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

DOW futures currently +74, so looking good for more FTSE blue this afternoon.

before we all start getting carried away by a couple of good days in London ......


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks futures rose early Friday, lifted by easing oil prices, although economic concerns and thin trading during the shortened session could lead to a volatile day on Wall Street.

A little more than an hour before the opening bell, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a positive start for Wall Street.

Lower oil prices offered a boost. Light, sweet crude for December delivery pulled back from $100 a barrel and was down 62 cents to $96.67 a barrel in electronic trading.

But sentiment could shift to the downside as fears of slowing U.S. growth linger.

Not that I normally trade the Indices but looks a little toppy to me :S

For us conventional traders of stocks, the last 24 hours & possibly in to monday look to be a good opportunity to make some money. Mid & late next week we have Redbook retail sales figures, Homes sales, Petroleum status report, Money supply & GDP figures all hitting the headlines in the U.S. I bet they aren't all going to be good!

it's not a case of the numbers being good or bad but more a case of whether they are perceived as worse or better than expected

Closed FTSE short for +6.5 not a lot but it all helps, will have another look later

Short DOW, err, based on not a lot :S

umm, and again wiv a little top up :)

oops, stopped out, my own fault should have taken the profit when it was there :(

no ... should have gone long ... lol!

One way of looking at it Richard, however, having another go, wonder if there will be a sell off before the US close (6pm today I believe)

now my long is quite well in the monmey, i have set a stop that will still leave me in profit if hit .... on that basis, will be comfortable to leave it open over w/e

looks like you're on a winner, making new intra day highs

need some .... like most, have taken a whacking over the last 2/3 weeks .... thank goodness NRK cushioned me, though it's a shame i got out a bit too early (92 from memory)

Well, that's one advantage of been away, haven't had the opportunity to get it wrong for a while. Incidentally, have a down slopey resistance line on the 1 hr chart that the DOW is hitting its head on at the moment, moves through here could be quite a few more points on the table.

so let us all into the secret, or has it popped it already (now 12953)

jumped through at 12944, looks like it's going to test the same level as support now

i am wondering whether Dow has done the usual "too far too fast" bit ..... have taken the profit on my long position, and though i have not reversed that, i shall certainly be watching the markets very carefully this afternoon

on the other hand, NASDAQ has broken back above 200 dma (go back to page 1), and that may be worth a little dabble

DOW futures are currently +74 & with little news due today I can't see it falling very much. Midweek may be different.

harry .... not sure to what level "your" +74 takes you, but on Dow cash indicators, it has been as high as 13060 this morning and has now dropped back to about 13015 (+50) ..... if Dow cannot hold 13000 this evening, we could see another sell off of unknown magnitude.

conversely, as mentioned above, NASDAQ is (the only index) looking much healthier