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

More data due at 15:00

USD Philly Fed Manufacturing Index 5.7 consensus 1.3 previous -1.9

No wonder the DOW had a little surge!

long sp at 1456..dow looks more not in back foot as yesterday so together may challenge 1463's

got out 1464..enough..:)

8 points????????? ...... even at £100 pp it's barely worth the effort

GOOG ...... mega ouch!! ...... dreadful numbers just announced

Announced or rumoured?

GOOG trading halted at -9%

announced ..... here's some of it

Third-quarter earnings came in at $9.03 per share on $11.33 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for Google to earn $10.65 a share on $11.862 billion in revenue for the third quarter, up from $9.72 a share on $7.51 billion in sales in the year-ago quarter.

Thanks Cynic

I am sure this will somehow be turned into a positive to fuel the rise!!!!

.

fortunately (i think) i reacted very quickly and sold (ouch, ouch, ouch) but dithered a bit and could not get a short position placed before suspension ..... there is going to be a HUGE row and death by a 1000 cuts for whoever released the figures early

i was quite chirpy a few minutes beforehand, as i noticed 3 brokers had just upgraded their view on the company .... just shows what they know too!

ah well, live to fight another day, but it really is very tiresome ..... serves me right for being aggressive with the wroin stock

Cynic,
Have you closed your short?

Lucky for you Cynic, that GOOG announced their figures early, while you were around to react! Just think: you might have turned blissfully to relaxing on the sofa with one of your Good Wines, oblivious of the carnage to your bank balance had they published after the bell.

cynic , 8 points on sp500 for 1 hour... or anywhere..worth anything.. even at yours 100pp.. why didnt you get that yet.... :))

funnily - well not really - enough, if i hadn't been around i would not have sold so low ..... and thank goodness i never placed that short either! .... anyway, i'm actually very glad i closed when i did, even if i took a thumping

Ahem!.... being a novice when it comes to s/b & cfd's, I rely entirely on learned gurus who have written volumes on the discipline of frequent trading, but what happened to your stops?

he never did know when to stop harry.,. hope you didn't get too burnt cyners, a 100$ drop is a bit frightening.,.

a rare instance of premature filing

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:01am BST

(Reuters) - Google Inc's quarterly results fell well short of Wall Street's expectations after its core advertising business slowed, stunning investors accustomed to consistently rapid growth from the Internet giant and wiping more than 9 percent off its market value.

The disappointing numbers on Thursday came hours ahead of schedule in a rare instance of premature filing. Google blamed the misfire on an unauthorized filing by its financial printers, RR Donnelley & Sons Co, and later confirmed the numbers' accuracy.

Microsoft profit slips as PCs fizzle; Windows 8 awaited

SEATTLE | Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:00am BST

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's quarterly profit fell a greater-than-expected 22 percent, as sales of computers running its Windows operating system dipped and some revenue was deferred ahead of upcoming releases of its core Windows and Office products.

The sharp decline surprised investors, who had underestimated the effect of weak personal computer sales, sending Microsoft's shares down 1.3 percent in after-hours trading.