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

lol bm

lol ditto that! - have a good one

Quantitative easing by the Bank of England: printing more money wont work this time



Inflation, not deflation, is the problem for the United Kingdom and the Bank of England will make it worse.

whatever ..... now look for 5390/5400 - cash is currently 5320 ..... if that is broken with impetus, then BUY

gibby, look at the BARC thread. That just happens to be BM's missus, so you might want to re-evaluate! Lovely lady with an all-over suntan....drives a BMW X5....and isn't very tolerant of critics! ;o)

.

Confused now (no change there then) the only message that Merv the swerv has delivered is were totally Fxxxxd! More QE may work, we don't know but lets give it a shot anyway, surely Mr Market will see through this so how far can this rally really go? Fine for me cause it's easy money, pick a stock, golf season is over so can day trade more, just feel it will all end in tears :O) skinny post a pic of Gillian Duxbury mate :O)

Having browsed this fun thread earlier today it is interesting to see how the odd post changes during the day.

Martini - you noticed as well :-)

PRE-OPEN REPORT: Headline shares are tipped to open thirty-two to thirty-eight points higher

well well.

hc 7126 - LOL and apologies to BM!! :-)

Ironically, one of the companys (Moodys) that could be considered responsible for the sub prime fiasco has now downgraded amongst others RBS & Lloyds. Arguably, had Moodys and S&P not bestowed triple AAA ratings on billions of $$$s worth of sub prime trash we wouldn't be where we are today!

Horse bolted, stable door springs to mind.

bm another for you.... :-)

good news.... watch the banks even closer if poss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

October 07, 2011 11:21 AM Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Credit Swaps Fall on Europe Optimism
Story tools
The cost to protect the debt of Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. declined as optimism grew that Europe's leaders may be able to prevent a sovereign debt crisis from infecting bank balance sheets.

Credit-default swaps on the owner of the world's biggest retail brokerage fell 56 basis points to 474 and those on Citigroup 45 basis points to 300, the biggest one-day decline since May 2009, according to data provider CMA. Swaps on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. eased 23 basis points to 374, the data show.

Investor confidence in bank debt is rebounding as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB will resume covered-bond purchases and reintroduce year-long loans for banks. The European Commission is pushing for a coordinated capital injection for banks to shield them from the fallout of a potential Greek default.

This is a rally off the bottom that reflects a greater degree of confidence that there will be a constructive solution for the banks in Europe, said Allerton Smith, senior director of the capital markets research group at Moody's Corp. For Morgan Stanley, whose default swap levels surged as high as 650 basis points on Oct. 4, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group, market participants have come to the conclusion that the extra wide spread levels were an overreaction to some half- baked facts, Smith said.

Contracts on Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. declined 52 basis points to 399, according to CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market. That's the biggest one-day drop on record on a closing basis, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that goes back to 2004. Contracts on General Electric Capital Corp., the financing arm of General Electric Co., fell 31 basis points to 302.

The average credit-default swap on the six biggest U.S. banks had climbed for five trading days through Oct. 4 as concern intensified that Europe's debt crisis will contaminate the global banking system and halt already slowing U.S. economic growth.

Index Falls

The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, declined 5.8 basis points to a mid-price of 139.3 as of 5:01 p.m. in New York, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd. The index, which typically falls as investor confidence improves and rises as it deteriorates, reached as high as 154.1 on Oct. 4.

Bonds of New York-based Morgan Stanley have dropped since August and the cost to protect its debt has surged amid concern that sovereign defaults would spread to U.S. banks.

Both capital and liquidity nearly doubled from pre-crisis levels and should be sufficient to manage through current market conditions, CreditSights analysts led by David Hendler in New York wrote in a report yesterday. The market reaction was mainly due to undue perceptions of its exposure to European sovereigns and banks, they wrote.

Credit swaps pay the buyer face value if a borrower fails to meet its obligations, less the value of the defaulted debt. A basis point equals $1,000 annually on a contract protecting $10 million of debt.

Payrolls +103k V 60k consensus.

How come DOW futures are still in negative territory then?

they're not

Harry ? the DOW 11,213 - 11,218 on cmc

Cheers guys. CNN behind with info again.
Must change that in my favourites menu.