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

+83.8 on the day now, short stack still, so got to be extra careful.

6406.5 gone long

closed 2nd dow short at 17444.1 for a nice 70 point gain
now need dow to pick up strongly again

6411 closed, mixed signals

i wonder if you'ld find it helpful to keep a Dow screen with say 10 minute chart as ftse and dow generally have some correlation

small dow long again at 17403.4 ...... should be support at this 17400 level, though assuredly doesn't follow in these markets

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and closed 17443.6

blimey; sure have to concentrate in these markets

I don't track DOW signals for FTSE as often you get a DOW run and FTSE just tracks, the problem is like today the FTSE has fallen some 2.2% whereas the DOW is under 1.3%. Agree though that they both fall or rise on average together on an hourly basis but not so much on a smaller time scale.

My GBP/EUR positions are taking up most of my time and more lucrative at the moment than indices. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30810137 The EU is now clearing the way for a bought of QE and well all know what that will do to money suppy!! 1.30 for the summer now looks achievable and sunny Spain will be cheap as chips once again!!

wish it was just my armpits that were smelly ...... dow has just dropped to 17280 (down 333)

ouch!

Long DOW @17329.4

Fortune favours the brave, so they say, good luck skinny.
2517

Closed @17410.6 +81.2 - lack of nerve!

edit - thanks George.

17420--Well done skinny
2517

well done skinny

i also had another small dow running at 17351 which was limited out at 17381
it was a bit silly in some ways as there was no way i could watch it

wanted another at about 17300 but was too pre-occupied and missed it, but really shouldn't complain, as considering the markets, i've done well today, even if i say so myself

Thanks cynic/George - based on p*ssing in the wind really at that point.

and today is the mirror image of yesterday
if you can stay in front of your screen, i'm sure there'll be plenty of money to be made on either ftse or dow

for my sins, i still have a small "o'priced" dow long from a few days back at 17630, so i don't suppose that one will need much attention!

effects of collapsing oil price
up to now, we have only had anecdotal evidence and whatever we have read in the press

however, i can now report first hand from our people in usa/canada where a couple of mining/oil "serious" clients will be returning kit due to mothballing of projects

those clients will not be in isolation, and of course there is and will be further repercussions not only in usa but also all over the world where these activities take place

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if you're a bull for 2015, i'ld be very very wary

if you play the stock indices, then it could be a wild time as i think there's still hefty volatility to come