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

Closed + 23

Well done Skinny, good call that.

dow almost certainly on a general bear tack, but today's sudden weakness following is prob more due to fed's pronouncements this evening .... that being so, the fall will no doubt be o'done before the news

would you dissent shortie?

I find myself long again!

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks in Edinburgh

got bugger all else right today, but modestly shorted ftse at 6545 ...... and just banked a twitchy 22 point profit

Your better placed to comment on the DOW Cynic as I've not really been following it lately... I've just gone long FTSE

14171 - and badly prematurely by the looks of it

China's extensive crackdown on corruption in government and business has taken a small, but measurable, bite out of the country's economic growth.
tells you a lot about working in china .... it's also (still) very protectionist there

small ftse long at 6492

surely the magnitude of this sell-off is not warranted, but perhaps exacerbated by forced sales

Either that or interest rate hikes elsewhere and expected are causing the shift.

Of course the biggest problem with BRIC etc interest rate hikes is they attract foreign investment and put pressure on our banks to do the same. HSBC calling GBP/USD 1.50 for year doesn't sound so crazy anymore..

those with exposure to Argentina and Turkey are feeling the pain....... which country is next?

ONVO currently up 15%

ftse long closed +26 ...... hard work innit

FTSE long also closed

also had a small (additional) dow long at 15816 which i was lucky enough to close out at +31

on a daily trading basis, which is something i almost never do, but office was quiet and weather vile, i have done ok today, but jolly hard work and it could easily have gone even more pear-shaped

Glad you've had a good day Cynic, I'd have made more money by doing nothing all day... Highly frustrating to say the least.

it was relative peanuts, but made a enough for a couple of seriously expensive dinners - always provided i exclude my longer term WMH loss that i crystalised, albeit that it would be even more painful now!

dow is tumbling again, but my guess that is just precautionary ahead of the fed, so if your foolhardy or brave, there may be a good and quick turn to be made here going long ..... not sure whether or i (shall) fall into that category :-)