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

Morning All - Skinny: no, I don't tend to suffer hangover; I think over the years (decades?) I've learned that it spoils the night before!

Bhunt: thanks for your b'day wishes :) Your Long should be nicely in profit.

I wonder what today will bring?? Need some coffee to think

Nationwide HPI m/m 0.0% consensus 0.2% previous 0.6%

for myself, closed long dow at 12977 last night as i already had limit in place at 12990 and was not convinced 13000 would be breached ..... however, i see cassh dow is 13006 this morning

It's all about the Fiscal Cliff and whatever comments are made by the various politicians - and I think that will influence all the indices from now until the end of the year.

As it's so unpredictable - as Skinny's chart above so clearly illustrates - I'm not sure I dare set up a position on the DOW unless I can sit and watch

Re the Fiscal Cliff:

"The default assumption appears to be that a deal will be reached before the year-end deadline," Ian Williams, equity strategist at Peel Hunt, said.

Williams, however, cautioned that there could still be many bumps in the road before an agreement is reached, laying the foundations for a potentially choppy final month of the year.

"Investors would be well advised to treat the smoke signals from the ongoing fiscal negotiations in Washington with a degree of caution; they are only increasing the volatility in markets, which are already vulnerable to low-volume moves," he said.

5,900 anytime soon?

just gone long ftse following break above 5820 and contemplating a new dow long too

Now not being selfish but an 5850 finish at 4.30pm friday would a great pre xmas treat for me........ Toya, happy birthday as I wasn't about yesterday.,.

German Unemployment Change 5k consensus 15K previous 20K

Thanks BB :)

I think when the FTSE hits 5900 I'll be shorting it. I don't currently have a position here

Happy Birthday for yesterday Toya! Small long gold and brent. 2 nights down 1 to go bo bose time zzzzzzzzzzz :O)

Short @5,851.

Add 9 to that Bb.lol

Merv the swerve speaks @10:30.

Morning all

Thanks Chris :)

And thanks for reminding us re 10:30 Skinny - Merve usually has something depressing to say...

Meanwhile, I found this:
The Euro STOXX 50 Volatility Index < .V2TX>, or VSTOXX, Europe's widely-used measure of investor risk aversion, hit a 5-year low on Thursday morning, a strong signal of investors' growing appetite for equities.

The VSTOXX, which measures the cost to protect stock holdings against potential pull-backs as it usually moves in an opposite direction to equities, was down 1.3 percent at 17.04, a level not seen since December 2007, at the very beginning of the financial crisis.

Italian 10-y Bond Auction 4.45|1.2 previous 4.81|1.5

U.K. consumers were much less pessimistic in November than a month earlier despite gloomy economic news and growing fears over next week's fall budget statement, a survey showed Thursday. The European Commission's monthly sentiment index reported that U.K. consumer confidence improved to -14.1 in November. The reading is the least negative level seen in over a year and compares with -21.6 in October. The survey provides no details regarding what drove the improvement but it is likely to be met with some surprise as it comes amid a raft of increasingly weak economic indicators, including rising consumer price inflation, and ahead of what could be another tough budget statement from U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, on Dec. 5. Other details of the EC's survey show retailers and the services sector were also significantly more upbeat in November compared with a month earlier. Only the industrial sector posted a fall while confidence among construction firms also improved over the period. These factors led the overall Economic Sentiment Index to rise to its highest level in over a year of 100.2 in November from October's 97.1.

Bank lending to households and businesses shrank in October, according to Bank of England data used to judge the progress of a new program to boost credit. The BOE and the U.K. treasury set up the Funding for Lending Scheme, or FLS, earlier this year in an effort to clear a logjam in the supply of loans. Banks that dish out more loans get access to cheap central bank funds. Outstanding loans to households and non-financial businesses from U.K. banks and building societies shrank 701 million pounds in October, after expanding GBP1.1 billion in September, according to one measure of lending used to gauge the effect of the FLS published by the central bank Thursday. BOE officials have said it will take time for the scheme to begin having an effect on lending, and remain upbeat about its prospects. A narrower measure of lending to non-financial firms, also published Thursday, recorded an increase of GBP598 million in October, the largest monthly rise since November 2011. Mortgage approvals also rose this month, BOE data published Wednesday showed. The U.K. money supply expanded in October but at a slower pace than the previous month, according to a separate BOE report. The BOE's preferred measure of broad money, which excludes money moving around within the financial system, expanded at a three-month annualized rate of 5.4%, compared with a rate of 7.5% in September. Households' money holdings increases in October, data showed. Some economists say a rise in household money holdings may foreshadow a pickup in consumer spending. Corporate sector money holdings also rose.

UK Oct M4 Ex OFCs +GBP6.8 Bln, +5.4% 3 Mos Annualized

UK Oct M4 Lending to PNFCs +GBP0.6 B Vs -GBP0.6 B Sep

UK Oct All Currency Loans To Businesses +GBP0.1 Bln

UK Oct Lending -GBP701 Mln On FLS Measure

The mood among euro-zone businesses improved in November, suggesting that companies may be willing to invest, a factor that could be crucial in limiting the current economic downturn. Figures from the European Commission Thursday showed confidence rose among industrial firms and retailers in the 17 nations that use the euro, pushing the economic sentiment indicator to a three-month high of 85.7 in November from 84.3 in October. The ESI includes businesses and consumers alike. The rise in November--which was driven by an improvement in the euro zone's biggest economy, Germany--came despite a fall in optimism among construction companies and households across the bloc as a whole. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires last week had expected confidence to fall to a reading of 84.2. The improvement in business sentiment offers hope that companies won't shelve investment plans in great numbers despite the region being in a shallow recession. Many economists say that business investment will be a core factor for the euro zone to make a sustained economic recovery, given that governments and consumers are both reining in spending to curb their debts. The euro-zone economy is in recession, based on a common definition, after it suffered two straight quarters of modestly falling output between April and September. The commission's figures showed households became more pessimistic in November. The consumer confidence reading fell to -26.9 from -25.7, confirming an earlier estimate.

Quote of the day...

BOE Tucker: Bankers Must Be Prudent, "True To Their Profession"