the market.

Hi snoball had a short pre-open which paid and am long atm.
I think greenspan talks tomorrow so shall close the long today as he has this effect of making it drop!!!!!.

rgds
zarif

Morning.
Anybody betting on 10700 today?

not me! greenspan talking today. will wait until after he is done to work out what i will do. if dow goes up prior to him talking then will do a down i think.

Lol! Good luck javid. I'm still trying to get my Reuters long to get into profit. I'm hoping the Dow/Ftse will help it.

Does anyone know what time(our time)Greenspan speaks please?

already have a long going and open a short now. i think greenspan speaks aftrnoon us time so that would be 5pm onwards. if anyone knows exactly what time he is due to talk please mention it on here. would be useful to know.

good luck to all today!

I think greenspan opens his mouth at 4pm our time so am long atm and will close before that -hopefully as has a tendency to drop it down.
Snoball it can go to 10700 today -but with Gspan i am dubious -better to be safe than sorry -there is tomorrow anyway - Hows Reuters doing are u s/betting on it or sharedealing? Can u let me know the mechanics as not to hot on shares.

rgds
zarif

trade safely and wisely.

Afternoon all.
zarif, I'm spreadbetting Reuters. I'm not too hot on shares either. The mechanics are much the same. Bet a 'buy' if you think it's going up and a sell if not. Because shares don't move as much as the Dow, for example, you have to bet more per point to get similar profits/losses. I'm not day trading Reuters but watching end of day prices/trends. I think shares like Vodaphone are more suitable for day trading as they are more volatile, with smaller spreads.

The thing to watch in trading shares, rather than Indices,
is to make sure you pick stocks with good liquidity and
tight spreads.

It's no good buying a share if the liquidity is so low
you have trouble selling it again and exiting your position
without getting a lower requote.

Look for high volumes and narrow spreads. MaM Stockwatch will
give you the volumes and the % spread on each stock.

Melnibone.

Greenspan preaches patience

AFX
The U.S. economy is expanding robustly, but with inflation still low, the Federal Reserve can remain patient before raising interest rates, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday

'Looking forward, the odds of sustained robust growth are good, although, as always, risks remain,' Greenspan said.

While he sees no urgency in raising rates, he warned that low rates 'will not be compatible indefinitely with price stability and sustainable growth.'

One of the major risks to a stable economy is the large and growing federal budget deficit, which could pose problems even in the near term, he said.

The chairman made the comments in his semiannual written testimony on the state of the economy at the House Financial Services Committee.

'Stunning' increases in productivity have 'obviated robust increases in business payrolls,' he said.

He expressed confidence that hiring would soon pick up.

'In all likelihood, employment will begin to grow more quickly before long as output continues to expand,' he said. Once businesses become more confident and the easy productivity improvements have been tried, 'firms will surely once again add to their payrolls.'

With so much of the nation's productive capacity idle, inflation remains muted, he said.

Eventually, excess capacity will be absorbed and inflationary pressures will begin to mount, he said.

'The federal funds rate will eventually need to rise toward a more neutral level,' he warned. 'However, with inflation very low and substantial slack in the economy, the Federal Reserve can be patient in removing its current policy accommodation.'

The Federal Open Market Committee's official forecasts were upbeat about growth and sanguine about inflation.

The FOMC boosted its forecast for 2004 gross domestic product growth to 4.5 to 5 percent from 3.75 to 4.75 percent earlier. It lowered its forecast for the unemployment rate to about 5.25 to 5.5 percent by the end of the year from 5.5 to 6 percent earlier.

But the FOMC also lowered its central tendency for inflation to 1 to 1.25 percent from 1 to 1.5 percent. Inflation measured 1.4 percent over the four quarters of 2003.

Despite favorable fundamentals, the Fed said there were considerable uncertainties about the economic outlook. The Fed said it was concerned about the willingness of businesses to hire and how strong overseas growth would be.

In the report, the FOMC said with ongoing gains in productivity, 'existing margins of slack resource utilization should recede gradually, and any upward pressure on prices should remain well contained.'

The report said member of the FOMC concluded at their Jan. 28 meeting that a self-sustaining expansion was more likely, while cautioning at a 'surprisingly weak' December payroll report showed lackluster hiring. 'Inflation pressures showed no sign of increasing and that a bit more disinflation was possible,' the committee said.

Greenspan spent much of his testimony addressing the dangers posed by the twin deficits: the federal budget gap and the current account deficit.

Greenspan once again urged Congress to tackle the difficult choices on cutting spending. 'The longer we wait before addressing these imbalances, the more wrenching the fiscal adjustment ultimately will be,' he said.

The federal deficit could 'constrain investment and other interest-sensitive spending and thus undermine the private capital formation that is a key element in our economy's growth prospects.'

The current account deficit represents a similar danger.

So far, the decline in the value of the dollar has been gradual. 'No material adverse side effects have been visible in U.S. capital markets,' he said. He cautioned, however, that 'foreign investors, both private and official, may become less willing to absorb ever growing claims.'

Make what you will of that lot then!

Dow currently up 55pts.

Well said greendspan -The long on dow looking v.healthy and have locked in profit. The Euro/Doll and GBP/Doll -both rocketed up -have locked in profit and now just watching.

woohoo! been a good day today.
greenspan speaking again tomorrow isnt he? i am sure i heard he is.

10740 on the daily atm.Locking in profits and then going to take a small short scalper.

rgds
zarif

Wow! I'd have hated to second guess this and gone short today.

I bet there's plenty of Bear stop losses going off at the
moment that is squeezing this higher.

What are you looking for Zarif?
Bulls to take some profits towards the close and bring
it back towards 10,700?

Melnibone.

Er.....who said it would go short after Greenspan spoke, javid? :-)

The Feds had a little pump. http://app.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm

Melnibone I think it will stay up right to the close. This has the making of a Big White Candle.