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

292k vs 290k predicted
amazed market hasn't caught fright at the thought there may be more rate rises on the fairly near horizon

both dow and ftse remain nervous of those "round numbers"
let's hope when wall street opens we'll get some further zip

I didn't realise they predicted such a high number (290k) CNBC were talking 200k and could be 150k. Seasonal factors in play?
2517

Well the bad news used to be the good news, could the good news now become the bad news for the market? Not betting on it, but I'm thinking the threat of increased rate rises will end in tears.

cynic alluded to that earlier Chris, I expect that will be the case, although banks would welcome any increase.
2517

it's a bit rock and hard place for the amis
they may want or even need to raise rates in a few months time, but with the rest of the world economies struggling somewhat, they will have problems exporting

also, indebted 3rd-world countries will almost certainly be borrowing in U$, so that will be a double whammy for them

Good point.

george - i think it's a typo of mine; i think 200k was indeed the estimate

anyway, DOW all over the place, but with nimble fingers there's some dosh to be made
i anticipate jimmy buying a private jet with his proceeds ..... perhaps he can then offer to fly MrT to argentina and fred to north korea, all for free of course

Free?.. can I come.

I do have a private jet ,i love a bit of Airfix !

Why take Fred to North Korea? he'd get on great , just his sort .

Looks like a crap finish to the week coming .

yup, and he can take stan with him too and they can both enjoy the finer things in life

How will Stan get those monitors from EL if he is in N. Korea.
2517

Cynic,
I think the fight between Saudi and Iran is related to sanctions. If sanctions removed, Saudi and allies will lose some of the attractions and Iran benefits a lot.

What do you think?

i think the sunnis and shias have been at each other's throats for generations ...... like the catholics and protestants in ireland

don't forget that the saudis are only one or two generations from being desert nomads

meanwhile, what an f* end to the week .... and to think that today has looked very jolly at times

Fully agreed about Saudis, shias and sunnis.

Are isis sunnis or shia?
They can kill their own mother....
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/07/middleeast/isis-fighter-executes-mother-reports/

saudi royal family are sunni and support ????? (good question)
iranians are shia and support whoever saudi does not! - actually they support assad

isis is radical sunni
saudi royals are wahabi sunni which is also a strict and puritanical sect

most saudis are sunni, though i suspect a large proportion are not followers of the wahabi sect by choice

much of isis money comes from a strong radical clique within the saudi court and elsewhere

saudi purportedly supports "the west"

most syrians are sunni ......
but assad is shia

===============

complicated isn't it!

Your right there cynic a rubbish end to today when it looked like we had hit the bottom ,anyway never mind you know the markets and we will bounce back at some point probably next week ..

fortunately i made few small profitable trades during the day but it really does drive one to drink