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

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?

Play out of the Caledonian Golf Club (Kings Links) in Aberdeen, Links Championship on at the mo, played in the Seniors (over 55's) today, have to be a bandit to win that. 2nd round of Murray Cup on Sunday, had a good round last Sunday so as long as I don't do anything stupid should qualify for matchplay over next two weeks fingers crossed.

presume not Scottish Open Seniors or anything flash like that then!
never played in Aberdeen at all .... indeed, when I was last there a few months back it was snowing like crazy

Err, No cynic just club golf, love it :O)

over 55's never chris.....

Fraid so BB 2 years past in my case, if you're referring to bandit wise, trust me these old buggers may not be long driving wise, but around the green they are lethal!

ditto for me too, trouble is got another b/day this month.....bu**er.,.

you're both whippersnappers!

me too. why hasnt my portfolio been hit also?
maybe it will tomorrow? dont understand it, someones must have been mustn't it?
looking forward to this week.
have a suspicion we may see a recovery in the dow. looking to trade it on the long side at some stage. cautiously of course. may be wrong.think it will be interesting.
regards
jkd

on a tech basis, dow has now fallen sharply through its support of 12300 and the safety net of 12250, so it will need to bounce pdq if it is not to tumble further ..... 10 days ago, it hit the support and bounced; that it did not even try to this time is of concern

Follow these stocks
{"s" : "DPD,HX6.DE,NWL.BE,^GSPC,^NDX","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} 21:26, Friday 3 June 2011


* Payrolls report weak, but ISM services shows growth

* Analysts see limited downside after 5 weeks of losses

* Newell Rubbermaid (Berlin: NWL.BE - news) cuts outlook, stock tumbles

* Dow (NYSE: DPD - news) off 0.8 pct, S&P off 1 pct, Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^NDX - news) off 1.5 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to close, changes byline)

NEW YORK (Xetra: A0DKRK - news) , June 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed out a fifth week of losses with more selling on Friday after an anemic jobs report strengthened the case that the economy was slowing, though analysts said indexes may stabilize in the near-term.

Selling was heavy in the morning following the payroll report, and the S&P 500 (SNP: ^GSPC - news) intermittently tested its April low at 1,294.70 until a bullish report on the services sector helped equities recover some losses.

Major indexes are trading at their lowest in six weeks, and the S&P is off 4.7 percent from highs reached in late April. However, fund managers say stocks have priced in macroeconomic uncertainty by now.

"We don't see material downside from here," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Global Investments, which has $650 billion in assets under management.

"A five percent correction is appropriate for the slowdown we're experiencing, and over the intermediate term, our expectation is that we'll regain some momentum," he said.

The government's payrolls report showed 54,000 jobs added in May, the weakest reading since September, while the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent from 9 percent in April. For details, see [ID:nOAT004818]

The report followed recent reads on manufacturing, housing and the consumer that all pointed to slowing demand, prompting debate among investors about the duration of the economic softness. However, the read on the U.S. services sector, which comprises most of the economy, gave some hope that future data would improve.

"Our view is that we're clearly seeing a slowdown, but you'd need a shock to the system to see things get much worse from here," said Andrew Goldberg, market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds in New York. "There's little room for error, but there are reasons to expect growth, and we don't see a whole heck of a lot more downside."

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 97.29 points, or 0.79 percent, to end at 12,151.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 12.78 points, or 0.97 percent, to 1,300.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 40.53 points, or 1.46 percent, to 2,732.78.

While the S&P 500 closed above its April low, analysts said that if that level was breached, technical momentum could take the index back toward its 200-day moving average at around 1,250.

All three indexes fell 2.3 percent during the week in what was the S&P 500's worst since mid-August.

However, stocks are still are positive for the year, with the Dow up 5 percent, the S&P 500 up 3.4 percent and the Nasdaq up 3 percent.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc was the S&P 500's biggest percentage loser, sliding 11.8 percent to $14.96 after it cut its forecasts for the year and said second-quarter results would miss estimates. [ID:nL3E7H31RO]

Dow component Wal-Mart Stores Inc announced a $15 billion stock-buyback program, aiming to hearten shareholders who have seen the stock lag as its U.S. sales remain in a prolonged slump. The stock edged up 0.2 percent at $53.66. [ID:nN03154298]

Forest Laboratories Inc rallied 3.7 percent to $36.90 and was the top gainer in the S&P 500 after it announced an accelerated stock-buyback plan.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a ratio of more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, while on the Nasdaq, nearly four stocks fell for every one that rose.

Volume was light, with about 6.84 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's daily average of 8.47 billion.

been buying the dow keep getting stopped out at small losses.
now long again. current stop losses below12040/12001
scaled in, will try to scale out current price circa 12087. needs to break up thro 12100 and stay there, in my opinion.
regards
jkd