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

nimbleness and some luck required ..... don't really agree with your analysis, though think FTSE top is no higher than 6230 and bottom 5690

Just closed -190 points, that clears out 3/4 of last weeks profit made..... CAUTION springs to mind, Buffett get a hair cut... Very unpridictible times, was sure of a fall with General Motors results, oh well another day..

interesting you should do that though do not know the level ..... am currently contemplating shorting around 12430, not that i think there will be ahuge sell-off, but just that there may be a turn .... shall be happy if Dow finishes at say 12350 - i.e. well above the fairly critical 12300 mark

now short 12441 .... we shall see

Its been a day of looking at the charts thinking more about where to limit losses and if fallbacks are due at what prices.... Definatly more pot luck than anything at the moment.... Gonna play safe and wait for signs of topping out before shorting again, maybe concenrate on the FTSE and let Watt St steady into a trend more.... Good advice if I manage to follow it, I know what I'm like, if I think I've spotted a days or weeks trend....!!

Cynic I'd add another 100 pts to your 12350 as this push has got the market interested... Wouldn't be surprised if tomorrows news features Warren again, only 1 decine so far 2 still to go... Very funny today. The Buffett article I don't view positivley at all, if anything it highlights possibilities of losses, in other sectors of the American markets.

The chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc told CNBC television that he had extended the offer to MBIA Inc, Ambac Financial Group Inc and FGIC Corp.
Buffett said he would charge premiums of 50 percent above what the bond insurers are receiving from issuers on the policies, which many analysts saw as a high price. There is a good chance that none of the bond insurers that received the offer will accept it, portfolio managers said.
From The Guardian.....

Doesn't make sense, Market rally on hot air offer, topped with the worst news ever from General Motors.... However its Warren Buffett and stupid he's not..

am out of that short again with nice little profit that will more than pay for Thursday dinner!
market really is very lively!

Just driven back from Torquay and the market had droppd 130 odd points in my absence! by the time i come to my senses its moved up 60 and not so appealing for a long, sheeesh, be nimble he says, more like lightening with the way this thing moves...!

Falls away quickly then regains letting you know the downside....

buffet trying to cherry pick the best bits , as you would expect from him - total hot air

playing hang seng at the moment and far from an easy long. Have buys and sells set at the extremes and reversing back into rallys. Not paying alot as in a 50 point range with a 30 point spread but its still early.

totally off subject, but does anyone undersatnd why the Republic nominee only needs to secure 1191 delegates whereas the Democrat needs 2025 (A(nyone) B(ut) C(linton)!?

i assumed all states carried the same number of delegates for each party, rather as we have a fixed number of MPs

With HS up and Nikkei up - I would not have expected wall st to have dropped by so much.

Boy have I got a lot to learn

your hours sound back to front ....... anyway, Wall Street per se did not drop .... it closed well above the important 12300 level, albeit off its peak ..... if you are looking at indicator on IG or similar, that is often rather quirky with little reflection of reality at this time of the morning

interesting to see where ftse opens, I feel it has risen 100 points too far, so looking for a short opportunity down to 5800.

Looks like the rich twins Buffett and Gates have been wheeled in to stave off recession now that the Fed has run out of ideas. With this being a bear market market I guess this rally will reach a lower high than the last 12780 and again present a good shorting opportunity but then again it is dangerous to assume anything!

ftse is down to 5814 already, I would not be comfortable going short or long from here, all I can hope for is a pull back to 5850 or 5860 before I can get a short away. The DAX seems to have now decided to follow ftse down, so may have missed the boat for my pull back. You never know though in these markets, anything could happen.

Yeasterday's rise was perhaps a result of a bit of hope re. monoline and a lot of traders leaping on the break-out after a period of consolidation and then taking profits.

two things to note today ....

FTSE
tried and failed to break through 5900.
if Wall Street manages to finish strong again tonight, then expect that barrier to fall tomorrow.

DOW
good strong start, but has so far baulked at the psychological 12500 level.
for the nimble, good money quite possibly to be made by trading in either direction tonight.
the key will be where the index closes ..... too far too fast? .... possibly, but if there is upward momentum behind the trading, then it is not inconceivable that 12500 will indeed be breached

Had my first serious day at traing the indexes today.

Made money on the trades - had some good runs - but also a couple of stupid bets which cost me money. By the time I had taken account of the cost of each trade - I ended up slightly down.

I also felt that I over traded - felt almost compelled to trade at times and ended up chasing the index as well.

Traded both FTSE and Wall st - which seemd ok

Also found that once I had placed a bet - I was glued to every movement of the index - quite nackering.

Hey Ho

when the indices are volatile, which is the perfect time for making (or losing) money, you are quite right that you need to stay glued and focussed

this afternoon, Dow is very boring after its initial burst for glory