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

going out for a few hours so closed ftse at 6440 :-)

i see 6450 is looking to be quite a tough hurdle ..... hmm

Strange day today, I've had a few small profits when I've had time to trade but its difficult as not really any momentum either way. The hourly chart below shows the initial 50DMA breakout and also hints that we'll be back under this moving average very soon. So for now, I'm holding a couple of cautious shorts until further downwards momentum builds where I'd expect a fall to 6190 ish..

dow
17560 continues to be a stumbling block
it's been challenged 2/3 times and again just now, but currently proving a bit too tough

however, there seems to be a bit of momentum today, and just possibly that level will be breached - northwards of course

.

closed ftse long at 6497 as 6500 is looking quite tough to hold

shall now watch and wait to see which way we go next
my feeling is south, but i'm not that brave

I got caught by the FED and expectation that the ECB will finally launch some kind of QE... Seeing as recent rallies have been sold into I expect this to be no differenet.

cynic - you have mentioned in the past, not so much recently have noticed that you have (in your words) a guru to guide you re-trading Dow and UKX, are you still being guided by him or her or trading of your own bat now? I steer clear nowadays of even trying to trade either. Respect to you and shortie.

unfortunately he moved to pastures new several months ago where some ridiculous fee is charged for access

Well good on you for not following him.

Think I'll take losses and move on, being underfunded not an option in positions and I refuse to pay money into my account..

Been a long time since I played with a short stack, oh well, should be fun..!

hard luck pal .... you're usually red hot on this sort of stuff

i've left a small dow long running from 17599.9, but am watching carefully and assuredly shall not let the profit drift away

Well as posted yesterday I had a cautious bet on, but recently I've made quite a few withdrawals from my account leaving me a bit low on funds. I'd rather be in a position to play any long game then wait for markets to drop.

now closed dow long at 17804.6
tempted to short, but just off to the gym for an hour, so shall see what has happened on my return

gentle dow short at 17872.1 on the basis of "enough, enough she cried"

Echoes of your fitness workout today Mr C?

i only trust myself to go there when it's quiet :-)

dow looking as though it might just be boiling over
briefly broke through 17900, but now falling back

.

George Soros has accused western leaders of dangerously miscalculating their strategy towards Russia and Ukraine, arguing that the crisis there posed a lethal risk to the Eurozone. In an interview he complained that European leaders were treating Ukraine as “just another country” in need of financial assistance rather than realising that the crisis on the EU’s eastern border posed a greater danger to Europe’s economy, and even the survival of the EU, than the Greek election. Mr Soros said sanctions on Moscow were having a far deeper effect than western leaders had ever imagined because of the collapse in oil prices and added that a Russian debt default would “not be surprising” – FT.