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

cynic - the NMX3720 is still on the up.

U.S. stock futures were revved for a higher start on Thursday, with "fiscal-cliff" optimism from the prior day spilling over, triggering global market gains as well. On the data front, investors will get weekly jobless claims, gross domestic product and pending home sales data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70 points, or 0.5%, to 13,027, while futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8 points, or 0.6%, to 1,415.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 19.75 points, or 0.7%, to 2,680.25. David Thebault, Paris-based head of quantitative sales trading at Global Equities, in emailed remarks, said markets are starting to understand the issue of the U.S.'s so-called fiscal cliff, the combination of sharp spending cuts and tax increases set to take place at the beginning of next year, could be manageable. "On the other hand, the U.S. fiscal cliff could have an impact on the economy of around 3% of GDP, but we can totally trust the U.S. government to manage this situation and find the best solution with the lowest impact possible on the economy and for the population," Mr. Thebault said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed a more than 100-point slide to finish 106.98 points higher, or 0.8%, at 12,985.11 on Wednesday after Speaker of the House John Boehner and President Barack Obama each made optimistic comments about reaching a deal over the U.S. budget. Mr. Obama also said he hoped to get a deal done by Christmas. Deal talks are expected to continue Thursday, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner expected to meet with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and others. Economic data for Thursday include weekly jobless claims and third-quarter gross domestic product, both at 8:30 a.m. EST. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect claims fell by 20,000 to 390,000 in the week ended Nov. 24. Those claims shot up a few weeks ago after superstorm Sandy and economists have been discounting the data until those effects fade, though it's unclear how long that could take. GDP, meanwhile, is forecast to have risen 2.8% from July to September, up from an initial estimate of 2%, according to economists surveyed. Also, at 10 a.m. EST, the National Association of Realtors will issue October pending home sales. Some investment banks started rolling out forecasts for the coming year. Goldman Sachs said Thursday that it's targeting 1,575 for the S&P 500 for 2013. Goldman also expects the fiscal cliff issue to be resolved. Within corporate news, retailers will be out in front with many due to report same-store sales results for November, including Gap Inc. (GPS), Target Stores Inc. (TGT) and Kohl's Corp. (KSS). Overseas, fiscal-cliff optimism spread to Europe, where the Stoxx Europe 600 index jumped close to 1%. In Asia, gains were broad-based as well and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index snapped a three-day losing streak to close up 1%. Oil futures for January delivery jumped 83 cents, or nearly 1%, to $87.32 a barrel and gold for December delivery rose $7 to $1,723.50 an ounce. The dollar pulled back as investor appetite grew for riskier assets.

Looks like I should close that short then Shortie!

thanks, but what's the NMX when it's at home? .... only just back from NL so still unscrambling all the usual accumulated garbage

Well doesn't sound good does it Toya, think I'll hold on for now though as I very much doubt any real progress on the Fiscal Cliff was made yesterday. Hot air without substance I think....

Its the index we discussed a few weeks ago with a view to having a foot in the house builders.

Household Goods & Home Construction constituents

Only a permanent fix to the United States' fiscal cliff can provide the necessary confidence to businesses to create jobs and thus boost economic growth, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said Thursday. "If we are to come up with a temporary fix, then I seriously doubt that even though we will have relief, any business woman or business man will change their employment or capital expenditure" plans, said the central banker in introductory remarks at a university in Frankfurt. The U.S. is facing a set of both tax rises and spending cuts that are due to come into effect next year. The combination is known as the "fiscal cliff" because it threatens to send the country's economic growth tumbling. Mr. Fisher also said that at present inflation "is not an issue" in the U.S., but that the "excessive" number of those both under- and unemployed is. The central banker started his speech by drawing reference to the recent 90th anniversary of the then German central bank's decision to devalue its currency, which paved the way for epic hyper inflation and helped to send the "great country into penury and political hell," Mr. Fisher said. While he said he didn't think the U.S. was headed in that direction, he said "no central banker should ever forget" the decision. However, "I do not believe that inflation or hyper inflation will be the inevitable consequence" of a rising Fed balance sheet, he added. Mr. Fisher said he believes the Fed should return to one mandate--implicitly meaning price stability--rather than having employment as a mandate as well. The Dallas Fed president is one of the more hawkish members of the Federal Open Market Committee. Although he is not currently a voting member, he has been on a crusade against apparent fiscal profligacy in Congress and promoting the economic virtues of Texas. In a recent speech in California, Mr. Fisher said Congress had acted "disgracefully" on fiscal issues. He also said Texas was the "indisputable leader in job creation" in the U.S. and also "the antithesis of the welfare state."

I closed my short for now - will wait and see what happens. Can't risk another see-saw like yesterday if I can't be at my screen!

Totally agree a lot of hot air - but that seems to be all it takes these days, to propel the markets. Are they just a lot of hot-heads??

skinny - where is the next resistance on the HG&HC index? .... i'm running a nice profit there and am tempted to bank it, but could be persuaded otherwise

Arguably its over bought - but I thought that at the end of October.

Perhaps Shortie can oblige with some 'lines'.

USD Prelim GDP q/q 2.7% consensus 2.8% previous 2.0%

USD Unemployment Claims 393K consensus 392K previous 410K

CAD RMPI m/m 0.0% consensus -0.4% previous 1.3%

CAD IPPI m/m -0.1% consensus 0.0% previous 0.5%

Best I can do is off a DEC future, MAR not enough data. Short term support sits at 8041 followed by 7663. Channel trend plotted and looking to test upper resistance, I would be careful though as RSI indicates over bought. I'd hazzard a guess this will likely trade sideways with an increased chance of a fall to 8041 to test short term support. Note upper bandwidth also currently been tested.

At the end of Oct Skinny yes it was overbought and look what happened, I'd probally sell await a pull back and a buy signal before getting back in, looks consistant trading the channel so far.

Thanks Shortie.

Not a problem Skinny, after all the help you've given me my pleasure.

Cynic, this indicie isn't one I follow or trade so you've probally got a better idea of pull/push factors than I do. I can only offer my own technical view.

i was persuaded there by skinny a few months back, and by and large i have done well from it ..... perhaps time to bank a good profit and watch once more

I have just upped the SL on my Ftse long to 5800 thereby guaranteeing a small profit - but happy to let it run with a target of 6200 early next year. \So I am looking long term rather than trading as I always seem to get the short term trends wrong. I have taken my trailing SL off

You must be well in the money with that long of yours bhunt!

USD Pending Home Sales m/m 5.2% consensus 0.9% previous 0.3%

Nice to see someone raking the money in bhunt.