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

thats what i thought, thanks. bb

Ok from - here


search for "timetable".

You realise there is also a share consolidation to take account of?

That does take the edge off of it, by my reckoning buy now at 144p to break even after consolidation you'd need 164p or there abouts, is that as near as?

I'll leave the maths to you! :-)

closed dow short a bit prematurely .... still, a modest profit is better than none

FTSE testing support... again.

6685.3 gone long

Position closed +6...

FTSE closed +50.

Well played Skinny, I keep losing my nerve today...

Cheers Shortie - now where though.

A short will cost 21.7 points tonight!!!

Better be long then! or keep bets small... My last bet would have cost me £1085 to hold short tonight at that monster rate...

Maybe add to DLG then - I took a SB on them earlier just in case :-)

So 21.7 points on the FTSE and 12.4 on DLG hedges 9.3 exposure on FTSE holding short or why not be long and collect 34.1pts... Support does seam to be holding... I've taken a sb in DLG also just in case

Others to consider BATS @97p & COST @7.75p.

Posts crossed - yes maybe long for once on a Tuesday - might feel strange!

I'll second that, trading has felt strange for the last week, I've been trying to catch small runs of 10pts at a time with large bets... Try something new and different I thought, for a change..

On DLG I wonder if RBS has sold its holding yet as announced 28/02 or if it'll wait until tomorrow to dispose of stock. Also worth noting is the groups downbeat comments on UK Motor pricing and housing insurance claims. No doubt after tommorrow we'll see a de-rating in the shares.

You mean sod's law!

I've just applied for some Petsathome shares - deadline 5pm.

Good luck with those Skinny..