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

I thought a triple top or bottom, was a potential reversal sign?

There was a similar pattern in the 1st half of 2011 - It was discussed on this thread I believe.

Ah right - thanks Skinny. That makes a lot of sense to me!

I'll have a look back at 2011 as well

Have a look here starting at post 6011 - obviously the chart is current and of course it could all be wrong!

Bear in mind that latest polls suggest the LDP are heading for a comfortable victory on Sunday and the Japs are likely to be very quantitatively eased. That money's gonna be looking for a home....

Yep - as ever - interesting times!

Not overbought on RSI and MACD looks like there could be a wee bit more mileage left yet. WTFDIK, no position either way. :O)

Eerily consistent volume over the period :-)

Thanks guys :0)

Chris - look at the RSI back in 2011 @the 3rd top.

Approaching strong resistance 5990 if it gets that high, 5912 resistance currently still in play, still short from yesterday and looking to add to my position today at around 5945.

Thanks skinny, klal spot on so far 1st resistance 5939 not breached yet.

Chris - yes I saw that.

Caveat is I'm just making an observation.

:O) skinny, mine as always is what are those crazy yanks gonna do?

A bit late :- GBP 10-y Bond Auction 1.80|1.7 previous 1.82|1.9

CAD Trade Balance -0.2B consensus -1.2B previous -0.8B

USD Trade Balance -42.2b consensus -42.7B previous -41.5B

I just heard this analogy for the fiscal cliff - well it made me smile.

Lovely - thanks Skinny!

Comex Feb gold down 0.2% at $1,710.90/troy oz --Caution ahead of FOMC decision keeps gold under pressure --Support from weaker dollar keeps losses in check By Tatyana Shumsky NEW YORK--Gold prices edged lower as investors weighed concerns about the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting against the support of a weaker dollar. The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, was recently down $3.50, or 0.2%, at $1,710.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Federal Open Market Committee commenced its two-day meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the final policy-setting meeting for the year. The central bank's commitment to keeping interest rates low and add liquidity into the financial system through purchases of government debt catapulted gold prices to record highs last year, and have kept the market supported in recent months. Some investors were worried that easy money policies will trigger higher inflation down the road and flocked to hard assets like gold and silver in order to guard their wealth against such risks. Precious metals tend to keep their value better than other assets during times of high inflation. Ahead of the FOMC decision, gold traders have been speculating about the future of the soon to expire 'Operation Twist', which involves selling short-dated treasurys to purchase longer-dated treasury bonds. Standard Bank's commodity strategist Marc Ground said he expects that the central bank will turn Operation Twist into "an open-ended commitment of $45 billion a month in outright bond purchases," in a note to clients. "As anticipated, we are in for a bumpy ride towards Wednesday's FOMC announcement," Mr. Ground said. Andrey Kryuchenkov, commodities analyst with VTB Capital, said that while the recent spate of better-than-expected U.S. employment data "does not change a thing for the Fed in the short run" it will make the bank's job more difficult in the longer run, leading market participants to "question the longevity of monetary easing in the U.S." A weaker dollar offset some of the pressure on gold prices. The greenback slipped against a trade weighted basket of currencies, with the ICE Dollar Index falling to 80.080 recently, from 80.335 earlier. Dollar-denominated gold futures appear cheaper to buyers using foreign currencies when the dollar weakens.

BOE's Cohrs: Unclear Whether Basel III Will Be Implemented

ECB WATCH: Pressure for Rate Cut Suggests Bank Is Clutching at Straws

By Geoffrey T. Smith and Christopher Lawton LONDON--It's a sign of how desperate things have become in the euro zone when the central bank is considering cutting interest rates, even though many of its top management don't think it would have any effect on the economy. For the first time in months, the European Central Bank is split over deciding the appropriate level of interest rates, with what appears to be a significant minority of the 23-strong governing council in favor of cutting them from levels that are already the lowest in the euro's 13-year history. President Mario Draghi admitted last week's decision on rates had only been taken "by consensus" and even then only after a "wide discussion." The arguments for more stimulus are self-evident: the ECB had just slashed its central growth forecast for 2013 to a miserable -0.3%, and its inflation forecast to 1.6%, well within its comfort range. And at present, the traditional channel of interest rates is perhaps the only possible way to provide stimulus: the ECB has tied its own hands regarding unconventional measures, by making its purchases of government bonds contingent on requests for aid--requests that governments in Spain and Italy don't want to make. But that breaks with recent ECB doctrine, which has been: the monetary transmission channel is broken; there is no point in cutting rates because banks won't pass on the benefits to companies and households. Optimists say the fact that some council members want to cut again is proof the transmission mechanism is healing: Italian 10-year borrowing rates are now "only" 3.4 percentage points above Germany's, having peaked at 5.46 percentage points above the German benchmark in July. In Spain, the premium has fallen to 4.15 percentage points from 6.40. Italy and Spain are the euro zone's third- and fourth-largest economies, accounting for nearly 30% of its total output. And whereas Mr. Draghi complained about the fragmentation of the euro zone's credit market five times at November's press conference, the word didn't pass his lips once last Thursday. But although the markets are giving brighter signals, the economy isn't reacting to them yet. The price of loans is falling slowly, but credit is still shrinking. In October, loans to the private sector in the euro zone were down 0.7% year-on-year. In Italy and Spain, it was down 0.9% and 4.9%. The only certain outcome from cutting rates would therefore be reducing the cost of the 1.35 trillion euros ($1.74 trillion) in banks' loans from the Eurosystem, restoring operating margins and generating profits that would offset losses suffered elsewhere in banks' balance sheets. Spain's banks had EUR367 billion in ECB loans outstanding in October. If they were to pay 0.50% interest on them, rather than the current 0.75%, they would net EUR900 million extra a year, other things being equal. However, the ECB has said time and again that repairing the balance sheets of euro-zone banks is a task for governments not for Frankfurt. If a cut in the refinancing rate would primarily affect banks dependent on the ECB for funds, those in Germany, which now have vast excess liquidity after repatriating many of the funds they had previously invested elsewhere in the euro zone, would be more affected by a cut in the ECB's deposit rate, currently at 0%. German banks had well over EUR300 billion in excess reserves at the ECB at the end of October. By cutting the deposit rate below zero--effectively making banks pay a penalty for hoarding reserves--the ECB could squeeze some of that liquidity back into the interbank market, restoring credit flows across the euro zone's internal borders. At Thursday's press conference, Mr. Draghi said the central bank was "operationally ready" for a negative deposit rate, but private-sector economists such as Berenberg Bank's Holger Schmieding think it probably wouldn't help much. "It's largely futile trying to force banks to lend money to each other," Mr. Schmieding said. "If banks are afraid their money won't be paid back by Spanish banks, then [losing] 25 basis-points will not convince them to lend." Officials at major French and German banks have already indicated they would rather repay excess liquidity to the ECB than take on new credit risks with the ultra-cheap funding they have taken from it this year. The alternative would be to sell those excess euros for foreign currency in search of better returns elsewhere. That would depress the exchange rate and stimulate an export-led recovery. Julian Callow, chief international economist with Barclays in London, said the deposit rate is the key to the current debate because it sets a floor to money market rates. In an environment where market pressure on interest rates is downward, it is the floor that matters. But Mr. Callow warns that a negative deposit rate could undermine confidence in the euro itself, whereas for the last three years policy-makers--especially at the ECB--have preferred to argue that the crisis only pertains to a few specific sovereigns and banks. "The euro is still a new currency, and it's a currency where sentiment has not been positive over the past year," he warned. "What message does that send to users of the currency across the euro zone?" Mr. Callow believes ECB will lower the main policy rate during the first quarter of 2013, but leave the deposit rate at 0%.