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

we work internationally so have a much broader picture

Boast boast.,.

I would say something worth keeping an eye on is PMI (purchasing managers index) figures, which are mostly now showing some signs of slowing growth. http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/Eurozone-PMI-germany-economy-euro-eurozone/5/24/2011/id/34739

now look at south and central america ..... an extract from a much longer article .....

IMF world economic outlook (april 2011)
growth in the region is projected to average 4.75% in 2011 and 4.25% in 2012 ..... which 0.66% higher than forecast in october 2010 .... greater confidence in the strength of global recovery and improved prospects for commodity prices

cynic percentages are always pretty meaningless.

i fully concur, but i was merely supporting my earlier observation about general economic growth as flagged by increased activity in the chemical markets

U.S. non-farm payrolls this friday. Not seen any predictions yet, but market may be a bit twitchy in the run up.

unquestionably a bloodbath ahead for the morning - hazard a guess at opening down 70/80 ..... i wonder if even RKH will escape; would be nice to think it will

DOW futures currently -42, so no help from there as to what is expected this afternoon.

clenched sphincters!

A buying opportunity then later in the day?

haven't seen the numbers but clearly us jobs data is serious shit as market indicating -130 which is well below supposed support level

up 54K-- unemployment 9.1%
2517

54,000 jobs created, but the analysts consensus was for 190,000. Unemployment rate up to 9.1% due to increased labour force (i.e. people returning to the job market).

what was expectation?

(Reuters) - U.S. employment rose far less than expected in May to record its weakest reading since September, while the jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent as high energy prices and the effects of Japan's earthquake bogged down the economy.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 54,000 last month, the Labour Department said on Friday, with private employment rising 83,000, the least amount since June. Government payrolls dropped 29,000.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected payrolls to rise 150,000 and private hiring to increase 175,000 in May. The government revised employment figures for March and April to show 39,000 fewer jobs created than previously estimated.

The job creation slowdown confirmed the economic weakness already flagged by other data from consumer spending to manufacturing. It could stoke fears about the depth and duration of a slowdown that started early in the year.

The Labour Department said severe weather last month, including tornadoes and flooding, in the Midwest and the South did not materially affect data collection.

It also said that while some workers in those regions may have been temporarily displaced from their jobs, it found "no clear impact of the disasters on the national employment and unemployment data for May."

i remain amazed that Dow has not (yet) collapsed, and even more that the value of my own portfolio has scarcely moved at all

So am I. Perhaps all the U.K. traders are at The Oaks, so no one left to watch the screens!
DOW slowly drifting off though, so maybe the fallout will hit the FTSE on monday?

I agree cynic, playing a lot of golf lately so not really trading much but like you portfolio not really (yet) been hit as much as expected. Guess the answer is keep playing golf eh?

where do you play?