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

Rate cut comıng soon and a another shed load of QE

Which is the reason we are in this mess anyway. these prats never learn.
2517

Agree George. Too much meddlıng but ıt wont stop them.

so what would you propose?

doing nothing cannot be the answer, for then you are guaranteeing a plunge into worldwide deep recession

do you borrow heavily (uk that is) and fastrack major structural development - eg HS2?

don't look to me for answers, as i have no idea at all

Boom and bust we never learn ,look at the housing market crazy prices again ,with newspapers telling us they are up by so many percent and due to rise by 4 million percent next year.
As i said earlier the Newsnight piece on shipping was telling you how they rushed to build these huge cargo carriers and within a couple of years they are sitting idle .

housing is an oddball insofar as it is always supply and demand especially in the right location
for all that, properties in central london - and i'm talking about stuff say in the range of £500k to £1m - are sticking and even my own house does not feel to have risen in value greatly even over the last 5 years (perhaps i'ld be pleasantly surprised if we chose to sell)

when you come to major projects like building a large ship, which will take several years from thought to decision to planning to ordering to completing, a company has to take a long-term view

in case some of you did not notice this little gem of gloom from this morning's FT .....

Davos: Global economy hangs in balance
World teetering between continued recovery and third leg of financial crisis, say economists

Poıtıcal poınt but relates to markets

With global economiccollapse on our doorstep, this story coming out of Davos should help confirm long-held “conspiracy theories” about the 'elite bugging out' when all hell breaks loose in America and across the planet as former hedge fund director Robert Johnson has revealed that many of the super rich are already planning their escapes…”

escape where to?
davos for a skiing holiday perhaps?

cynic post 19695.------I'm not clever enough to know the answer either, but QE has not worked inflation is stubbornly non existent and the beneficial transfer of wealth has gone to the 1%.

With QE taking place in the Eurozone I would expect Sterling to appreciate against the Euro, the opposite is happening. If the jobs data turns negative there could well be a run on Sterling (then we'll see inflation) with the Gov. having to put interest rates up to try to defend it.

The country is so indebted that if we were seen to be struggling to repay our creditors, that would exacerbate the problem. That's my view anyway.
2517

Mınes burrıed ın the allotment.

Where to?
Are they going to put their money in bank, housing or what?

Gold maybe, which seems to be strengthening, or currency markets, buying the Japanese yen.

george - i have never understood the strength of € ...... i understand the loss of value vs $, but the only rationalisation for depreciation vs € is fear of the referendum outcome

Yes that certainly has to come into it cynic, but I wouldn't have thought to the degree it has. It is somewhat perverse that the UK economy is performing far better than the Eurozone who are also QE'ing (neat word) but the Euro is strengthening against the £
2517

I don't understand why everyone was happy yesterday, and unhappy today. What is changed apart from media coverage and playing with DOW future to gain momentum?

Isn't it fear, fear fear, after greed greed greed??

just a silly .....
DOW is currently 15,690 (-330)
where will it stand at 14:35?
where will it stand at 16.35?
where will it stand at 21:00?

5682 ıs around 20% from last May hıgh. Now do you feel lucky and step back ın?

I have gone long FTSE 100 as no doubt the FED wıll be forced to add some magıc

potıon for a few days feel good factor to help a few get out before the slaughter

contınues through thıs year.

I would sell in to any bounces that occur because i think we may have further to fall ,would be pleased to be wrong .

guessed the first part of my question wrong as i though DOW would be lower than 15,690 (it's 15,740)

so let's have a stab at the other 2 .....
16:35 = 15,700
21:00 = 15,850