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

Cougar ouch...

We haven't been approached in Nelson Mandela Towers yet, John. I'm sure my daughter would relish the opportunity though...

DP from IC again today:
"My decision to get out of my FTSE short on Monday was the right one, as equities came back fairly strongly yesterday. However, I see this up-move as a mere temporary blip within a downtrend, a reaction to the deep oversoldness that had built up. Robust economic data from the US continues to strengthen the Fed’s case for withdrawing at least some monetary stimulus. At the same time, the Chinese money markets remain in a nervous and highly erratic state. All this is likely to weigh further upon equities in the near term.

I seek shorts pretty much across the board here.

I am glad I closed out my FTSE short on Monday, but haven’t really changed my stance as a result of yesterday’s 1.4% trough-to-peak bounce. The rally has so far recoiled around the 21-fourhourly EMA. Having unwound its overboughtness on the fourhourly chart, it is likely to resume its descent to the 5946 zone.

DAY: I’d likely sell a drop through 6077.8.

POSITION: I’d likely sell a drop through 6077.8."

Cynic, direct question, why is it you only post what you have actualy done/actioned rather than what you are intending to do/action on the indicies??????.

Surely with all your experience traders would like to bounce ideas off of you and benefit from your knowledge rather than just hear about your positive exploits and not hear of your burried failed exploits.

Is this just a personal ego trip thread for you??.

we liked the positive performance from Ossie but labour have to think hard about a replacement for Mr Bouncy after his pathetic riposte.

even when i wake up in the morning, i rarely know what i am going to do .....
i post what i have done as much as anything else because i got fed up by certain peasants accusing me of lying
with regard to my stinkers, i think you'll find i regularly own up to those too - as indeed one should

I can recall Cynic being whipped by Apple and crowned by the construction index over the past six months so would agree an even set of postings.

you will find a post quite often about my clangers, the most recent being lousy timing on the indices!

that said, i climbed back in a few days back on both ftse and dow, both of which, as it happens, are doing rather well

Cynic tit for tat.

Your memory is geting worse.

Reminder Chart Attack Thread.

An eye for an eye.

not really no, in fact no not all,and whatever you say .... of no concern to me

Strange that, you only called me a bastard last week because you lost your cool.

i probably called you a bastard because my father was well acquainted with your mother! :-)

THRUP..............

what is this thread a mutual admiration society? go find a room!

nah! just sticky being a bit girlie

Which bank is going to loose and which one to gain?

- The European Union agreed on Thursday to force investors and wealthy savers to share the costs of future bank failures, moving closer to drawing a line under years of taxpayer-funded bailouts that have prompted public outrage.
After seven hours of late-night talks, finance ministers from the bloc's 27 countries emerged with a blueprint to close or salvage banks in trouble. The plan stipulates that shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($132,000) should share the burden of saving a bank.

I agree, now pay up you lot -):

Even the pro's get it wrong sometimes!!!
The daily view from DP of IC:
"Contrary to what I was expecting, equities rallied yesterday once more. Fortunately, they did not trigger my shorting entries at any point. The only thing for me worse than being wrong is being wrong and in a trade. My calls on GBPUSD and EURUSD worked out better, although I closed my short in the former way too early, halving the amount of profit I could have made. Oh well.

I am still not rushing to buy into this rally, despite the gains by the DAX and FTSE. They have not done enough technically to convince me that the move is anything more than a correction within a downtrend. Moreover, the fundamental reasons for this sell-off are still in place, i.e. the Chinese credit crunch and the prospective withdrawal of US QE. Should a decisive reversal lower today occur, I’ll go short.
The FTSE’s rally has looked less assured than the DAX’s, although it too is shortly to come up against its 55-fourhourly EMA. I see no reason for now to change my call for renewed downside, although I’d obviously await a reversal before shorting. I seek a return to the 5946 zone.

DAY: I’d likely sell a drop through the 21-fourhourly EMA (6147.6).

POSITION: I’d likely sell a drop through the 21-fourhourly EMA (6147.6).

Whatadya mean sometimes -):

Back abobe the 200ma for now.