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

Bet it wasn't long ago you had a bit of crackling Harry.,.

I wish, Bb! However, getting to the stage where I'd rather go to the pub! ;o)

I'm keeping an eye on Softs, sugar, coco, coffee, the luxury products for first clues along with cattle. Worth remembering that gold prices are also affected by fear and 2014 saw central banks (the biggest buyers of gold) shift from being sellers to buyers to hold against their foreign currency reserves. No doubt the Russian central bank will be at the forefront of gold buyers right now.

What a coincidence Harry I'm down there as well for a day, but a Sat.

I'll post some Sunday lunch recommendations when I get the latest.

Thanks Stan.

The US economy added 321,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate stayed at 5.8%, official Labor Department figures show.

The number of jobs created is above forecasts of around 225,000 new posts.

The figures are a significant gauge of the health of the economy.

US employers have added at least 200,000 jobs for ten months in a row, the longest growth period since 1995.

Should have stayed long on the DAX yesterday!! doah..

Another new high on Dow.

but it is or should be a considerable concern that germany's economy is faltering badly, russia is now a basket case and ....

"Mutiny at ECB after challenge to Draghi ..... facing fgull-blown leadership-crisis ..... powerful implications for for financial markets and the long-trerm fate of monetary union ...."

there's quite a lot more - today's fascist gazette

"there's quite a lot more - today's fascist gazette" there are so many of them to choose from, but do I assume that your mean the Daily Mail?

Alf?.. Answer the question -):

Any chance of keeping all things political on the Communists rule /Talk to yourself thread chaps, enough shite on there for everybody to endure. I seem to recall even though free, MAM is a Financial Bulletin Board. Anyone who agrees say AYE!

been playing golf stan .... telegraph of course


CC - a very strange comment indeed from you

Why cynic? I don't post political nonsense on here.

it just seemed a bit random and unwarranted

I was in a good mood till i foolishly read the Talk to yourself thread. So when I looked at this thread hoping for some inspiration re direction of said indices, just saddened me that the word fascist and newspapers should be a topic currently in discussion. :o)

perhaps try reading the post (16831) to which it attached then :-)

Found the Torygraph usually V.G. on Finance and Sport, Predictably bias on behalf of right wing politics though.

Uncertain times present a great chance to buy British
The market's reaction to last week's Autumn Statement suggested politics might be a significant influence on the UK market for the next six months, writes Tom Stevenson

By Tom Stevenson3:14PM GMT 06 Dec 2014 Comments2 Comments
Investors sometimes dismiss Autumn Statements with a shrug.
In an increasingly global stock market, fiddling around the edges of the domestic economy can seem neither here nor there. The market’s reaction to last week’s pre-election package of measures was notable, therefore. It suggested that politics might be a significant influence on the UK market for the next six months.
George Osborne is the most political of Chancellors. It would take more than a persistently disappointing budget deficit to stop him pulling a few pre-poll rabbits out of his hat. His populist moves on stamp duty and air passenger tax and a renewed round of banker bashing were sufficiently unexpected to cause big divergences in sector performance as he spoke.
The simplification of stamp duty was reflected in jumps of as much as 3.5pc in the share prices of housebuilders and online estate agents. easyJet and British Airways-owner IAG both popped higher in anticipation of cheaper flights for children. The banks sagged as the Chancellor cut their ability to use losses they built during the financial crisis to offset profits for tax purposes.
Many of the fund managers I speak to are quietly concerned about the short-term outlook for UK shares, even if they think the impact won’t last long. Some believe the uncertainty might create good opportunities to invest in a market which is now one of the cheaper destinations in the developed world. Richard Buxton, the Old Mutual star manager, told me that he expects a “year of two halves”, with his portfolio positioned for a decent rally once the uncertainty of the election is out of the way.



The manner in which investors responded to sector-specific news last Wednesday suggests, however, that as the election approaches investors may become increasingly exercised about the wide range of unpredictable outcomes. As well as the risks for particular industries, the possibility of the election leading to a vote on EU membership introduces more uncertainty.
The Government has pledged to stage a referendum in 2017 if it is re-elected. It’s just one factor among many in a peculiarly unpredictable election. Other wild cards include the impact of pension changes in April, which offer the prospect of a small army of grey voters enjoying unexpected cash in their pockets thanks to the new freedom to dip into their pension pots.
The Scottish referendum demonstrated how investors can ignore even a well-understood, scheduled event until it is imminent. Markets are myopic and volatility might not increase until a month or two before the vote.
It all rather depends what else is going on in the world and the extent to which, election or no, London is perceived to be a relative safe haven. Having underperformed on the back of the FTSE 100’s exposure to the recent commodity rout, some of the uncertainty will have been priced in.
It’s often said that markets hate uncertainty but I’m not sure there’s much empirical evidence for that. The counter argument that weak governments without a real mandate for change are less able to cause any damage to the economy carries some weight.
It is true that the performance of markets experiencing political uncertainty this year, such as Brazil, was inferior to those where the outcome of elections was predictable and positive, such as India. But it is equally the case that Belgium, which survived without a government for nearly two years after its 2010 election and has a four-way coalition, outperformed the other eurozone stock markets before and after the vote.
The UK market has underperformed other markets, notably the US, in the past couple of years, moving sideways in 2014 while Wall Street has hit new records. That’s mainly because of our weighting towards mining and oil shares and their exposure to the technology shares that are leading the rally.



Dividend yields are running at about twice those in the US market, with more than a quarter of FTSE 100 stocks paying more than 4pc when I last looked. The home market is cheaper than the US, Japan and Europe.
With the Government seeing red lights flashing on the global economy’s dashboard and the Bank of England’s Mark Carney fretting about “huge disinflationary forces”, there is little prospect of UK interest rates rising for most if not all of next year. Any pre-election volatility will be a good opportunity to buy British.
Tom Stevenson is investment director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment. The views expressed are his own.

yet another caveat for the markets

Bank for International Settlements sounds alarm over dollar
Global financial policy makers have sounded the alarm about the impact of a resurgent US dollar on emerging markets, where companies have racked up large debts denominated in the American currency.