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

bm another for you.... :-)

good news.... watch the banks even closer if poss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

October 07, 2011 11:21 AM Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Credit Swaps Fall on Europe Optimism
Story tools
The cost to protect the debt of Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. declined as optimism grew that Europe's leaders may be able to prevent a sovereign debt crisis from infecting bank balance sheets.

Credit-default swaps on the owner of the world's biggest retail brokerage fell 56 basis points to 474 and those on Citigroup 45 basis points to 300, the biggest one-day decline since May 2009, according to data provider CMA. Swaps on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. eased 23 basis points to 374, the data show.

Investor confidence in bank debt is rebounding as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB will resume covered-bond purchases and reintroduce year-long loans for banks. The European Commission is pushing for a coordinated capital injection for banks to shield them from the fallout of a potential Greek default.

This is a rally off the bottom that reflects a greater degree of confidence that there will be a constructive solution for the banks in Europe, said Allerton Smith, senior director of the capital markets research group at Moody's Corp. For Morgan Stanley, whose default swap levels surged as high as 650 basis points on Oct. 4, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group, market participants have come to the conclusion that the extra wide spread levels were an overreaction to some half- baked facts, Smith said.

Contracts on Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. declined 52 basis points to 399, according to CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market. That's the biggest one-day drop on record on a closing basis, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that goes back to 2004. Contracts on General Electric Capital Corp., the financing arm of General Electric Co., fell 31 basis points to 302.

The average credit-default swap on the six biggest U.S. banks had climbed for five trading days through Oct. 4 as concern intensified that Europe's debt crisis will contaminate the global banking system and halt already slowing U.S. economic growth.

Index Falls

The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, declined 5.8 basis points to a mid-price of 139.3 as of 5:01 p.m. in New York, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd. The index, which typically falls as investor confidence improves and rises as it deteriorates, reached as high as 154.1 on Oct. 4.

Bonds of New York-based Morgan Stanley have dropped since August and the cost to protect its debt has surged amid concern that sovereign defaults would spread to U.S. banks.

Both capital and liquidity nearly doubled from pre-crisis levels and should be sufficient to manage through current market conditions, CreditSights analysts led by David Hendler in New York wrote in a report yesterday. The market reaction was mainly due to undue perceptions of its exposure to European sovereigns and banks, they wrote.

Credit swaps pay the buyer face value if a borrower fails to meet its obligations, less the value of the defaulted debt. A basis point equals $1,000 annually on a contract protecting $10 million of debt.

Payrolls +103k V 60k consensus.

How come DOW futures are still in negative territory then?

they're not

Harry ? the DOW 11,213 - 11,218 on cmc

Cheers guys. CNN behind with info again.
Must change that in my favourites menu.

Fitch downgrades Spain by 2 notches, warns of more cuts



17:37, Friday 7 October 2011

NEW YORK (Frankfurt: A0DKRK - news) (Reuters) - Fitch on Friday cut Spain's credit ratings by two notches, just a few minutes after downgrading Italy, saying the intensification of the euro zone debt crisis has had a negative impact in the entire region.

The ratings agency cut Spain's credit ratings to AA-minus from AA-plus. It kept a negative outlook on the new rating, in a sign more downgrades are possible in the next couple of years

sure did dc - but no ones worried in the city as it was expected and valued in (or should i say out! lol) already gl

dont worry about a thing - i look forward to next week - bit of playing to be done - meanwhile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NfNvm2WOBM&feature=related

been a very good week of opportunities that only come round every few years - gonna chill now

stuck in cw post meetings at the moment got to get out lol - its been a tough week - out on the town shortly lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkJlLBP3MM

london town lol |http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcP_EsLFXGw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upkdm19oOzE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KNxcByCEkM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1hj1pfBamA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhDLq2hNr7M&feature=related

gibby, you part timer lol. Sounds like you have put some long hours in this week.
good weekend gibby.

Not much in the way of important data to come form the U.S. this week as far as I can see, so as long as the greeks don't spoil the party, looks like we might see a slight recovery in U.K. stock prices. Gold on the move up again!

pretty quiet here today , 5425 just shy 25 points to get out of range..

DOW looking good. Must be time to take profits soon. Too far, too fast maybe?

not sure it's actually too far too fast, but assuredly markets do not go up or down in straight lines ..... banking a profit can never be wrong, but timing is the thing as always

usually bounce back down but not too many issues at ceiling this time, earnings time, slovakia will be done ,merkel-sarkozy positive ,than g20 , christmass $... bet bears feeling heat as traders much more like chasing boat than maintain loses...as soon as dealing above range shorters start to pack up.. then boom :)) technical rally by the end of year has to start somewere..nice

Think I must be missing something, unemployment hits its highest level in the UK in 17 years, the economy is at a standstill, the Eurozone is being bailed out by even more borrowed funds yet the Indicies continue to rise in spite of everything. Head in the sand syndrome?

Edit: And if the DOW goes through 11720 with any strength, then the world has gone truly mad!

Good week so far just trading what you see, the fact that it doesn't make any sense seems to be par for the course. Tight stops order of the day, day being the operative word on the trading front, could all go tits up tomorrow :O)

hi peter .... sorry to be so remiss in responding to you, but have been swamped with all sorts of things, some good and some horrid + market collapse etc

unless i am much mistaken, tech stocks have lagged badly in this strong rally, and accordingly have bought into both AAPL and GOOG