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

so what would be good defensive stocks in this bleak climate?

traditionally, this has been supermarkets and banks, both of which sectors stink
so then there are pharmas - GSK perhaps
and on the entertainment front, SKY or ITV may not be bad bets
tobacco is usually solid, so take your pick between BATS and IMT

now i get stuck!

Pharma & fixed line telecoms certainly on the list.
Possibly hospitality (IHG etc).
Not sure about shipping but BMS has held up quite well and divi still attractive.

i hold IHG as it's also a strongly rumoured t/o target

with a sharp downturn in international trade, i wouldn't go for shipping

Forget individual shares for now and just trade this one http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=19256#lastread

i can already short both ftse on dow via ig, but yes

individual shares are now almost exclusively for my sipp

the very brave - not me - may want to look at a quick long dabble in FTSE at current level (5850) which has provided good support to date

BATS or IMT?
does one opt for the one that has performed better or worse over the last year?
hmm

DOW
well into negative territory once more, so the next notional support (haha!) is 16,100 and that is now only a smidge away

So apart from oil what has spooked markets ?

sentiment ....... once the markets get on a roll, they tend to stay there

however, as i keep on saying - but don't even listen to myself - chinese published annual growth has shrunk for 10 to 7%, but i'm damn sure it's a lot weaker than that (for reasons previously given)

as far as ftse is concerned, there's a very real possibility that the referendum will go against staying, and that will also have profound reverberations around the world

That's months away cynic , although i do agree i wouldn't be throwing money at the markets close to the referendum .

JPMorgan profits jump as costs reined in
JPMorgan Chase delivered a 10 per cent jump in profits in the final quarter of 2015, as reining in expenses helped the US bank weather a still lacklustre backdrop for revenues.


but will that inspire DOW at all
not too likely in the present mood

Just about anything spooks the markets atm. Jakarta bombing was just another excuse today.....and now we have Renault bracing themselves for an emissions scandal (Renault stock price down 18% so far today).

missed that one
any interesting news from BoE?

meanwhile, both main indices have perked up a tad

BoE decision 'no change' as far as I can see.

that was why i asked if there was anything interesting :-)

this afternoon's thrill .......
The weekly U.S. jobless claims report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET from the Department of Labor

Re post 19540, I haven't traded either of them for 4/5 years but IMT was definitely better then BAT to trade, the reason escapes me at the moment.. that's if there was one of course.

chuckle .... i bought BATS as sp was just nudging 200 dma (southwards) and i'm not looking to trade as they're in my sipp ...... anyway, 10p to the good so far :-)

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

employment figures have been well enough received (whatever they were), but i also note that chinese futures are down again, putting that index back below 3,000

10p is that all, would have been 20 if it had been with IMT.. (listen to uncle Stan) and before you ask no I don't know the next lottery numbers -):