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

We speak the same language then Cynic..

On pure logic and charts, I entirely agree with you. However, I also feel that current politics could influence the markets quite strongly:

"Strategists said upside for equities remains limited after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told a cabinet meeting that the Israeli forces were prepared to significantly expand the offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip... Europe’s debt crisis could also move back to the fore, strategists warned, as euro-zone finance ministers prepare to meet Tuesday in another effort to bridge differences over how to achieve a sustainable debt path for Greece."

Also there's the US fiscal-cliff, debt ceiling, potential credit rating downgrade, look at what happened last year after the debt ceiling was raised and the S&P cut the US rating. Further QE, it's long due a knock on USD strength.

FTSE clearly is heading higher...

Paragon finals tomorrow, going long I think, they've recently increased and extended their warehouse facility and look set to outperform expectation. With estimated full year profits of £72m I think they should be trading on a PE of 12 which would support a 287p sp.

249.27 Paragon Group Mar 13 Spread Bought.

USD Existing Home Sales 4.79m consensus 4.76M previous 4.75M

USD NAHB Housing Market Index 46 consensus 41 previous 41

FTSE hindsight should have gone long as per my posts this morning. I don't like betting against the trend though.... Hhhmmm...

shortie - i recollect that 12740 was an alleged dow support .... that being so, you may like to consider shorting now it has reached that level

i shall consider and, on the basis that dow will retrench a little, shall almost certainly shut long ftse which has done me proud today - we'll draw a veil over the last week's performance!

AAPL off and running +5%.

i know :-) but a lot of ground to make up as far as i am concerned ..... still that is in the past, so one starts again

Well, I missed a great opportunity on the FTSE and Dow today - never thought we'd shoot up quite so high so fast! Ah well... another day beckons

if dow holds current levels (>12640), then perhaps worth another long ftse for the morning, but be careful of o'night spikes

I take it that you mean > 12,740?

Bulls, not bears, go into hibernation

LONDON | Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:35pm GMT

(Reuters) - The longest losing streak on world markets since the darkest days of the euro crisis in late 2011 shows how reluctant investors are to trust in any sustained recovery after years of crisis.

Global equity indices on Friday flirted with a record eight consecutive days in the red for the first time in a year. Do a sweep of all related risky assets around the world and there's been a similar pattern of pullback.

Interesting article Skinny - pretty much sums things up!

skinny - 19 Nov 2012 17:16 - 9669 of 9675

AAPL off and running +5%.

---

Performing better than the HDMI port on a Mac Mini; hopefully the Intel CEO will take his duff product - HD 4000 - with him. It's a stretch to believe Apple didn't know - problems re PCs with the chip/set have been known since June/before. Still, it's not the high volume iPhone and iPad.

Cheers,
KidA

HP Might be worth watching this afternoon.

H-P posts loss on Autonomy charge

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $6.85 billion, or $3.49 a share, compared with a profit of $239 million, or 12 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $29.96 billion, down from $32.12 billion. Adjusted profit was $1.16 a share. The company’s results included an $8.8 billion asset impairment charge related to H-P’s Autonomy business. Analysts were expecting the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company to report adjusted earnings of $1.14 a share, on revenue of $30.44 billion, according to a consensus survey of analysts by FactSet. H-P shares were down 7% in pre-market trades.

USD Building Permits 0.87m consensus 0.87M previous 0.89M

USD Housing Starts 0.89M consensus 0.84M previous 0.87M

Redbook: U.S. Retail Sales Flat in First 3 Weeks of Nov. Vs Oct.

National chain store sales were flat in the first three weeks of November from October, according to Redbook Research's latest indicator, released Tuesday. The index's reading compared with a targeted 0.7% gain. The Johnson Redbook Index also showed seasonally adjusted sales for the period were up 1.4% from last year, compared with a 2.1% targeted gain. Redbook said pre-Thanksgiving week staples, such as food, and special promotions drew in customers, but shoppers were holding off for the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday deep promotions. Sales for the week rose 1.8% year-over-year.