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

"The fiscal cliff"? Bound to be a fudge of some kind before now and Jan so shouldn't worry to much IMHO, Not that I have a clue as to what that fudge will be I might add.

Apart from the Fiscal Cliff (which I agree will certainly be fudged somehow in the end) there is also the Middle East now to consider - and I wouldn't think today's Euroland strikes will inspire much confidence State-side either.

The price of oil has jumped today apparently and "is making markets jittery"...

a seriously nasty day ..... very glad i am not over-exposed (especially if it gets frosty!)
now let's see if shortie's 12540 is going to give decent support

on an approx opening level of 5685 (FTSE) who is taking a stand in either direction as to where it will close?

ditto for Dow - cash level currently 12595 which is +25 on last night's close

my guess is that both will be ahead purely because falls, like rises, can be too far and too fast, but i doubt i shall marry money with mouth

Tricky one. I've re-set a short FTSE at 5740, having closed it yesterday at 5700 :( I may end up editing that down though - it's now looking rather optimistic.

In the US, "all 200-day moving averages have now been breached". Not sure where I would set a short for the DOW - will have a think. But wherever you choose, I reckon we are in a downward trend and so would go short rather than long.

EUR French Prelim GDP q/q 0.2% consensus 0.0% previous -0.1%

EUR German Prelim GDP q/q 0.2% consensus 0.1% previous 0.3%

Thanks Skinny.

Interesting article on MarketWatch.com:
Sell uncertainty, buy the grand bargain

Ah good - I've managed to get it to open in a separate window!

indeed an interesting article .... shall try to follow the old adage of if in doubt, do nowt

Interesting link - thanks Toya :-

"As I wrote last week, a quick deal doesn’t seem likely, and if the two sound combative after their meeting Friday, the market is going to get punished again next week."

From Reuters:

'Adding to the selling pressure, Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave. Egypt said it recalled its ambassador from Israel in response. "We know Europe's in trouble, China's slowing down ... and now you've got the Middle East flaring up again. It's all hitting at once, and obviously, the market is taking a 'sell first, ask questions later' approach," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.'

I have no position on the DOW currently; might set a short at 12660. Not sure... On the basis that we're heading south, it is perhaps not all that critical, so long as there's enough margin to cover any short-term, upward swings. Would prefer to be short from the 12800+ level but probably a bit late for that!

if you feel the piercing of the support at about 12700 is just a brief aberration, then my inclination would be to wait to short until say 12875'ish on the basis of a (minor) resistance at 12900 .... however, if you are trading very short term and are glued to the screen, there's almost certainly money to be made in both directions

GBP Retail Sales m/m -0.8% consensus -0.1% previous 0.5%

http://rt8.it-finance.com/FinSpreadsFlash/showimage.phtml?id=2f0df238ec4c2fde26620fa981652f8d0f392af75155b25fdc43892c22170baa&type=png

Harami off support I think today... No time to trade as I've lost/misplaced my wedding ring....

? :-)

lol, remember taking it off last night at home but can't think for the life of me where I put it.....

surely your ring is an integral part of you

Keep an eye on Facebook today as the lock-in period preventing employees from selling shares comes to an end. The shares have halved from flotation levels already. This is one share I've done very well out of shorting off the IPO.

Thats what the Mrs says Cynic however I do remove it for anything that envolves getting my hands dirty or wet.