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

Yeh, all 8000 of the blighters...)

Credit where due Cynic, well done on AL. too..

Cynic, when the DOW jumped so did GBP/JPY, have a look at the charts.... Coincidence??

Already noticed, although didn't consider them linked...

http://www.advfn.com/p.php?pid=qkquote&btn=s_ok&symbol=FX%3AgbpJPY

any move of GBP/JPY must surely be toytally coincidental .... must remember to look more closely at shorting this tomorrow,

o'night, F/E must assuredly be (very) strong ... therefore expect FTSE to open strongr than 5935 (where it is now) and Dow indicator stronger than 12420 (where it is now) ... have backed both with cash! ... actually was long Dow since earlier this afternoon and have left open ... just bought FTSE

should be a very nice day tomorrow .all round it been a long day so bid you all ...and hope tomorrow will be better then yestarday but not as good as the day after.........;-)).

US oil inventory today according to Bloomberg though not sure when. Obviously quite a bit of comment on 100+ oil. Now gone up 15 dollars in 2 weeks and just over key resistance levels. They seemed to think that the OPEC will open the floodgates at these prices if of course they have as much oil as they say they have!

I have GBP/JPY at top of consolidating triangle at 21220ish, pound has gained some strength today, also looking at same against dollar, approaching top of triangle at 19600ish, cant imagine it breaking out upwards, so will watch to see if my prediction of a reversal latertoday comes true... may even back with cash...

Very tempting to short oil, not saying i will, but the Americans must be desperate to relieve some inflationary pressure, not sure what the latest is with the Exxon saga, but if that reaches a conclusion and with the economy slowing i think $85/90 a barrel is possible in short/med term...

Ted ... you are nuts!

This, i already know... see, we shall...

Big Ted, if you are right (heavens forbid), there will be another sell off, (I hope not as I always miss it).

It was much easier to short oil last time at $100 as it was bid up on speculation without fundamentals. Not sure that is the case now and more likely to head toward 110 before it heads south on an 8 lane motorway. Shorted Rio at 5300 and have been covering long ever since. While the commodity markets are all over the place Commodity prices will keep rising as a hedge

If it is a steady small climb up just above $105, it might stay there and stabilize...the jumps up to $110 and more could trigger massive shorting...!

I should stress, oil is only ever going upwards long term, just feel that with the US economy slowing it is possible demand will reduce slightly, current rise is partly down to supply scare caused by tensions between Exxon and Venezuela...

I've been looking at ways of learning about spreadbetting--the costs vary widely. CMC offer a free dvd and free day worth 200 to learn while Robbie Burns The Naked Trader is offering a day in April for around 500. Have any of you done these day courses or did you just take the plunge and learn by your mistakes??

more importantly ..... the indices - FTSE and Dow ..... both are currently at important and potential resistance levels .... FTSE is nudging through 600 while Dow is indicated to open just below 12500, a point where it has stalled a couple of times previously.

my own positions continue to run, but have put in sensible stops so that at worst i will still pocket a decent profit

Moneyplus...made a lot...lost a lot...still learning...,but possibly more cautious now...!, prefer shares and cfd's to betspreads when if you get stuck the expiry date is upon you, but with cfd's as long as you are not in a very difficult situation you can keep on going...with oil company's : don't do a cfd or bet spread with just the result depending on one well..look for a company that's going to drill a whole succession of wells..if one goes pearshaped there's always the next one..but be cautious.

Not true, don't forget the futures markets where profit/loss is left rolling until the future closes, sure you have to cover your margins though..

It can all get very confusing, i know... i've just been down the shops to buy some long shorts...