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

Dow initially rocketed and then fell out of bed (rather like Tiger!) and ultimately came-to and finished up +22, which is sort of OK.

not sure where Dow was when London closed, but from a quick look, it was at b/e

Bernanke: Economy faces 'formidable headwinds.' Expect unemployment to decline at a slower-than-desired pace.

on that basis, i'ld guess interest rates unlikely to increase any time soon = recovery for gold - i hope

conversely, it means that consumer spending in USA is likely to stay under pressure ..... however, that does not mean the US economy cannot expand quite quickly and significantly, for there will be plenty of industrial slack to take up before employment picks up

He is no Greenspan - that man moved the markets every time he breathed :-)

meanwhile, gold has recovered sharply from $1135 at worst to $1161 now and Dow is +50

Skinny, he certainly moved the $ pairs!!

what a horrid day, apparently triggered by some fairly weak economic numbers in UK ..... watch for 5120 on FTSE, a further 100 points down from here

Also very weak german output figures & re-rating of some major companies by Moodys in Dubai. Looks like some of the big boys are in trouble over there.
"Credit ratings agency Moodys downgraded six Dubai-linked issuers on Tuesday after concluding that no meaningful government support would be provided for top firms like DP World or Emaar Properties .
In recent statements the government has highlighted that it sees no legal obligation to support non-guaranteed debt of its GRIs (government-related issuers), said Philipp Lotter, senior vice president for Gulf corporates at Moodys in Dubai.
Taking into account the governments most recent position, Moodys no longer believes it appropriate to assume timely support.
The companies downgraded included some of Dubais biggest, such as DP World, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Emaar Properties, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group, and DIFC Investments."

Gold now down a further $33.00 to $1125

interesting recovery on Dow, gold and oil, so likely to be a (very) good day or at least start in london

with gold falling below $1100 (-$40) and Dow -132, surely something of a nervy if not downright gory day in store for London tomorrow, albeit that it already took a good spanking today

Watch the oil price now!!!
Unconfirmed so far:
"At 1030 gmt Al-Arabiya TV ran a series of "urgent" screen captions:
"Reports of Iranian forces storming Al-Fakah Iraqi oil field". Another
caption said "Iraqi officials call on the government to react
urgently". A third caption read: "Al-Fakah Iraqi field was stormed and
Iranian flag was raised on it". BBC Monitoring is trying to verify the
reports. More to follow"

Harry,

Been watching OP all morning.. and not a lot happened, so what do you want me to do now -):

As some wag said on FT site, maybe just some iranian soldier who accidentally threw his frisbee over the border & all his mates went to help him get it back!!!

many moves are exaggerated at this time of the year .... nevertheless, it's good to see NY recovering (now only -14 after -40) and gold is suddenly +$14 at $1112.50 .... fingers crossed that all finishes well across the pond to herald a decent day on monday

well that was a cracking day to start off the new year, though it'll be interesting to see if those gains can be held, at least for tomorrow.

interestingly, though Dow at London close is +138, that is actually only 18 points higher than thursday's open, following which there were quite encouraging employment numbers ...... perhaps more to go for here, which if it happens is likely to drag london in its wake

another great day for commodity shares, but don't be afraid to take at least partial profits, for life will assuredly be lumpy, bumpy and volatile over the coming weeks and perhaps months

yet another yummy commodity day ..... however, it would be good to see that translated into upward index movement, for Dow in particular has been flip-flopping fro the last few days and struggling to break up through 10600 - but keep watching

Oil has shot up (futures for february anyway)....since 16.30..uk close up $1.15 in 20 mn to nearly $83 dollars a barrel.....here comes another oil spike....perhaps $90 on the way !.

gold has had another strong day too - spot $1136 at time of writing
spot US light crude $83.95

Another dollar up !...incredible.....is this cold weather : "the day after tomorrow syndrome"...(the film) ?.....should be a very firm start for oilies and certain gold producers when the market reopens if this continues....