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

Ah - thanks. Am only using CFD's - have not really got my head round SB's - perhaps thats my problem - and why my profits dissolve with the commission charges.

I started trying to use CFD for index reading, but changed to SB's which have no commission, only the spread which is only 2 points on FTSE.

I only scalp using 3 points, and only on days where market seems undecided about positive direction. A bit like myself today, I just can't make up my mind on when to jump in.

Very frustrating, problem with scalping you have to watch the screens the whole time, I missed first chance at 6000 to short, but I'm sure FTSE will hit 6000 again.

if in doubt, do nowt ...... if anything, would be inclined to short

Spitfire Is that Ftse daily? b'cos Ftse april with IG spread is 6 + extra 3. Can you roll over a daily bet ? knowing my luck if I short it I'll go up.

just for info, i think IG CFDs charge $10 in each direction per $2 mini-Dow contract, and FTSE must be similarly small - i.e. 5 in each direction per 2 mini-FTSE contract

FTSE spread during market hours is 2 points or 4 outside
I think Dow is be 4 or 6 outside

Thanks for the info guys

Will look at SB's

Hi Maggie, yes the 2 points was for a daily rolling bet, you can roll it over to next day for a small charge. Sometimes if you want to take a longer position, maybe over a week or longer it can pay to use a CFD contract.

Thanks Spitfire might take a dabble but not today.

one of those funny days again with the dow dropping since the open and the Ftse holding - even pushing up ??

Dow remains decidedly undecided ...... am glad i have taken no position at all, but still remain inclined to short, but shall wait and watch

I've been 'scalping' (thanks pth: didn't know the term before) and actually over-achieved my earnings target for the day so am tempted to leave it at that rather than risk squandering it. I would not have been brave enough to try and predict where the ftse or dow would go from the start of the day to the end, so scalping suits me better.

i've already been scalped!

scalped - I have been beheaded. FTSE so strong at the moment - really did not expect it to go above 6900 today. Think I will go back to gardening

I didn't expect 6900 either! Are you sure you are not trading the DAX ?

bhunt: at least gardening is productive, though I've not done as much as I should have been out there. Hope you find your head again, and Cynic his scalp!

Well, I've been on the golf course and won 2 so nothing lost on the markets today, in fact I engaged in a bit of FTSE scalping earlier and made 4!!

Well done a profit is profit, I finnished scalping up 28, but should have done better, I just can't sit and watch the computer all day. I played Golf last Friday and won two Golf balls, I can't play for money, even 3 euros a round makes me nervous!!

Well spotted Falco - perhaps thats where I am going wrong -looking at the wrong index!!

On some platforms it's quite easy to trade dax instead of FTSE, and I'm not talking railway stations or 70's shoes here. In fact I actually made a profit (unsually) by doing just that!