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

http://rt16.it-finance.com/FinSpreadsFlash/showimage.phtml?id=62f2348449082af6ed061e14692869500e82d9c6377095a79e91421a5d9519af&type=png

Testing upper resistance as the 30min chart shows, break below I think will come... fingers xxxxx...

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade Wednesday when the U.S. stock market reopens following Hurricane Sandy are Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC)--which reported quarterly results during the market's two-day weather shutdown--and Opnet Technologies Inc. (OPNT). Without the burden of a hefty Deepwater Horizon settlement charge, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) swung to a third-quarter profit on higher volumes of oil sales and increased activity in U.S. shale formations. Last year's quarter included $4 billion Anadarko agreed to pay to BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) for security against certain claims relating to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Anadarko owned a 25% stake in the blown-out well that was operated by BP. Shares were up 1.7% to $67.65 in light premarket trade. Riverbed Technology Inc. (RVBD) agreed Monday to buy Opnet Technologies Inc. (OPNT) for about $1 billion in cash and stock as the network-appliance maker looks to extend its network performance-management business into the multibillion-dollar application performance-management market. Riverbed shares fell 10% to $20.30 in premarket trade, while Opnet shares surged 29% to $41.40, approaching the $43 a share offer price. UBS AG (UBS, UBSN.VX) confirmed Tuesday that it will cut risk-weighted assets by around 100 billion Swiss francs ($107 billion) by the end of 2017, eliminate about 10,000 jobs across the bank and reorganize its investment bank to deliver more products and services to ultra-wealthy clients at the private bank. The bank also said Tuesday that charges related to the moves, which come in response to a tougher regulatory and economic climate, helped push it into the red in the third quarter. U.S.-listed shares were up 14% to $14.99 in premarket trade. Watchlist Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW) said Monday its profit plunged in the latest quarter, but pointed to signs that its strategy to broaden its appeal beyond hungry young men is starting to pay off. In its first full quarter of results since a new ownership group took it public, Burger King reported an 83% decline in earnings, mainly because of restructuring costs and unfavorable changes in foreign-exchange rates. But the burger chain also said same-store sales rose 1.4%, beating analysts' expectations. PG&E Corp. (PCG) executives said Monday that the company wants to settle allegations stemming from a deadly 2010 gas-line explosion near San Francisco. The executives made the comments as the utility holding company posted improved quarterly earnings. The company reported a third-quarter profit of $364 million, up 79% from a year-earlier period that was weighed down by costs from the explosion. The blast caused a fire that killed eight people, injured several others and destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes and other properties. Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, said late Friday that net profit fell 12% in the third quarter as higher domestic fuel prices failed to offset rising costs and continued heavy fuel imports. Net profits fell short of analysts' forecasts. Roma Financial Corp.'s (ROMA) board said it suspended the payment of quarterly dividends in light of proposed capital rules by the Federal Reserve that will affect the company's ability to pay dividends.

Thanks Skinny

Traders in USA using Bloomberg TV because data streams down - per...Bloomberg TV interview on trading floor. Any truth, or an advert for the station?

Several NYC datacentres were affected by Sandy and several Forex brokers lost their price feeds for a while so it's quite probable that there was an issue. But..... that all seemed to happen onwards of about 3am on Tuesday morning and it was fixed within 12 hours, so Bloomers are probably ramping their own station, what with Mikey being mayor of NYC and all.

Chicago PMI 49.9 consensus 51.0 previous 49.7

hilary - thanks.

U.S. Retail Sales Off 1.6% in First 4 Weeks of Oct vs. Sep

National chain-store sales fell 1.6% in the first four weeks of October from the same period in September, according to Redbook Research Inc.'s latest indicator, released Wednesday. The index's fall compares with a targeted 1.4% decline. The Johnson Redbook Index, an indicator of performance in U.S. retail sales, also showed that seasonally adjusted sales for the period were up 1.6% from the same period in 2011, compared with a 1.9% targeted gain. Redbook said stores were reporting improved sales for the latest week, supported by Halloween shopping and stocking up ahead of Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane helped certain retailers as customers made a run on food, water, batteries and other emergency supplies, ramping up business at stores which stock these kinds of staples. Discount stores were the main beneficiaries, and their sales ran mostly ahead of plan over the week. Sales for the week rose 1.8% year-over-year.

Thanks for all the info here guys! I decided to go short DOW from 13170 and will see what happens

Happy days shorting Wall St, nearly covered my Rockhopper long unrealised losses!!

http://rt16.it-finance.com/FinSpreadsFlash/showimage.phtml?id=f406b00fde457958585c240809d227e22fa51fb6633066e52d5f369639e11c60&type=png

Thats me out 13107, happy to bank a decent profit, skinny could you turn the above into a chart please.

Thankyou skinny, the 15 min chart above, green dotted lines show where I believe support to be, looking at the last 40 mins these lines are true. Anyway for those still in good luck and happy Halloween..!

Scott Forstall, one of the most visible faces of Apple in the wake of Steve Jobs' death, is leaving the company in a surprise shakeup at the head of Apple' ranks.

Forstall, a senior vice president in charge of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS, will act as an adviser to CEO Tim Cook until departing some time next year, according to a news release from the company.

As the man behind the system that ran Apple's industry-changing iPhone and iPad, Forstall had been considered a favorite to replace Jobs as CEO after Jobs' death last October. More recently, Apple observers pegged Forstall, 43, as the next in line behind Cook.

Along with marketing chief Phil Schiller and design guru Jonathan Ive, Forstall anchored the company's top tier of executives, frequently speaking at Apple's heralded product unveilings to showcase the ins and outs of operating-system upgrades.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/science_tech/scott-forstall-apple-aapl-shakeup-why-apple-vice-president-is-leaving-the-company#ixzz2AtRmzmvW

Well not the most sensible trade I've ever done, but I've closed @13,060 for +60.

I'm now tempted to go long - time for tea I think!

I've just closed at 13063, as well - I'm free to go out and play hurray!

Have fun - I'm off to the Indigo tonight to see Paul Carrack.

Profit is profit Skinny... I don't have the time to follow tonight, tommorrow is another day and albeit I'm sure safer bets will emerge. Telecoms over the pond set for a knock, looks like the bandwagon to be on, will have a look in the morning.

Verizon Communications Inc. Maybe a nice short.