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

Agree wıth sentıment. Its not good. I cant help feelıng that sınce 2009 we have ın essence, had an uneasy ceasefıre. For most parts Central Banks have just made ıt worse. If that was at all possıble.

good news or bad .... depends on sentiment and how you want to view it ......

Yellen warns global turbulence could hit growth
The turbulence in global financial markets could deal a setback to US growth and corporate hiring if it persists, the Federal Reserve chair told Congress on Wednesday, in words that will further reduce expectations of near-term increases in interest rates.

Janet Yellen flagged up risks to the US stemming from China and said financial conditions had become “less supportive” of US growth, citing the recent slide in equity prices, higher credit costs for riskier borrowers and the rise in the dollar, which has been battering exporters.

an annoyingly weak start to the afternoon, but despair not ......

Janet Yellen is due to testify in front of Congress at 3pm (i guess that's EST), and Ms Yellen will have the difficult task of being optimistic enough to encourage buyers – without being so hawkish it spooks the markets. If the Federal Reserve chair is overly dovish it could be construed as being too fearful which would spur on the bears.

While the FTSE 100 is above 5600, the outlook will be positive, and 5740 will be a barrier to an upward move.

Lıstenıng to a FED Reserve Chaır is akın to tryıng work out the clues wıth Ted Rodgers on 321 when I were lad.

it doesn't matter what you and i think, but merely the markets :-)

Too many ındıcators cloud the pıcture thats for sure.

boing, went zebedee :-)

if DOW can now hold its nerve, then i guess ~16,200 is the next hurdle
would be handy in FTSE also stayed above 5,700, a level at which it is currently struggling

poxy markets!
should have banked that reasonable DOW profit when it was available ..... never mind; i dare say it will occur again (before i die!)

I wonder if it is just short term trading which is moving the indices at the moment. No one seems interested in anything else the markets have to offer except instant profit. The trend is still down, so for you guys trading the FTSE or DOW isn't a short trade safer than long?

yes and no :-)

though i still have a long running from 16,132 (it should come right in due course), i've just pocketed 43 points from another long - bought at 15,997 and sold at 16,040
it's not big beans, but very welcome

i just get the feeling that there ought to be a decent bounce - other than from 15,900 last night :-) - which of course is not unusual even in a sustained bear market

US fell over again

all rather nasty ..... had hoped that DOW would at least close above 16,000 and did not have the balls to buy when it briefly hit 15,900 either

300 points swing.

i think (or at least hope) that there'll be better news from F/E o'night which will boost the markets here .... but i'm not prepared to take the risk with money

FTSE 100 is fast approaching 50% Fib for those who like that sort of thing . Also lines up with support back from 2012.

Mayhem again !!!

murderous!
i see that WTI is now $28.30

Seriously it is starting to feel like 2008 all over again but nothing as major has happened .

i agree ..... a couple of months back, the markets twitched through fear of a rate rise in usa ..... now its fear that they won't!

absolute bedlam and best to do nothing i am sure
looking at a quick chart, DOW OUGHT to hold around 15,600 but it's brave man to bet on it