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

what ho hali ..... i really don't know; was certainly expecting the worst but seriously glad i didn't back that with cash! ...... i think the french election result was a foregone conclusion and thus (seemingly) priced in, but greece is now a serious mess and very much highlighted as such ..... i cannot believe that greece will not now be allowed to sink, but i don't pretend to understand the implications of that, either real or market-psychologicially

I hate the expression but - 'factored in' springs to mind!

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as always, you think you've ducked low enough only to be flattened by that overhanging branch

big recovery on dow but still finished -75 or thereabouts .... caution must surely be the byword

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Today's market!

Stocks beginning to look more attractive now, some decent divi payers amongst them, may well go lower but they do not look so overpriced.
2517

DOW
i note that there was a fairly important support at 12740 ..... at one point, the index touched 12744 (near enough) and has recovered about 120 points since

merely an observation

Not a terribly enjoyable day all round - I have a few shorts but not enough it would seem.

As an aside, I have the DOW intraday (so far) low @12,748.78.

cynic - 09 May 2012 16:54 - 8137 of 8138

Correct with support. Look how the market has reacted to the Fib lines. These are drawn from calculating the length of the previous 'A' wave and reproducing them from the top of 'B'. Deadly!

gann guru pointed me in that direction,so not my own observation - far too complicated for me; i'm just a decrepit old fart

Italian Industrial Production m/m 0.5% v consensus 0.0% previous -0.7%

Eyes down for 9:30.

GBP Manufacturing Production m/m 0.9% v consensus 0.5% previous -1.0%

GBP Industrial Production m/m -0.3% v consensus -0.2% previous 0.4%

fairly hot off the press .....


One of Spain's largest banks has been part-nationalised as lenders continue to reel from the bursting of the property market bubble.
The state will take a 45% stake in Bankia, a lender which has the industry's largest exposure to toxic property assets.
The bank - Spain's fourth largest - was created only two years ago from a merger of seven struggling savings banks.
It will have a 4.47bn euro (£3.59bn) loan by the Spanish bailout fund converted into shares, owned by the state.
Bankia holds 32bn euros (£25.7bn) in distressed property assets.

Inflation-wary BoE to halt money-printing press

(Reuters) - The Bank of England looks set to call a halt to its asset-buying programme on Thursday, despite the economy having slipped into recession and renewed risks rising from the euro zone debt crisis, as UK inflation remains stubbornly high.

GBP Asset Purchase Facility 325B v consensus 325B previous 325B

USD Unemployment Claims 367K v consensus 371K previous 365K

GBP PPI Input m/m -1.5% v consensus -0.9% previous 1.9%

GBP PPI Output m/m 0.7% v consenus 0.4% previous 0.6%

The eurozone would cope if Greece left the currency union, Germany's finance minister said in an interview on Friday as Greek parties continued with efforts to form a government coalition.

the clearest signal that greece will not be bailed out ...... this has long been in on cards, the only question being when rather than if .......

and the prognosis for spain? ...... to use a current phrase, too big and important to be allowed to fail, i think