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

thought i had cocked up on DOW by being too greedy and then getting distracted, but on returning from an excellent bourgeois dinner, i see all has turned out very rosy indeed

interestingly, cash FTSE is only a tad stronger but showing just above the important 6440 hurdle ...... i'ld be surprised if there isn't a quick surge at least first thing

What sectors have done the best since the China Wobble over past couple of months?

in uk, perhaps high street retail and entertainment, but that is almost guesswork
however, BOO, ASC and NXT have all done pretty well (i think) as have RTN, GRG, DOM and CINE

====================

meanwhile, i note i called FTSE wrong last night, and glad i actually banked DOW profit

Thanks cynic

I have not had much time lately to drill down too deeply on markets.

Dow has had a decent run during October thats for sure.

Any indication yet as to what the Dow is going to open at chaps?

Dow almost back to highs back in Spring.

FTSE 100 not playing the same game.

I was long FTSE twice this morning but stopped out of the last one , not sure about this afternoon .

Is it a sell off for the end of the month ??

Would not be surprised if we have a few big sell days in November. Just finding them is the bit i miss!!!!!!

i hope it's just month-end malaise, but that's almost rationalising

Not really sold off yet .Watching DOW .

strange one that today ......
earlier, cash dow was showing a decent 40 point rise, but that evaporated in "real time" and i think it was off about 25 points for a few minutes

meanwhile, ftse is just plain crappy

Dow turned positive, prepare for lift off.. or not.

played with the idea of going long again, but lacked balls .... or so it seems at the moment

dow continues to press north - now +40 at 17,793 - and after-hours-ftse is being dragged up almost reluctantly in its wake

Well would you believe it.. Yes -):

but a bad final hour in usa saw dow shedding plenty and finishing down 90 points at 17,663 which is around an alleged level
hmm! .... hope that was just end month profit-taking but makes me nervous for monday

StockMarketWire.com
UK's manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to a 16-month high of 55.5 in October, Markit/CIPS data showed, well above forecasts for 51.3 and from 51.5 in September.

these markets are almost impossible to read and thus very dangerous indeed
gut feel this morning was that the correct position was to be short, but this has now been turned on its head - not that i would want to now go long either!

overall, i confess i am very gloomy indeed

as i have said before, we deal in the movement of chemicals worldwide, so we are very much at the sharp end ...... business is currently as bad as i have ever known it, though this is exacerbated by the chinese manufacturers dumping equipment on an already sated market, offering "special" deals - eg any payment deferred for 2 years

Bulk chemical industry I know nothing about, but presumably you are at the mercy of Fx fluctations, cyclical demand and warehouses full of unsold inventory? Almost sounds like the oil industry!!!