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

I would have shorted FTSE this eve if hadn't been tied up watching a bunch less deserving of their millions than Merril's ex-boss

Bookies will be smiling all the way to the bank!
Interesting to see if the FTSE picks up a little without the influence of the DOW tomorrow afternoon.

Cant see a similar day tomorrow for the FTSE, the dow has finished badly but only
slightly lower than what it was intraday when the FTSE was still trading so i think
it's priced in and when it opens down tomorrow there will be a strong rally but that
is just my view which means diddly.

As for football it's about time somebody brought in some laws to cap their wages at 10 grand a week, they dont even deserve that, bookies have been making fortunes out of english football for a long time and will continue to do so, long odds on against the best side in the group was very poor value but they know they will
still take the money.

I went long at 6056. looked at weekly chart. Support and resistence more than once over last year at or around 6000. Any comments please.

Reckon fwiw, start down to test below 6000, then a slight bounce later to finish evens or down just a tad, personally i dont care cos CRA is going to pay off my mortgage in two years... lol
ok just kidding!

US stocks tumbled, on worries about bad home loans, a slumping dollar and oil near $100 a barrel...


Well its taken a few months, but eventually the horror of the state of the American economy has finally started to sink in...
But, personally i think the fed will always act in good time and is very clever at keeping the balance, maybe the real horror story will be deflation...

Dow futures up so hold off on ftse short

It sure is difficult to hedge when you dont trade CFD's or Spreads (ie, just longs)
shall i take the small profit in POG in the hope of buying them (or another) cheaper, later, ie hedging against the market dropping more in next couple of days, or shall i gamble on them returning to 14.50 in next couple weeks if the FTSE shows some strength? decisions, decisions...!!!

i like POG a lot too ..... IEC is also worth a further look - see thread and blanche's comment re current price level ...... HOC could be worth a look .... and for minnows, BRR and VML (and perhaps SER) could be worth considering ..... away from commodities, SCHE has tumbled without cause

8.10 FTSE reversal again today!

Was already watching them (SCHE), have thinned out some more this morning, taking a big hit on AMER out at 7.3p first thing, for better or worse. Am now stake building in TAN and CRA, the latter more of a gamble and yet you have to keep reading their last RNS and believing...?!!! still have NPE, TMC and RGM and some other crap (PELE)etc

Your other fave CTH is taking a hammering recently, maybe an alternative to SCHE when it stops falling...

Shame the USA cant be closed everyday, they tend to ruin everything thesedays.

CTH is only a small holding for me as very illiquid ..... meanwhile SCHE has recouped at leasst a little of yesterday's bloodbath losses

of your others, i only hold TMC, ands that is cos i forgot to take profits when there were plenty there and just sat and watched them flow away to a thumping loss

Cynic, your spelling & grammer are below par lately. Unusual for you. :o)
As T6 says, it's amazing how we can steady the ship when the U.S. sleeps. Some of my stocks are back in profit today, so am in selling mode before the DOW futures start to kick in.

et toi mon brave? ...... par example: "grammer" .... lol!

Touch
Friday & monday look to be reasonably quiet days on the news front in the U.S.
Possibly a short reprieve for us guys with equities & a chance to get out with small profits.

A completely blue day for me :)
well... green actually, according to TDW :)

DOW futures currently +74, so looking good for more FTSE blue this afternoon.

before we all start getting carried away by a couple of good days in London ......


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks futures rose early Friday, lifted by easing oil prices, although economic concerns and thin trading during the shortened session could lead to a volatile day on Wall Street.

A little more than an hour before the opening bell, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a positive start for Wall Street.

Lower oil prices offered a boost. Light, sweet crude for December delivery pulled back from $100 a barrel and was down 62 cents to $96.67 a barrel in electronic trading.

But sentiment could shift to the downside as fears of slowing U.S. growth linger.