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

Getting boring waiting for direction, with a bit of luck this won't last too long.

ftse is currently very sluggish, i part due i reckon to a very flat to worse economic situation across the eurozone (uk excepted; for fred!)

on the other hand, usa economy seems to be bounding along, and though the chinese economy may have slowed, it's still running at 7%+

thus we see dow being pretty buoyant, but give some bad days (i think they're overdue), ftse will be dragged down with it

I'm just waiting for direction, up, down, I don't care as long as its not sideways..

DOW has got liquid fuel rockets attached

on the back of good gdp numbers ex usa yesterday + more qe from japan this morning

common sense says that the massive rise is now well overdone, but then common sense has little to do with market logic, so it's quite a brave move to go short for now

i'm sure shortie will have greater words of wisdom on this subject

more on the japanese qe boost below ...... the fact that it was put through on a thin majority vote, makes one wonder how the markets will perceive the move come next week

The Bank of Japan is going for broke and expanding its already aggressive stimulus plan in an effort to keep the country's economic revival plan on track.
In a surprise announcement, the central bank said Friday that it will increase its purchases of longer-term debt, building on a stimulus plan first announced a year and a half ago.

The bank will now make asset purchases at an annual pace of around 80 trillion yen, an increase from the previous 60 to 70 trillion yen target range. The Nikkei jumped by as much as 5%.
The bank's decision was far from unanimous -- five board members voted in favor of additional stimulus, while four voted against the proposal.
The additional stimulus puts the Bank of Japan at odds with other central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, that are scaling back or ending their stimulus programs.

DOW on a record tear as suckers dying

It’s a Zero Sum game – somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred – from one perception to another. Like magic.

"Zero sum"..Not really, obviously.

I said I would update weekly with my performance if anyone's interested.

Disaster week -9.3%
Last week +11%
This week (only 2 days traded - I've been away) (+3.4%) *Edit - poor maths - it was only 2.2%

That's (*not) enough for a beer.

London prices ? :-)

Northern prices. It wouldn't buy me a glass of tapwater in London :-)

blast! .... was pre-occupied earlier as had intended to take a further dow short at about 17390

anyway, probably extended enough, and after a lot of dithering about, dow has suddenly dropped straight south through 17300 (17315 to be exact), so am now watching for 17200 .... i would be surprised if that was pierced today, so shall try to be alert and perhaps take some profits anyway

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that's a few pennies banked for +62

there's an interesting article on www.money.cnn.com entitled "Taxes and spending: What happens if Republicans win the Senate" .... it's well worth a read

It looks like it's going to be a good day for investors, and an especially good day for Republicans.

1. Midterm election results: CNN projections show Republicans won the balance of power in both the Senate and the House.
This gives the GOP control of Congress and the power to pin down President Obama during his last two years in office. Many investors expect that the Republican takeover of the Senate will lead to more pro-business policies, and benefit the energy and financial sectors.
U.S. stock futures were pushing higher before the open with the S&P 500 and Dow poised to jump to record levels.

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am i totally nuts in thinking that for the next two years, there is going to a total shambles with regard to us domestic policies, with a probable(?) vicious stand-off when it comes to the next budgetary discussions?

.

Why'd I get the feeling tomorrow will be a down day, contemplating a short play!! hhhmmm..

if for no other reason than nothing ever goes up in a straight line, though dow has had a damn good try over the last 3 weeks

6594.8 gone short, 6604 seams to hold some resistance I wonder what this afternoon numbers will bring, an in crease in the claimant count I hope.

IHS as highlighted yesterday.