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

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 :-)

Now you've gone and done the research you'll kick yourself if your right and don't take the bet.

not so; more inclined not to take the bet purely because i shall not be glued to the screen, but going home to cook a couple of very nice dover soles - not too roe-y and a good size

anyway, i'm already holding enough (too many!) dow long from a couple of weeks back - a dummy not to sell previously - so if i'm right re the above, then they'll benefit

What wine will you serve with that?

What time is the Fed decision tonight Shortie?

i'll have a look to see what i have in the fridge, but i confess to being spoiled in that quarter, as i've bought wines for a great many years ..... quite possibly something from northern rhone (condrieu), which is very different from the usual run of the mill

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meanwhile, a long dow is getting ever more tempting with it now down to 15780 (-145 on the day)

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done at 15781, so now have to work out whether or not to set a limit as i can't monitor continuously

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have set limit at 15825 but that might be a bit conservative - i hope!

cynic had a couple of dover soles yesterday for lunch "washed down" with a bottle of St Aubin Premier Cru, very nice village almost as good as Puligny.

pushing that a bit, but yes, st aubin can be very nice

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lucky bunny here ..... limit up and price was struck higher still, so +53 :-)

market not very happy thereafter as far as i can see, or at least not for now