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

A gauge of consumer confidence dropped in January to the lowest level since November 2011 on lower expectations and gloomier views of the present situation, according to data released Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer-confidence index dropped to 58.6 in January, missing analysts' estimates of 64.3.

Ah - snap Skinny!

Markets still seem determined to keep moving on up!

Je ne comprends pas!

Pas mois :(

When the market doesn't fall during a down-cycle, more often than not it explodes as soon as the cycle turns to an up-cycle once again. And vice versa.

The yen crosses are still in the down-cycle which started over Sunday night and Monday morning. Prices look to me like they've still got further to fall, but not by a lot and this down-leg is starting to look a bit exhausted. You could easily see the start of the next up-leg within 24 hours or so and, if that happens, I suspect equity markets may go into orbit as soon as the risk switch is turned back on.

Interesting to look at it from that perspective Hilary - thanks

USDJPY 1-hour to demonstrate what I mean above.



I'll be surprised if the price doesn't hit the lower red band within the next 24 hours. Once that lower indi turns up, it'll be time to fillyajimmychooshoes.

Sterling and euro yen crosses both mirror the greenback chart.

Just a few more points will see me walking with Bullies Beer Tokens.

Hils, I see you still favour the Jimmys

Prefer Aruna Seth actually, P. But (a) nobody's ever heard of her and (b) it doesn't have the same kinda ring to it. :)

I'm still looking for 6,400 sooner rather than later.

Bernanke Seen Buying $1.14 Trillion in Assets in 2014

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s latest round of bond buying will reach $1.14 trillion before he ends the program in the first quarter of 2014, according to median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

A few hours old...

Japan govt approves $1.02 trillion budget for 2013/14 amid fiscal worries

TOKYO | Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:54am GMT
(Reuters) - Japan's government approved on Tuesday a $1.02 trillion (649.22 billion pounds) draft budget for the next fiscal year that aims to nudge tax revenues above new bond sales for the first time in four years, but still relies on borrowing to cover 46.3 percent of its spending.

The first full-year draft budget compiled under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who led his Liberal Democratic Party back to power last month with promises of economic revival, marks symbolic improvement after years of deterioration.

FTSE approaching resistance, but in the words of 7 of 9....

Cant sit on my hands any more - in with a modest short on the FTSE at 6330,SL at 6350

Take a breath FFS!

FFS.....Is that the ticker for a particular banana supplier? ;o)

What is driving this ?

Well just as well my FTSE short didn't go through as I never expected such a surge!
The market must believe that things are getting rosy or maybe they bought a lorry load of rose tinted specs!
With today's movement I can honestly say I haven't a clue in working out whether the FTSE will continue up or crash down. I think I'll stay clear for now.
TT

From what I can gather, 'there is nowhere else for the funds to go' when compared with alternatives like bonds:

From Marketwatch.com:
'For many investing pros and their clients, the current environment—a seemingly improving economy and an unusually risky bond market—has forced them to rethink what has long been an Investing 101 strategy. Because bond yields remain at historic lows—the 10-year Treasury pays 1.84%, which is less than inflation’s current 2% rate—many worry any pickup in interest rates could send bond prices plummeting (bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions). As a result, they are keeping their stockholdings at an elevated allocation.'

watch the volume.

But it still feels massively overbought too quickly - any way I survived that surge to 3350(just) - lets hope it drops now (being entirely selfish)