1. An instruction fetch unit for a central execution unit comprising: instruction counter register means for storing an address of a pair of instructions; cache means into which instructions and operands are written and out of which instructions and operands are read; instruction stack means for storing instructions awaiting execution; transfer and indirect prediction table means into which are recorded TIP table words including a target address of transfer and indirect instructions; means for incrementing an address stored in the instruction counter register means to form the address of the next pair of instructions of an instruction stream; means for distributing the address of the pair of instructions stored in the instruction counter means to the cache means and the transfer and indirect prediction table means; means responsive to receipt of the address distributed for accessing the cache means and the transfer and indirect prediction table means to determine if a pair of instructions having such address is stored in the cache means and if TIP table words for the addressed instructions are stored in the transfer and indirect prediction table means; means for selecting the addressed pair of instructions from the cache means and for storing the selected addressed instructions into an instruction fetch register; means for selecting the TIP table words for the addressed instructions from the transfer and indirect prediction table means and for checking the selected TIP table words to determine if the addressed instructions are transfer or indirect instructions and the target addresses thereof; means for placing the pair of instructions in the instruction stack means; means for loading into the instruction counter register means the address in the TIP table word for an instruction recorded in the TIP table word as being a transfer or indirect instruction; and means responsive to data in the TIP table word for each instruction for predicting which instruction in the instruction stack is the next instruction to be executed by the central execution unit.