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

Could bad news be good news (crazy yanks). And no US interest rate rise Dec. ?

Reuters:-

Stocks | Thu Nov 5, 2015 1:59pm GMT
U.S. jobless claims post largest increase since February
WASHINGTON

In and out of FTSE / DOW all day ,been heavily down and moderately up ,came out with tiny profit ,almost made myself dizzy ..
Bottled it in the end could have had a decent outcome on the DOW.

Picked up a few stocks though for trade .

been out since midday, but i note DOW must have hit 17,768 or thereabouts which was allegedly a good support .... has certainly bounced since

any reason for the sudden dump, or is iut just "silliness"? ....... haven't had a chance to check for myself

.

anyway, took my life in my hands and quickly jumped into long DOW at 17,804.4 which so far looks an ok move

US jobless figure drops to 5%. Payrolls rise 271k.
US market now much more confident of a Dec interest rate rise.

at which point DOW dumps .... all a bit silly given that december rate rise was already telegraphed
imo, it's pretty good news in that it shows that the us economy is strengthening, which is sorely needed ...... it also suits me that $ has strengthened considerably vs £

anyway, slightly late, but doubt if i'ld have had quick enough fingers anyway, have gone long DOW at 17,816.7

Yes, but US exporters not so happy as $ strengthens.

that as may be, but the economy is adding significant numbers of jobs, and companies don't do that for a laugh
also, the more in work, the more disposable income so the greater consumption

Can they buy other currencies?
Anyway, US consumption is increasing which improves sales inside US and import.
Earlier China reported care sale increase by over 11%, not bad!!! It is certainly a good sign, possible stabilization over there

Agreed.........but anything (exported) or valued in $ becomes more expensive (commodities, minerals, services, products) so retail prices will therefore need to follow.

Just goes to show how one person's loss is another person's gain.

back to front and don't fprget we're talking about usa ...... imported stuff is cheaper ..... ergo, retail no more expensive and margins quite possibly improve

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

out again for now at least .... had hoped for another 10 points or so, but it's gone a bit sticky
shall now await the opening reaction

Currently -26 DOW Fut? Strange it's in neg territory.

(According to Blackrock the US export market is only 3% of GDP, which seems incredibly low.)

real time shows dow at 17,894 +20 from last night's close

Dow struggling to break 17,900 once more, though that is relatively unimportant ..... 17,800 is the key downwards

FTSE struggling to break back north of 6400 which is more of a worry

bugger ..... got distracted by work :-( ..... and missed getting back into dow at 17,800 or less .... never mind

"bugger ..... got distracted by work :-(".. Pull the other one.

I would imagine, being buggered is distracting!

singularly so :-)
anyway, have just placed a small long DOW at 17,806.5 ......i'll put a limit in case i'm not watching as it's been up and down like a yoyo today

Nothing would surprise me living on the embankment.