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

a break with impetus through 13265 was a buy signal for the dow .... now about 13310 so judge for yourself

Something to take into account is that WTI is now above $106 us dollars with the dow rising......US recovery taking place ?.....looks perhaps like it...

a comparatively dull finish but still stayed above 13265 - just

ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 119K v consensus 178K previous 209K

GBP Services PMI 53.3 v consensus 54.4 previous 55.3

Looks like we are heading up again!

USD Unemployment Claims 365k v consensus 381K v previous 388k

Samsung to launch next Galaxy phone at London event

Samsung will put the rumours and alleged leaks about its next flagship smartphone to rest when it unveils the handset in London later on Thursday.

More than 20 million copies of the existing Galaxy S2 have been sold since its launch in April 2011.

Analysts say its success helped Samsung overtake Nokia to become the world's best-selling mobile phone maker.

Just wondering if the next push for the markets is imminent;

This alternative outlook doesn't show so much upside;

Euro might be about to gain a bit of strength (note this is the daily chart, short term weakness first)

Complex corrections, very difficult to label in advance. This is a different count, but very similar to post 8107. I guess that would leave my bias as 'up' short term, but lots more downside yet. Due to the constant conflict i will limit the updates!

Bit of a grim day!!! Anything from 2% - 5% down on most of my watchlist :-(

a really nasty day ... should have stayed at the golf club!

I wish I had stayed in bed.

a fair while since we had this bad a day and not what one would have liked just before a long w/e

My feelings the sooner the market closes the better.

Especially, as I have a few long SBs.

I wouldn't have thought the USA data was that bad.
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Not a good day.

The non farm figs followed by Canadian PMI and its a touch of Status Quo.

I will stick this chart up, as it gives a likely target for today, if indeed it is a non bounce day (as looks the case);

crap day anyhow..

CFTC Said to Delay Derivatives Exchange Rule Opposed by CME

Go The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will delay a final vote on a rule governing derivatives exchanges amid internal dissent that it may restrict CME Group Inc. (CME) (CME), owner of the world’s largest futures exchange, according to four people briefed on the matter.

The rule, proposed in 2010, sought to require at least 85 percent of a contract’s trading to occur on a central market. The agency will meet on May 10 to approve a series of other exchange requirements, the CFTC said. The commissioners will delay the provision setting percentage levels, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the rulemaking process is not public. Under the proposal, an exchange would be forced to de-list a contract if it didn’t meet the 85 percent level.

The proposed rule would restrict CME’s ClearPort service, which acts as a clearinghouse for swaps traded outside of the company’s central market, Chicago-based CME said last year. ClearPort, which generates the highest fees per contract at CME, allows energy swaps, for example, to be converted into cleared futures contracts. Clearinghouses reduce risk in trades by guaranteeing trades between buyers and sellers.

“The 85 percent requirement will significantly deter the development of new products by existing exchanges like CME Group, and likewise deter any new futures exchanges from being established,” the company said in a February 2011 letter to the CFTC. The proposed level would force many of CME’s energy contracts off the company’s exchange and onto different trading platforms or into the private bilateral market, CME said.

Steve Adamske, CFTC spokesman, declined to comment.

Adequate Trading
The commission proposed the threshold to ensure that there would be adequate trading in a central market to allow for price discovery in a contract. “The commission believes that the price discovery process in the centralized market is jeopardized where off-exchange transactions become the exclusive or predominant method of establishing or offsetting positions in a particular market,” the agency said in the rule proposal.

De-listed contracts could be traded on other types of trading platforms known as swap-execution facilities. The CFTC has yet to finalize rules governing those trading systems.

“It’s appropriate we delay this to have a comprehensive discussion of trading in futures and swaps,” Scott O’Malia, a Republican CFTC commissioner, said in a telephone interview.