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

dow support at 17160 is just about holding as i write

6681 gone long again

Anyone would think it was a YES vote !

Tesco and the miners have taken a hit Jimmy...

In a bit higher than you shortie but down and stayed in . Hoping the market turns this week.
I'm seriously thinking of starting an indices trading platform ,called , follow jimmy b do the opposite and make millions .

Just my opinion. Anyone else agree or disagree that the Major Indices have peaked and more likely to slide down the other side?

I'm staying long for now, if 6620 support fails then of course I'll review.. I currently average 6732.8 across two bets.

the markets have suddenly got very excited
any reason known other than it's the start of rosh hashanah?

From Bloomberg:
"U.S. stocks rose, after a three-day slump for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as new-home sales climbed to a six-year high and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. led a rally among producers of consumer staples.

“We’ve barely seen many corrections that extended more than two days at a time,” Jasper Lawler, a London-based market analyst at CMC Markets Plc, said by telephone. “We saw a couple days of declines and people are going into the default of buying into that dip on U.S. markets. I could see us pushing into new highs. The Fed has said they’re going to be easy for a considerable period of time, so that’s still generally supportive of stocks.”

thanks harry

Strange how we usually mirror the moves on the DOW yet FTSE seems to have struggled to get over the England / Scotland nervous period. The threat of another protracted war doesn't seem to have deterred US investors ......yet.

few body bags expected

Out FTSE this morning with 35 points.

Could this be the early stages of a significant drop in the indices many have predicted/waited for? Whilst the UK is not overly expensive, Wall Street almost certainly is, and any fall there won't help the FTSE.
2517

hard to know, but lots of strange shenanigans on dow for no obvious reason

Prospective Russian laws to take over foreign property.

Reports Russian parliament drafting law to allow government to seize foreign assets in Russia in response to foreign sanctions.

ah; that would explain lots

No its a broker note out................

Im hoping they are wrong.

US STOCKS Cantor turns bearish on U.S. equities

25 Sep 2014 - 15:27

Indexes off: Dow 0.8 pct, S&P 0.9 pct, Nasdaq 1.3 pct
By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were sharply lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 falling back under its 14-day moving average, and Cantor Fitzgerald expects that weakness to continue, saying it has turned bearish on U.S. stocks.

The firm noted a number of "divergences" that it said pointed to market losses ahead, including a decline in market breadth and recent underperformance in small-caps; the Russell 2000 is down 8.1 percent from a recent record, while the S&P is down less than 2 percent.

"Divergences are like stress fractures ... at some point the divergence reverts," the firm wrote to clients. "As we see it," Cantor's analysis "has resulted in the conclusion that U.S. indices are due for at least a 5 to 7 percent correction to start, but we believe that is likely followed by a more significant series of corrections into 2015." Cantor also noted low levels in the CBOE Volatility index . At 15, the "fear index" is up significantly from a recent low of 10.28, though it remains well below its long-term average of 20.

"Volatility in its various forms can stay low for prolonged periods for good reason. Those reasons are simply no longer compelling," the firm wrote.

Index snapshot at 10:19 EDT:

S&P 500 was falling 18.72 points, or 0.94 percent.
Nasdaq Comp was losing 59.10 points, or 1.3 percent.
Dow industrials was dropping 133.48 points, or 0.78 percent.
Russell 2000 was falling 14.1 points, or 1.25 percent.
S&P MidCap was dropping 14.7 points, or 1.05 percent.
S&P SmallCap was losing 7.83 points, or 1.21 percent.
(Editing by Nick Zieminski) ((ryan.vlastelica@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1 646-223-6014; Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net @RV_Reuters)

One to watch.