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

Morning

I'm finding it hard this morning to see the direction of FTSE, what to do ? looking at dow,dax and cac I would be looking for a higher open. Will we see 6300 today ? "maybe" but if the ftse gets close then reverses I will try and place a short.

Well thats the plan at the moment.

Good Luck............

i feel much hinges on Dow where 13000/13050 has proved a very stubborn resistance ..... if dabbling, a very close eye or pretty tight stop losses are the order of the day

I came across this from another site, showing the last 10 days volume on the DOW out of the first 94 trading days of this year, with 1 = highest volume and 94 = lowest.

15/05/2008 63
14/05/2008 53
13/05/2008 51
12/05/2008 92
9/05/2008 86
8/05/2008 64
7/05/2008 47
6/05/2008 56
5/05/2008 91
2/05/2008 54


Conclusion could be rally has no legs as it struggles up suckers hill ?

Well I decided to go long on the FTSE at 6260 and have just moved my SL up to 6270

Out at 6345 - maybe too soon - but decided to bank my profit - better safe thanb sorry

Well played bhunt1910.

Long again at 6330? Not sure about this one - maybe I am being greedy now?

out again at 6342

sitting on my hands for the moment - probably the best thing for me to do as i get so involved - not good

Goldman Sachs have just lifted their oil price estimation for the second half from $107 to $141 per barrel.....that's a big increase in my book !

Good trading bhunt, fortunately I never got my short away. Strangly my trading system was indicating a long first thing, but I ignored it.

I feel a new rule needs to be written. "Have faith in trading system, place position with stops then walk away" Well three rules then.

Gone long again at 6325 !!

ouch - out at 6316 - thought I had survived the first wave - but got caught by the second wave.

one too many I think

Just had a little flutter on the dow - lost out there too - too volatile - just blasted through my sl

bhunt1810,

You need to chill a little. I used to do what you are doing a lot. Now I have 2 different strategies:

a) Get ready to go long or short on the FTSE when the Dow opens up... sometimes you can really pick up a good swing here, but only go for it if it is clear that the American markets are going one way or the other.... sometimes the FTSE can be a bit lagged.

b) Or I look to go long or short on new highs or lows respectively.... when I say new I am normally referring to the last 5 days.

I always set a stop loss that has some room to breath! (normally 20 points) As soon as I can break even I move my stop loss to this point.

Recently I have been trying to run my profits for longer

Thanks Tonker - I think you are right - I got stopped out 3 times this afternoon because I set the stop too tight - and I could not monitor it very actively.

This morning was fun and I made some money - but I gave it all back on the dow this afternoon. Still learning - thanks for advice.

Dow looks like it will end the day positive. I went short when it was -91 - but set my stop loss too tight and missed the run up this afternoon.

nevermind - taking the missus to barcelona for the weekend for our anniversary - so will chill out for a few days

hope you don't get gored ..... just enjoy yourslef in the massive market in Ramblas

Cynic,

Do you think that the market is a little over valued at the moment... What are your ideas on this?

not sure, but the markets on both sides of the pond seem of a mind to go ahead ..... if Dow can break through and hold above 13000/13050, then there could be plenty more upside ..... however, nothing goes up in a straight line.

for myself, i do not currently have any open index positions, but am arguably o'weight in (quality!) miners and oilies

Oil close to $128 and rising....god knows how far this is going to go ?...a spike up to $150 or $160 and then possibly settling around $140 before climbing again in the autumn.....it's all guesswork...producing oil stocks should carry on rising with little pullbacks along the way, even minnow oil stocks with probable reserves in the ground should benefit, but the rest of the market ? and something there has not been much talk about is the resumption of the hurricane season....this year might make up for a quiet last year...; what was the cost of that time machine I saw in Argos ?.