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

KidA - all gibberish to me (i'll stick to my basic b'berry!), though i know the world seems to think these products are the greatest thing since sliced bread ..... the reviews seem to be pretty positive too, despite the well-publicised gremlins

all in all, i am happy to stay with yesterday's prediction

what a beastly day again, after looking quite promising just an hour or two ago

Shortie
look as though you called AAPL right after all :-(

French Industrial Production m/m 1.5% consensus -0.2% previous 0.6%

Italian Industrial Production m/m 1.7% consensus -0.5% previous -0.2%

Cynic - One thing calling it and quite another taking a profit, as of yet I don't have an open position.

I just think the likes of Samsung and the high end Android market are able to compete with Apple. Sure the Ipad Iphone is the cream of the market but we don't all get around in sports cars do we. I think they'll see a decline in market share over the next few years. As with all computing equipment people don't buy the best or most expensive if a cheaper alternative will suffice for their needs. My son has an Android tablet which I bought him as I was fed up with him playing with my phone. £80 well spent for something for him to play games on mainly!! Classic case of he didn't need anything more expensive for what he's going to use the device for, alternatives are now at market so Apple should lose market share.

There is an argument though that Apple have a very loyal customer base, so there will always be a hard core of people who will stick to their devices no matter what. It's then just a matter of persuading the rest to change. It's a very competitive market, with Apple, Android, Windows & RIM vying for market share, but I still think that brand loyalty counts for a great deal as far as Apple is concerned.

Apple established itself as the best in the market. I think this will not change soon.
Samsung is the second best, but has jobs to do.

I was a loyal Apple fan when their ipone 3G was first on the market. iTunes updates and backups used to annoy me and was what kept me tied in, you buy your music and video on itunes and need a apple device to play them on keeping you locked in... Well not any more, Samsungs Kies when installed found itunes and converted all the files for me unlocking the ties. Just about everyone I know used to have an iphone, now there split probally 60-40 to iphone with the devide growing as people update. On tablets I know 2 people who have an ipad and over 10 with Android Tablets. Lets not forget that Car Phone Warehouse offer some great phones with a free Android Tablet which is helping drive sales. I think its about how you use your device, if you mainly go online over wi-fi sat at home on your smart phone then a bigger tablet complements the way you use technology making a free Tablet an appealing upgrade.

Shortie,

Apple iPhone and iPads are easy to use. All professionals use them due to its simplicity. That's why RIMM couldn't cope. My experience is much different. It is the quality taht speaks not being tied in or out.

Samsung is much more difficult to use. We have three iPhons and one Samsung Galaxy. We will certainly change that contract to iPhone next time to harmonize everything.

Apple has already won the market. Samsung can catch up, but it will take time.

Samsung is receiving 10% of Apple revenue regardless, so it will benefit from Apple success.

You are possibly right, but you sound as though you are an adult who has debts, outgoings and all the trappings of a tightly controlled household budget. Many Apple users are in their late teens or twenty-somethings who have quite a large disposable income and who think having (and showing that they have) the latest trendy gadget is the ultimate goal. Having a cheaper (possibly more efficient alternative) is not on their radar. In fact, just the opposite. I haven't looked to see which celebrities are currently overtly using their Apple gadgets, but I bet that is also driving the desirability for the products. I have two MA students living here and they both have Apple phones, pads & pods and are constantly looking to upgrade even though their current products are more than adequate. You can tell I am past the teen/twenty-something age!!!

I think you boys need to talk to Seymour Clearly on this forum.

He's the iMan with an iCan. :)

You are correct Harry, wife, mortgage and son all make healthy outgoings, although the mortgage is my only debt. I do take the point of Apple products where disposable income is concerned. And yes Apple is the must have latest trendy product at the moment. I no longer see their products as unique though, and I see within the tablet market that the largest growing sector to be in under 16's. Maybe its the age I'm at and most of my friends have kids, who, like to play with their parents phones and now have or are getting tablets of their own. It remains to be seen if Apple can do as well in these areas of the market as it has in the premium banding.

Both Apple and Samsung have fanboys who'd buy an iTurd/Galaxy Stool and wax lyrical, starting with the boxes. They are extremists, most of us aren't.

My use of Apple goes back to the first iMac, and my pushing of them to years before. I'm getting hacked off:

I'll decide which device I drag and drop/transfer my music to, back to base batteries, soldered memory, price of adapters that should be in the box, misleading re AppleCare, Maps, the 'it's a design feature' BS - it's us holding it the wrong way, scratched on receipt... The Thunderbolt display looks good - and makes some sense if you have an 11 inch MacBook Air, but it isn't GBP 400 better than the Dell; the latter has the same/better panel, doesn't give you the finger re dead pixels, has more of the widely used inputs and a flexible stand - Apple can swivel because it doesn't swivel as sold. It is arrogant and new users may jump after the honeymoon.

Re loyalty; from forums it looks like an increasing number of users who stuck by Apple through hard times are switching to PC - fed up with the lack of a Mac Pro update (a super Mac Mini this month?). Times change but there may come a day when Apple needs those people. Don't win forever.

Cheers,
KidA

FSA eases bank rules to support lending

LONDON | Wed Oct 10, 2012 4:21pm BST

(Reuters) - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said on Wednesday it has relaxed capital and liquidity rules on banks in an effort to stimulate lending and boost the recession-hit economy, lifting bank shares.

The FSA said the policy shift was set out in the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee in September, and banks were aware of the changes.

But industry sources and analysts said there were mixed messages coming from regulators on capital rules, including several recent suggestions that more capital was needed.

dow being walloped again, but guru says stay put with stop at 12900

A 400 pt stop from here? Crikey, just short and buy back 400 points lower down.

Hope you are not paying this guy cynic, is he having a laugh? :O)

no i do not pay him, but over the years he has proved surprisingly good ...... it is a chart- based system (GANN) which in turn is linked to %ages ..... too complicated for my small brain

chuckles (and chris) - never forget that markets do not move in straight lines either up or down, though i agree the markets are very uncomfortable at the moment

.

looking at harry's chart, i see 12900 is coincidentally(?) the 200 DMA, but i also note that all DMAs remain strongly pointing north

Yes, but I saw on the FT site today that the Eurozone is very likely to drag us down for the next 3-4 days. Of course the trend is up, but if I was a spreadbetter I would be tempted to be short FTSE & DOW up to the w/e. FTSE futures are currently in the red.