Gold
	S&P &Futures (Click for latest)	Pre Market Futures (7:30)
		FTSE	-19
		TechMark	-3
		DAX	-32
Hang Seng +114	Nikkei +31	DOW	+25
		S&P	+2
		Nasdaq	+1.9

 

News Headlines:    US stocks rose Thursday, but closed well off their highs with some profit taking and caution ahead of Friday's important unemployment figures Friday afternoon. Lloyds: Results ahead of market expectations with a profit increase of 4%. Standard Life British mutual insurer announced a 25% fall in sales to 691 million pounds as weak stocks and interest rates hit consumer confidence in savings products Total pension sales fell 30 percent to 334 million pounds. MyTravel Warning: It had reached an agreement in principle to extend 221.6 million pounds of convertible bonds, but added second-half profits would be weaker than expected. Cash flow problems and still significant risk to the company. The firm said it now expected operating profits would be flat in its second half as a result of lower than expected margins and tough trading in Scandinavia and North America.Arriva: The Strategic Rail Authority, Britain's rail regulator, said it had been selected as the preferred bidder for the new Wales & Borders railway operating franchise. Amvescap report at noon today. Rio Tinto shares rise despite forecast profit cuts. Australian shares defied a weak profit result and analyst earnings downgrades of approx 5% to rally on Friday,Centrica said on Friday it had sold its stake in the struggling Goldfish credit card business to UK bank Lloyds for a premium of 112.5 million pounds Corus Group news of a new 1.2 bln eur bank facility and said it expects to report a 100 mln stg improvement in its first half operating result before exceptionals compared with the 141 mln loss seen in the second half of last year but it said market conditions are still tough. Calendar All GMT United Kingdom (F)inals (I)nterim United States (Click Flag) Europe & World Fri 1st August Lloyds TSB (I) PBT 1,146m exp. Amvescap (Q2) Standard Life. Mytravel Update 09.30 UK July CIPS manufacturing PMI Chevron Texaco (Q2) 13.30 July Non-farm Payrolls 5k exp. 13.30 June Personal Income 0.3% exp. 14.50 July Final Michigan Sentiment 90.5 exp. 15.00 June Construction Spending 0.4% exp. 15.00 July Manufacturing ISM 51.5 exp. Societe Generale (Q2) Good Trading!   David@FTSEDOW.com    www.FTSEDOW.com            Pivot Calculator

FRI FTSE PP

R2 4204.2
R1 4180.6
PP 4147.3
S1 4123.7
S2 4090.4

Close above Thu r1 after gaining 6.4pts in the auction, after all the action this afternoon we still close in the 4117 (61.8) and 4161 (78.6) FIB trading range after brief intraday moves either side of the figs! DJ was at R3 at our close,

Updated 7/31 for Friday's market.
Key DOW Levels for 8/1
UP Above 9,360
DN Below 9,150

Round Trip
Dow rallies, but breaks consolidation to downside to finsih round trip session.

From prior commentary, "...The index continues to trade within the wide trading range that has formed in the Daily Chart...look for continued range movement and volatility within the wide trading range..."
The Dow got a sharp rally out of the range formed during yesterday's trading, as the index gained 160 points in the opening two hours of the day. The Dow proceeded to consolidate at the highs before finally getting a downside break late in the session, as seen in the 15 Minute Chart. The downside break led to a steep decline, which pushed the index back to near-breakeven territory for the day.

As has typically been the case as of late, the index continues to trade in volatile fashion within the wide trading range that has formed at the highs of the Daily Chart. The Dow continues to generally trend higher above the major lower trend line that has formed beneath the lows since March. Look for further range movement within the boundaries of 9,150 and 9,360, also seen in the 60 Minute Chart.

Trading within the range is just too volatile for medium term positions at this time, but catching intraday swings within the range can be lucrutive.

Short Term Dow

The Dow has formed a tight range from 9,225 to 9,255, seen in the 1 Minute Chart. Watch this range for a break to indicate direction tomorrow morning.

Medium Term Dow

In the medium term, we entered the market Long this morning at 8,315, but the round trip nature of the market took us out of the position at the entry for another breakeven trade. Again, we will widen out entries for tomorrow's market, as further volatility within the range will likely continue. Watch 9,150 down, and 9,360 up, with 10 point stops.

NASDAQ & S&P

The NASDAQ and S&P each powered higher this morning alongside the Dow, but both failed by the end of the session. The NASDAQ continues to trade within the wide channel boundaries, while the S&P continues sideways within its wide consolidation boundaries. *

Summary

The Dow rallied out of the gate this morning, but a downside break from an intraday consolidation sent the index back down toward the Open. The index continues to oscillate within the range boundaries, which will likely continue until a solid break from the range occurs. Watch 9,150 down, and 9,360 up tomorrow.

Thanks TP
Morning all, news posted on the header.

Morning Croc

Morning Croc,TP and all from a dry but overcast North Wales.

Congratulations to little woman for being second in the July FTSE competition. I managed to be 19 of 19 as my expected "waterfall" drop did not materialise. Well perhaps in August !!??

Morning all

Thanks Druid2, I must admit I was pleased (I always prefered comming second, as I didn't like to gloat, but is nice to be up there with the winners!)

I must admit I also think the market is due for a fall - the news comming out is generally nothing special. Quite a lot of dealers close thier positions early august before they go away on holiday for a month - or they should if they have any sense! (That why some didn't get caught out by the really big fall after the storms years ago!)

It's quite good news for Corus. I've been buying & selling this share regulary over the last 3 months and have made about 85% profit overall. Not holding any at the moment as I've been waiting for the price to drop again!

I haven't checked what the market reaction has been yet - but good news and the prie seems to drop - bad news and it goes up!

Like I said, good news and the price drops! Corus down from a buy price after the market opened of 27p to currently 24.75p!

RAPTOR:
For Friday, initial support near 898(SURELY HE MUST MEAN (988/89) may hold, however, additional downside is favored to occur to break below this level and at least test 982 support. A move below 982 support confirms downside C wave likely in progress to possibly test 962 support. Resistance above is near 1004.50 is not expected to be met on any upside that develops.

Good battle on ICI, will it move back to target price of the new upgraded market price of 140p?

SOG taking off ahead of results.

No trades today but my longer term shorts did well. Waterfall next week ???

MON FTSE PP

r2 4177.6
r1 4138
pp 4177 (recent fib level)
s1 4077.7
s2 4057

lost 8.2 pts in the auction to close below Fridays S1 level, also closed below the previous strong Fib level of 4117, new FIB range therefore 4085/4117! DJ at our close was just above s1, needs to hold 9150.

WEEKLY FTSE PP

R2 4212
R1 4155.3
PP 4126
S1 4069
S2 4039.7

Close below weekly pp not bullish, high of this week was Monday and low of the week was on Friday!

Have a good weekend all!

hope so druid.

ive been holding my spx shorts for a while now.. still looking v ripe for a decent fall over the next few months imho..

GL with it.

cheers
fred

Agreed - fredbear.

some grim reading for those in the "+ second half of year" camp.


http://www.streetsmartreport.com/decisionpointarticle.html