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

It looks like the DOW is heading for a positive finish now Cynic - so you'll be in profit again in any case

GBP Public Sector Net Borrowing 6.5B consensus 4.1B previous 9.9B

USD Unemployment Claims 410k consensus 415K previous 439K

USD Flash Manufacturing PMI 52.4 consensus 51.2 previous 51.0

USD Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment 82.7 consensus 84.3 previous 84.9

Quiet here today, Skinny.

It certainly is.

Slow markets, the Yen currently has my attention.

The world grinds to a halt when the US goes on holiday: Thanksgiving tomorrow

Yes and shortened trading day on Friday.

I'd have got it all wrong today if I'd been trading - wouldn't have expected the FTSE to climb to current level today

I was tempted to short HP earlier, but it now appears to be rising.

Any views on the DOW, RSI ticking up.

I reckon HP got such a whacking yesterday that it will likely drift up today - not that I trade individual US shares; just an observation.

As for the DOW... I get it wrong about as often as right. Today I would have thought it wouldn't travel very far, with the big holiday tomorrow - fwiw

I think the pub maybe the better option this evening!

Definitely Skinny! I'm off to Zumba first though

is that some tribal african dance?

French Flash Manufacturing PMI 44.7 consensus 44.1 previous 43.7

French Flash Services PMI 46.1 consensus 45.3 previous 44.6

From Reuters:

'European shares advanced for a fourth straight session to touch a one-week high on Thursday, with encouraging data from China, showing further signs of recovery in the world's second-biggest economy, boosting sentiment.

'The China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, which largely reflects the private manufacturing sector, hit a 13-month high of 50.4 in November. It followed data on Wednesday showing U.S. manufacturing picked up at its quickest pace in five months in November. "There have been a lot of concerns regarding the outlook for global growth. In this context, any improvement in Chinese data is welcome, given that investors are still risk averse, which is reflected in valuations," Robert Parkes, equity strategist, HSBC Securities.'

German Flash Manufacturing PMI 46.8 consensus 45.9 previous 46.0

German Flash Services PMI 48.0 consensus 48.5 previous 48.4