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

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

Promised myself to open a long if i got the chance at just over 12300, woke up this morning and there it was 12340ish, did i do it? no! you have to listen to your gut instinct, i thought the Dow was just dying to move higher and can see it at 12600 soon, having said that i have just gone short, looking for a dip before the next push...

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12800 is now my key figure and stop loss point. Have taken to minimum bet with more than enough money to finance it through to 12800... This day to day trading or hourly betting has the potential to wipe out funds very quickly, the long play shall provail I hope. Looking at the chart playing a long term bet should work out very nicely as long as 12800 isn't breached.

market cant decide which side of 12500 to go, doesn't seem to want to give it up at the moment... almost like watching paint dry in comparison to recent days...!

closed out for small profit, may have been too early, but another day and 12500 could be good support, for me, i'm just trying to practice guessing peaks and troughs and guage sentiment, cos ultimately thats what will make me money...:)

Good in theory Ted, practice is a little different though. If 12500 - 12600 becomes a temporary support line then I'm happy. Ultimatly though I'm looking for the downward trend to continue. My outlook is to sort with the bigger picture in mind, as long as it falls a little more each month than it rises I'm in the money. Financing for the rolling bet is very little so this shouldn't a problem. Its quick calling thats causing me trouble at the moment, the sp changes direction to often too often for my liking at the moment.

20th December was the last time the DOW gained for 4 days consequtively. Since then 2 day gains has been the norm. I'm hoping that will continue and give us a down day tomorrow...

as it stands, upwards is prob the momentum, but somewhere around 12750 is likely to be the top .... even so, it is almost inconceivable that that target will be reached without some sort of retrenchment en route

I agree the longer term can eventually be the bigger winner, i'm talking long term trends, 4 years ago euro was parity with the dollar, nearly 5000 point gain since! Gold has been a similar story.... would love to open a short at 12750 and watch the dow test new lows shortly after!

the shorting concept is sound, but then don't get too greedy

excellent to see Dow finish solidly above 12500 ..... F/E must surely be very strong o'night and London should break through 5900 barrier with something to spare

Funny you say that, cos i was about to open a FTSE long just before close, but chose to do it on paper to see if it comes good...

Wall St is eating away at my profits 3 days now... GBP/JPY looking interesting at 215 or above thinking of shorting also... Wall St 12524 so under 400 points before we should see it turning... A small up/down day tomorrow would be a blessing as waiting for transfers to complete to fully fund me spread betting account...

Next move will probably hinge on Bernankes comments later, if he backs up the treasury secretary's view that the US could avoid outright recession, we may see some serious blue...

Have just taken some modest profits inc in my longs of both Dow and FTSE

Had penciled in a rise on FTSE to 5970 + 90 today, and plan was to buy on the dips, but after the initial rise by 50 points it doesn't seem to have the appetite to rise. Even though the cac and dax are more positive. Conclusion = Confused.......

Lots more reading today, not sure how market will react to question time later, but can imagine a push higher, however surely this is defying the odds now, i think sentiment could change quite quickly to the downside with any poor updates now, after 3 days of gains (dow) and i have to say i feel the real sell off is still to come.... not trying to be a doom merchant, but reckon the states are very very far from being out of the woods...