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

http://www.cnbc.com/id/23485755
Blagged from iii thread
Looks like the Apocalypse hasn't arrived yet

agreed .... couild have been much much worse


Shares of bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. plummeted Wednesday after the company said it would raise $1.5 billion in capital and reorganize its business.

Ambac (ABK) shares plunged by as much as 16 percent on the New York Stock Exchange after being halted at midday for pending company news.

The New York City-based company revealed in an SEC filing that it would discontinue writing insurance on certain structured finance products including all mortgage-backed securities and CDOs, or collateralized debt obligations - investment vehicles that buys and sell bonds.

Anyone shorting oil tonight???

not likely .... and am damn glad to see strong recovery by Dow after Ambac fright

Cotton now looking good, put an ETC thingey on COTN about a month ago and now in profit. Dare I say Stanelco and their Biotec presentation at the International Seminar in Valencia must have gone down well looking at the share price, one to watch..

You have got to be crazy to short oil for any length of time at the moment unless you watch the markets all the time....I have some investments in oil companies...all very nice thank you, but this rise in oil could lead to a weird stockmarket situation of : oil companies going through the roof...and the rest of the market down the drain, well those that depend on oil etc...the whole world is completly dependent on oil... the markets may react by pricing up oil stocks to incredible prices with tech stocks (most of them) and others in the gutter, crazy thought non?

I have 4 shorts on oil at the moment ranging from $96 on Brent up to 10402 on US Crude. Fortunately I do watch it all the time so try to catch momentum on the way up until vertico sets in and i reverse. Still confident these will be significantly in the money by end of April / May

i don't follow softs at all ..... have just never got my brain round them ...... many years ago there was a very long article in ST, which concluded, "If you ever feel you want to invest in coffee futures, lie down and wait for the feeling to go away!"


to more mundane matters .......
BoE will surely leave rates unchanged ...... just wish Europe would cut rates as : is currentlycrucifying for our biz.

of far greater influence on market direction will surely be US - just for a change! ...... would dearly love to see 12300 soundly pierced and held

ECB stayed at 4%. I'm no economist but to leave Euro rates unchanged surely worsens inflation rather than improves it, in that the dollar falls further causing commodities to revise further causing inflation to rise further.

not if you are selling to buy $

Cynic: I've had fun trading the FX EUR/USD in my IG demo account this week - it could help to ease your pain!

rather than give money to the (b)ankers who got us in this mess to shore up their balance sheet and who don't pass the money to consumers who need it the Federal reserve would do better by intervening in the FX markets and buying $'s to nip commodity inflation in the bud before it gets out of control

str* ..... the thought may be good, but history shows that gov't intervention in the currency markets is a total waste of time and money


Toya ..... (Toya-boya calling -lol!) ..... from somewhere, i believe the prognostication is : = 1.27 before an about-turn ..... don't know about $: ..... if i had had half a brain, would have actually shorted :JPY at about 211/212, as that is forecast to fall to 190 over the next 12 months

The dollar will regain strength soon when their rapid actions will reap results in that they will be much further on in the whole global slowdown and therefore much further ahead in the whole cycle.. would expect to see a top with the eurusd pair within couple months... certainly will carry on gaining ground against stirling once the current correction finishes...

Oil up again...oh dear : as a motorist I must protest !, as an investor delighted !..now past $105 and rising....this could create 2 stockmarket worlds : oil stocks going ballistic and probably certain commodities and the rest all in the gloom !

Oil up which mkt are you watching...looks like another long night as have been whip sawed again on a covering long at 10538. I really should know better by now.

required field...apologies looks like it is going North again, although playing in $1.5 up and down intraday band. actually waste of time writing this as on the retreat again LOL

Unlucky storeysj, When things start to go pear shaped I often open up a hedging position and nearly did so this afternoon but fortunately left it a while. Oil is so volatile at the moment it will probably be at 106 before you know it. I have closed one short out from 104.25 at a 100 point profit after seeing a 170 point loss, whilst the brent short at 100.57 is still looking a bit pasty.

i know the feeling it has been crazy today. Managed to close two of my shorts and got within 12 points of closing another 2. Even recovered my whipsaw loss and made money but it has been one hell off an effort as prices have swung nearly 2 dollars in less than a minute 3 times already. Makes indices look childs play

There is a rumour circulating the city that the jobs number will be so made the Fed may be planning an emergency rate cut today. Something to consider before you take your positions on the dow. If this is off the mark please dont shoot the messenger