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

ah well, there's the nub, and confess i keep vacillating between the two views ...... hard to imagine that monday will be cheery though, especially at opening - unless F/E takes an unexpectedly upbeat view of US GDP numbers ...... shall try to remember to post indicators here tomorrow night (if available) or earlyish monday morning

Speculation Speculation Speculation! I guess (emphasise the word guess) why trading these markets are so fascinating for me personally anyway, thank God I don't do this for a living. I have only been trading for four years as a hobby with money I can afford to lose but even with my limited experience, I have learned that fear and greed rule the roost, doesn't seem to matter whether their is good news or bad news out there, sentiment rules the day. Nobodys died yet! :o)

what a very difficult market this is ..... seems to me that one just has to suck one's teeth and take a position (or not) as to what's going to happen next.
for all that, it's certainly encouraging - and a great relief - to see both FTSE and Dow surging back up through their "failed" support levels ..... always provided it's not a 2 day wonder

DOW +119. I will have a stab at predicting that morning (long) trading in London should be reasonable. Hope that the miners are looking to bounce back & may take profit at lunchtime.

now it starts getting interesting or even difficult ...... Dow up quite strongly yesterday, and heading firmly north again ...... sustainable or too far too fast?

Too far to fast.

quite possibly ... am long Dow and have put in a sensible stop to lock in a useful profit if it gets hit

3 blue days in a row.....hope there's more to come....quite a few risers across the board today.....DGO and TLW up notably.

this should help the good guys ....

Ford says January vehicle sales jumped 24% from a year earlier.

And ...alleluia....oil is up by nearly $2.....should push oilies a lot... lot higher tomorrow if this stays as it is.

Ftse rising.....4 blue days in a row ?...possible..

Unemployment figures out in the U.S. on friday, which I presume will be poor (don't know if poorer than expected) so might see profit taking on friday in anticipation.

Stocks Plunge Risk at Highest Since April 1984, Survey Finds
By Craig Trudell

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Expectations that U.S. stocks will tumble 10 percent or more rose to highest level since April 1984 this week, according to Investors Intelligences weekly survey of newsletter writers.

The proportion of investment writers who anticipate a so- called correction climbed to 38.9 percent in the week ended yesterday, an increase from 36.7 percent in the period ended Jan. 27. The New Rochelle, New York-based company has tracked the projections of newsletters since 1963.

Mohamed A. El-Erian, whose firm runs the worlds biggest mutual fund, said today that the largest stock market decline in 11 months may worsen amid persistent U.S. joblessness and economic growth that trails analysts forecasts.

Investors may well find that Januarys global equity sell-off was just a precursor to a disappointing year for several asset classes, El-Erian, 51, wrote in a column published by Bloomberg News. He is the chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., which manages $1 trillion from Newport Beach, California.

The Standard & Poors 500 Index fell 3.7 percent in January, more than any month in a year, after China set higher reserves for lenders and U.S. President Barack Obama proposed curbs on risk taking at banks. The retreat pared the S&P 500s gain since sinking to a 12-year low in March to 59 percent.

Investors Intelligence found that the proportion of bullish newsletter writers fell to 38.9 percent, the lowest since July, from 40 percent. Bearish publications slipped to 22.2 percent from 23.3 percent.

Some technical analysts, who try to predict stock moves based on price and trading patterns, track investor sentiment as a contrarian indicator. They interpret decreased pessimism and increased optimism as bearish.



The following are results from Investors Intelligences
analysis of investment newsletters for Jan. 27 through
yesterday. The company determines the proportion of writers who
are bullish and bearish on U.S. stocks, as well as the
percentage who anticipate a correction, or 10 percent decline,
in the market.

This Week Prior Week Comments
Bullish 38.9% 40.0% Lowest since July 21
Bearish 22.2% 23.3% Lowest in two weeks
Correction 38.9% 36.7% Highest since April 1984

Note: When bullishness sank to 22.2 percent in October
2008, it was the lowest since November 1988. The bearish reading
of 54.4 percent that month was the highest since December 1994.
The 15.6 percent bearish proportion in December 2009 was the
lowest since April 1987.

.. It's the way they tell em -):

basically they know little more than we do, or else they wouldn't be working for a living

looks like another boring day... inside and out!!! come on cynic liven it up a bit.

going out and away shortly for a couple of days, so you may have to do without me ..... bad Asia, Oz, NZ and Shell don't do anything to improve sentiment it has to be said

AGAIN!!! you just come back from Dubia..........ah I know, you gota keep the boy friend happy......nudge ...nudge... wink ....wink..

All you guys trading the FTSE presumably now long???
Statement BoE: "The Bank of Englands Monetary Policy Committee today (4th feb) voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at 200 billion.

After a substantial fall in output, the United Kingdom economy recorded sluggish growth in the final quarter of 2009. Spending by households appears to have picked up a little, though that may partly reflect temporary factors. The rate of decline in businesses investment spending appears to have eased. And the world economy continued to recover, raising the demand for UK exports.

CPI inflation has risen sharply to well above the 2% target, reaching 2.9% in December. That rise was largely accounted for by higher petrol price inflation and the reduction in the main VAT rate a year earlier dropping out of the calculation. Inflation is likely to have risen further in January, reflecting the restoration of the VAT rate to 17.5%. Pay growth has remained subdued."

This inflation percentage is a real joke : just go to M&S and all the other retailers and look at the prices...far more than they were last year....it is getting to a stage where when they give out the latest inflation figures : I just laugh out loud...pathetic,.. really !.