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

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.

dow is being very tiresome and is certainly testing that 13,000 level and my patience! .... ah well, nothing goes down (or up) in a straight line as I often comment

I'll see my +50 finish Cynic.

(I think) :-)

IMF warns critical for EU to speed up reform

TOKYO | Sat Oct 13, 2012 8:00am BST

(Reuters) - World finance leaders expressed cautious optimism on Saturday that Europe is making progress towards containing its debt crisis but said it was critical for all advanced economies to step up the pace of policy reforms to rebuild confidence.

In a communique after two days of talks, members of the International Monetary Fund warned that global economic growth was decelerating and that substantial uncertainties and downside risks remained.

Got the +50 or so during the session, but couldn't hold on. Dow is at a decision point here, any further downside and I'm targetting 12500. I reckon Toya could be right to be in the bear camp. Its still contrary to all the QE thats going on, but trade whats happening.

Couple of little snippets I thought were of interest re QE:

1. Equities have suffered from the law of diminishing returns from stimulus measures. Having risen 80 percent after QE1, equities returned 29 percent post QE2 and just 17 percent following QE3, according to data from FTSE. - I've read this kind of statement in various places recently.

2. "Investors have been focusing on supportive central bank polices to the exclusion of other things," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St Louis. "Now with earnings season, we're seeing some of those other things come back into better balance and that's not as good news for the market."

These two statements pretty much sums up my reasoning for going short FTSE. I may be wrong of course, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time!

Taken profits this morning at 5800 and will sit tight for a while:

Reuters report:
'Euro zone sources told Reuters over the weekend that Spain could request a bailout in November and if it does, the request would likely be dealt with alongside a revised loan programme for Greece and a bailout for Cyprus in one big package. "We're finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel of the euro zone debt crisis, and this time it doesn't look like it's a train coming," said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities.

"But at the same time, U.S. earnings are quite gloomy, which makes people cautious at this point." '

Italy Retail 4-Year Bond Order Books Reach EUR600M at 9:00, on the first day. Situation is much better then..

USD Core Retail Sales m/m 1.1% consensus 0.6% previous 1.0%

USD Retail Sales m/m 1.1% consensus 0.7% previous 1.2%

All rather lack-lustre in the USA:

'Equities pared opening highs as investors stayed cautious about Europe. They were waiting for Spain to formally request a bailout, seen as a necessary step for dealing with the region's debt crisis.

"The market is in a wait-and-see approach, wanting resolution with Europe, and that's why even with positive results in earnings and data, you're still not seeing much follow-through," said Matt McCormick, a money manager at Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Inc...'

.

Cynic should be feeling a little happier with the DOW this morning

"After big declines last week we have strong Citi earnings and positive European news. In the short term it takes European stress out and allows markets to focus on earnings and the U.S. consumer," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. She said the sales data is encouraging as the retail-heavy fourth quarter gets under way.

GBP CPI y/y 2.2% consensus 2.2% previous 2.5%

GBP PPI Input m/m -0.2% consensus 0.0% previous 2.0%

GBP RPI y/y 2.6% consensus 2.6% previous 2.9%

German ZEW Economic Sentiment -11.5 consensus -14.6 previous -18.2

GS tops the estimate by about 20%.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/goldman-sachs-reports-third-quarter-113500002.html

Its share price may go down initially and then jump. Exactly like JPM and others


Both J&J and Coca cola beat expectations.

USD Core CPI m/m 0.1% consensus 0.2% previous 0.1%

USD CPI m/m 0.6% consensus 0.4% previous 0.6%

Insight: Spain bank rescue signals legal battle for duped savers

O Rosal, SPAIN | Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:21am BST

(Reuters) - Dressed in orange t-shirts and blowing horns, a group of factory workers, fishermen's wives and builders gather outside their savings bank in the small Spanish mountain village of O Rosal.

They have come to demand their money back, taping up posters that read: 'Tricked by the banks. Plundered by the government' in what has become a weekly protest.

"There are people on the edge of destitution. Their savings are all they have," says 60-year-old retired factory worker Argimiro Martinez, a customer of NovaGaliciaBank (NGB) since he was 7 years old and one of the protest organizers.

Interesting article Skinny! I expect there'll be quite a few protests on Thursday-Friday

meanwhile my dow position looking much healthier :-)

Thought you'd be a happy boy again today :)