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

Boom!

DOW
not really around but see dow went all the way back down to ~16,200
don't know if i'ld have been brave enough to buy at that point, but far too late now!

as it happens, i took a small FTSE long last night, and thought that's nicely in the money, it's not the same league as DOW

non farm payrolls
i have no idea what to expect, or more to the point, what effect they will have on DOW
though DOW has now powered through 16,450, my gut feeling is that it is now all too far too fast and am inclined to go short, but am not quite sure when

too late, she cried, or at least for the moment, but at least cashed in FTSE for a modest 20 points profit

Been in and out of FTSE all day for small points and not been burned once (lucky)

What with the NFPs tomorrow and the markets as they are at the mo sitting on ones hands until Monday doesn't seem a bad idea.

That's not good for you Stan ,sitting on your hands over the whole weekend .

Good point well made James.. so on reflection I shall see about moving about a bit.

Dow, Fts, Oilers, Gold and I assume Oil price up to date, so I guess going short might not be a bad idea. I remain on the fence.

Certainly been a roller coaster day with DOW/FTSE and Oil ..

DOW
16,450 is proving quite a stubborn hurdle, so anything around that number or even a bit above - it's been as high as 16,485 today i think - would be a tempting place to short

Dow. Gradually edging higher bit by bit since the low in January.

FTSE 100 is a "Dog with flea's" to quote Wall Street.

Certainly no appetite yet for me anyway to dabble in buying stocks. Sitting on hands till Dow opens this aft ahead of jobs report. Chinese New Year starts Monday. Guessing direction of Indices comes with a wealth warning, but opportunity to scalp swings (hitching a ride in both directions) is the game in town, but don't leave your screen. :0)

Nothıng runnıng currently. Wıll have a look tonıght to see the state of play after NFP.

NFP coming in 15 minutes.. stand by ya beds.

I've always wondered, are these jobs quality hirings or Xmas tree sellers and burger flippers?

told you so :-)
opened short ths morning at 16,448 and closed just now (about to board plane) with nearly 100 point profit

NFP +151k jobs.........below expectations.

and another very nice short opened and close for +80 :-))

DOW
so far, 16,200 is providing pretty good support, though it has now been challenged several times in recent days
if that level fails, then there could be at least a further 125 points on the downside