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

Cynic: what's worse than finding a worm in your Apple?

Answer: half a worm... I hope you've taken your profits!

i'm afraid i'm sitting on a bit of a loss on dow at the moment, but nothing nasty
did you watch the prog on india last night? ..... very interesting and gives one a rather different perspective on many things

Sitting on a loss Cynic? I'm not surprised if you're using 400 point stops.

Shoot the guru :-)

No, I didn't see the programme about India - I was watching a very interesting programme on Chinese porcelain. So much going on the Far East and I know so little about it!

The DOW does seem to be losing ground at the moment. Have to say I'm short FTSE - just don't trust all the hype I hear!

The good ol Dow Jones will finish blue tomorrow, by at least +50 pts.

Just a guess, I guess, but the trend hasn't been broken (yet).

Prog on India was mainly about Kolkata, which is probably one of the poorest and most congested of indian cities. Sanjeev Baskar went to Bangalore on his journey round India recently and the glass, steel and technology put london in the shade!

Recent comment on the US jobless figures make a bit of a mockery of the stats;
"The US saw mixed results on Thursday, with stocks initially boosted by jobless data, which showed a fall to levels not seen in over four years, but then dampened by confusion over its accuracy.

It was widely reported that the figures have been significantly distorted by seasonal factors, with one equity strategist reportedly saying claims should in fact have been 30,000 higher.

Others have suggested that the decline was due to one of the larger states delaying its re-certification process, which ties in with the fact that the majority of other states reported an unadjusted increase in claims.".

Thanks for that clarification Harrycat. I hadn't quite trusted those 'best in four years' figures when they were released - can't help feeling it's all part of the electioneering process

And if it is all part of the electioneering process Toya, what difference does it make to your trading?

Are you saying that in your opinion the figs are manufactured therefore it's a short?

It doesn't matter what little old us think, it's a long whilst it's going up and it's a short when it's going down.

Right now it's a long until the trend is broken. You're trading on what you think rather than what you see.

It could all change very quickly tomorrow, but the Dow has some unfinished business. Futs up +19 right now.

Hi Chuckles: FTSE may have been "up +19 right now", but was still below my short from 5860, having closed an earlier short at that point from 5900 to bank my profit.

I'm seeing something of a downward trend since mid-September. But then maybe that's just me, getting into pessimistic mood as we approach winter? My plan is to keep the short running until around the end of October and then see where we are. I don't have time to sit and watch it all hour-by-hour currently.

As for the DOW: I have noticed that the FTSE hasn't kept up with it in recent weeks. Since mid-September, the DOW has actually hit an even higher-high on more than one occasion, while the FTSE has kept well below 5900.

Just my observations...

Europe uneasy in IMF spotlight as Tokyo meetings start

TOKYO | Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:08am BST

(Reuters) - Greece, Spain and the euro zone's slow progress toward debt reform took centre stage at IMF meetings on Friday despite Europe's best effort to remove itself from the spotlight.

The International Monetary Fund recommended that some of Europe's debt-burdened countries take a bit more time to reduce budget deficits, arguing that moving too fast is counter-productive because it hurts the economy.

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The shift was welcomed by some emerging market countries as well as long-time critics who say that the tough conditions attached to IMF loans inflict undue economic pain and make it harder for countries to grow their way out of debt.

"We have been arguing for some time that single-minded and draconian fiscal policies may be counterproductive and have a tendency to backfire," said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

But Germany, Europe's largest creditor country and the key to any lasting fiscal reforms, pushed back against that advice and said reversing course on promised deficit reductions would only weaken credibility.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Europe had made plenty of crisis-fighting progress, echoing comments from other European officials who said there should be greater attention paid to U.S. fiscal troubles too.

"Europe is not the source of all problems in the world," he told reporters at a briefing on Friday.

Well done on the profitable trade Toya and you're right, the Ftse hasn't followed the Dow to new highs but if you overlay it's performance over the Dow they're quite similar, as you would expect. Try not to forget that whilst you're shorting, billions of dollars, euros and yen across the globe is being printed and pumped into the markets. Who knows how they're going to unwind all ths QE!

Spain says no resistance in euro zone to an aid request

TOKYO | Fri Oct 12, 2012 7:36am BST

(Reuters) - Spain's economy minister said on Friday there was absolutely no political resistance from within the euro zone to a Spanish bailout request.

Asked if Spain wanted more political clarity rather than technical details before taking a decision on an aid request, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said: "absolutely not."

"There was no pressure, in one sense or in the other," he said.

JPMorgan Profit Beats Estimates as Mortgage Revenue Soars

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, posted a record third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as mortgage revenue soared 72 percent.
Net income rose 34 percent to $5.71 billion, or $1.40 a share, from $4.26 billion, or $1.02, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Earnings, which included a loss on accounting adjustments, beat the average estimate of $1.20 among 30 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

somewhat surprisingly and indeed worryingly, it has not inspired cash dow greatly

Skinny, thanx for posting that chart, I saw a similar comparison on another site, but that looked like the performances of the FTSE and DOW were very similar. Seems that isn't so. I stand corrected, happily so :-)

Wells Fargo Slides as Low Rates Squeeze Third-Quarter Margins

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the most valuable U.S. bank and largest mortgage lender, dropped 4 percent in New York trading after reporting a record third-quarter profit that was marred by narrower profit margins.


The bank fell $1.42 to $33.76 at 9:31 a.m., the most since June, after posting a 22 percent rise in net income to $4.94 billion, or 88 cents a share, from $4.06 billion, or 72 cents, a year earlier, according to a statement from the San Francisco- based company. While record-low rates spurred homeowners to refinance, boosting the mortgage unit, that also led to less interest income on the bank’s loans and other investments.

USD Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 83.1 consensus 78.1 previous 78.3

Hopefully Toya has been able to bank her profit, or perhaps even let it run. Not exactly sure which way the DOW is heading now, despite my confidence yesterday. Very close to dropping through the uptrend in which case, watch out below. Although could be just a little spike-et to trick the hirsute animals.

Well the election machine is trying hard :- U.S. Stocks Rise as Consumer Confidence Tops Estimates

U.S. stocks rose, paring the biggest weekly drop in four months in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX), as an unexpected increase in a gauge of consumer confidence bolstered optimism in the economy.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. surged 7.3 percent after reporting sales higher than estimates. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) rose 0.3 percent after the biggest U.S. bank by assets posted third- quarter profit that beat estimates. Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) slipped 3.1 percent after reporting revenue that fell short of estimates. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) slid 9.5 percent after cutting its third-quarter revenue forecast.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.3 percent to 1,437.25 at 10:14 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.92 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,390.31.

The S&P 500 has lost 1.6 percent this week, heading for the biggest drop since June 1.
The benchmark equity gauge is still up 14 percent this year as companies reported better-than- expected earnings and the Federal Reserve announced a third round of bond purchases.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary October consumer sentiment index increased to 83.1 from 78.3 the prior month. The gauge was projected to fall to 78, according to the median forecast of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. A separate report showed wholesale prices in the U.S. rose more than forecast in September, reflecting a jump in fuel costs that failed to trickle down to other goods.