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

well I am negative at the moment on the ftse - athough up overall - atm

Some data (PMI figures) due out in the US at I think 2:45 our time (9:45 EDT). This could give the Dow a jolt either way, depending on what it says.

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Wall Street economists expect an index of Midwestern regional business activity to show a slight recovery in March from the six-year low it hit the previous month.The Chicago Purchasing Managers' index is considered an early read on business conditions nationally. The monthly index, which covers services as well as manufacturing, is expected to increase to 46 in March from a reading of 44.5 in February, according to a consensus of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.An index reading above 50 indicates growth and below 50 contraction."

Not sure I'll be in at the time, which is a drag as I need the FTSE to get back above 5700. Made a nice profit this morning and then when long again at too high a price by the looks of things.

I was just about to ask if the dow still opens at 2,30 now that we are on BST. So am assumint US went on daylight saving time at same time as us

Yes Toya, quite correct re the data and timing, don't think there will be much movement until then, famous last words - lol

Decided to sit tight until then, and go out later. Would so hate to see all my morning's profit wiped out in an instant.

when are these figures due?
mind you, they are marginally historic and in any case, the market will interpret them, good or bad, according to its mood at that instant.

Peter
are you around for lunch and jollies at "posh club" on Friday 23rd May?

Richard, I'll send you an email today or tomorrow :)

a 30 pts shift in the ftse in 2 minutes just wiped out the profit I was making on my short !!!

Wall Street getting a bit frisky Baz, FTSE will no doubt follow until some sort of direction is established.

Here we are:

"LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - European shares pared some losses after U.S. data on Monday showed business activity in the auto-intensive Midwest region picked up by more than expected, soothing some of the concern over the U.S. economic outlook.

Oil and gas shares offset some of the decline in the broader market as BP and Royal Dutch Shell both rose by more than 1 percent, while on the downside Vodafone was the largest-weighted drag, falling 3.5 percent after a broker downgrade.

The Chicago Purchasing Management Index rose to 48.2 in March, frmo 44.5 in February, beating forecasts for a rise to 46.0. Various sub-components of the index including new orders and employment also rose."

Sorry - double posted in my excitement and total relief!

so you as well as the indices getting frisky then!

Nowt like a bit of relief ;)

Cynic, from my (limited) observations, I tend to think that it's at least as important to observe the change in price before the due time of an announcement as afterwards.

Toya, there are often some silly games played before announcements, especially on FX; quite often the price is walked in either direction to allow closure of existing positions or to finesse a new position. Personally I never try to pre-empt the market nor read anything into movements beforehand.

Thats better - things have calmed down again - phew

Strangely I'm looking to go long on the DOW, might have just missed my opportunity (or not as the case might be)

Sod it!!

Think the DOW is impossible to trade at the moment over short time frames, keeps putting on 20 and then losing 20, best to stay out for now methinks, unless you're taking a longer view.

Just closed my short on the FTSE - its bouncing al over atm - made 30 points so ok.

My gut feel is that it will drop lower towards the close - but for once I want to hold onto my profit.