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

I think the market is correcting itself now, so even though there is the odd crumb of good news, it isn't enough to turn the trend around.
I am cashing in most of my shares which are in profit & will sit on that cash until I think the market has turned up again. Most likely some time after the friday U.S. figures.

Today's FT : RBS cheif strategist:
"Outlook:
We said in late Aug that S&P would get to 1100/1120 by end Oct/early Nov. We said growth would peak in Aug and then weaken (see above) into and in Q1. This is all playing out. As this plays out, I expect S&P to be in the mid-900s by y/e, and mid/low 800s by Q1 2010. Credit spreads will weaken materially, IG will do better than HY, QUALITY (strong balance sheets) will be the winner. I look for 750 Crossover by late 2009/early 2010, and then further weakness as Q1 unfolds. Govvies shud rally - I prefer BUNDS to USTs or GILTS. The USD will probably rally,
but I dislike any currency where PMs are simply printing. GOLD please.
GET DEFENSIVE RE RISK."

House prices up 1.2% in October
Business Financial Newswire
UK House prices rose by 1.2% last month, according to the Halfiax Building Society.

This is the fourth consecutive month that the Society has recorded an increase.

Nationally, house prices are now 7.1% higher than they were six months ago at the trough of the market but they are still 4.7% loweer than they were a year ago.

Halifax's senior economist Martin Ellis says: There are some indications that more people are deciding to put their homes on the market, encouraged by the recent improvement in market conditions.

"A continuation of this trend could help to improve the balance between supply and demand, curbing the strength of the stimulus to house prices resulting from the current imbalance."

Dow 9650 quite probably to be challenged again today ...... hope for a bounce, and a sustained one at that

"hope for a bounce, and a sustained one at that"

How about some pretties whilst we wait.....

Can't offer you the Dow as I don't track that. But I can show you the S&P 500.

All three charts are showing 3 box reversals. The middle one is a 1% box size which is what most people would use. You'll see the drop to the line that should support and bounce. It has in the past, you'll see.

The top chart is a 0.5% box. Smaller than the norm, but still showing bounce lines that worked.

My bottom chart is 1.5% boxes. Larger than one would normally use and showing now a fight at resistance.

So, Cynic, the vote is two out of three for your bounce.



TP

Thanks for that TP and very pretty it looks too.

Let's hope you're right!

and reality as i write is that Dow is pretty much b/e ..... let's hope it sustains it and consolidates above once more

And my S&P is modestly positive at 19.29.

TP

Dow falling.

Volatile markets & DOW futures still in positive territory, though drifting.
Looks as though todays rise should be sustained, but with lots of employment data due from the U.S.over the next few days, my guess is that profit taking will be dominant again at the end of the week. Chartists will probably disagree!

relatively good numbers just out in US re jobless etc has given Dow futures a healthy boost ...... would be nice if it doesn't all play silly buggers later on!

Dow futures still 30 below where they were at our close last night.

can't comment .... can only tell you that Dow cash is currently +65 at 9870

here's the jobless guff ......

Unemployment claims slide
Initial filings for jobless benefits fall by 20,000 to 512,000 in latest week, less than forecast.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance fell last week, the government said Thursday, with a total figure that was below analysts' expectations.

There were 512,000 initial job claims filed in the week ended Oct. 31, down 20,000 from a revised 532,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report.

A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected 522,000 new claims.

The government said 5,749,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Oct. 24, the most recent data available. That was down 68,000 from the preceding week's revised 5,817,000 claims.

Still the big ones to come tomorrow though:
"Payroll Outlook
Another 175,000 jobs were probably lost in the month of October and unemployment probably rose to a 26-year high of 9.9 percent, economists forecast before tomorrows Labor Department payrolls report. That compares with 263,000 jobs lost in September and would be the smallest drop since August 2008."

Dow currently roaring (again!) and showing at 9975 ..... short term target is now very close at 10025, at which point sit back and watch

Dow spiked to 10013 and even finished just above 10000, but after hours it has slipped back a bit to 9988 ..... keep watching!

cynic
do you mean 9998? i think you do. anyway hope this shows i pay attention to you;
regarding ftse i have 3 major fibonaccii levels that i am watching. all 3 are 50% long term retracement levels. being 5114, 5106, and 5015. i find it unusual that 3 such major levels should coincide.current price as i post is 5130.
as always just my opinion
regards
jkd

5190 looks to be the upper number to watch on FTSE, so not much further to go there either

From FT chat today:
"Non farm Friday. Gone are the days when these deserved little more than a cursory glance and certainly no comment. Given that all roads lead back to the capacity or otherwise of the US consumer to spend (and to do this, stay in his/her job), they command more attention than we'd ideally like to give them these days. But they drive a bit more than sentiment. We're loking for 135k in any case, consensus is at 175k. Let's see. elsewhere, we have the yield curve fattening like Christmas Turkey, and a market that has shifted en masse out of beta. Seems our 'buy the quality on these dips' call is about as consensus as we'd least hoped it would be, so perhaps we begin to see a year end squeeze and rotation back into the recently dumped risk names. Hard to tell, as what felt like a large scale pain trade end Oct is, according to our better informed colleagues on the general sales desk, continuing at a less aggressive pace this month. But the big move is broadly done. Gross has come in and our traders tell us that desks are running much tighter limits at the moment. Conditions forming perhaps for a squeeze?"