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

todays plays. overnight on wall st and ftse both bummed out as stop losses kicked.
went long on HSBC[in 721] still long on RBS [in 165] and ITV[in 40.9] thoough am showing losses at this time. not a good day for playing i think.
current strategy leave indices alone and stick to shares as slightly less of a gamble. i live and learn something new every day
Alex

The way things are going we shall (for ftse 100) be in the 4900's....soon...unbelievable !.

Adding to my previous post we must pray that there is not a complete meltdown...1929 wise.....oh dear !, that would be good for nobody except for people who do nothing but short !.

Complete meltdown!!! Why?
"In 1929, the Fed raised interest rates several times to cool the overheated stock market. By October, the bear market had commenced. On Thursday, October 24 1929, panic selling occurred as investors realized the stock boom had been an over inflated bubble. Margin investors were being decimated as every stock holder tried to liquidate, to no avail. Millionaire margin investors became bankrupt instantly, as the stock market crashed on October 28 th and 29 th. By November of 1929, the Dow sank from 400 to 145. In three days, the New York Stock Exchange erased over 5 billion dollars worth of share values! By the end of the 1929 stock market crash, 16 billion dollars had been shaved off stock capitalization."
I don't see any sign of panic selling, just the start of harder times. That's life. Bull runs don't last forever.

meanwhile, nymex bulls are getting badly burned ..... dropped $6/8 the other day and down another $5 today to $133.70

oil companies are gaining the most. 2600 bopd adds 100,000 a day to DGO profit.

that's a drop in a bucket ...... to make a decent impact even on a minnow, it needs another digit

for you, maybe. but another 100k a day is not bad.

if you say so, and though DGO may well have a good future, 2600 bopd is not going to make a lot of difference.

meanwhile
Dow really struggling to break up through 11100, so i hope we don't see a big sell-off later on

still long on HSBC[in 721] still long on RBS [in 165] and ITV[in 40.9] [my sensible plays]

my running diary is not intended as a bragging sheet more a means of letting more experienced players see what I am 'trading' and possibly passing constructive criticism to help me should I decide to try it for real. As the risks of losing real money are great I feel it is a wise move to play with pretend money first.

Alex

Some of the stocks had to go down. Index is meaningless.

???????? ..... sorry, but fail to understand the point you are trying to make

at long last ..... a decent evening on Wall Street .... currently +250 at 11210

I agree. A brief respite. Currently at 11222.
Sorry to be pessimistic, but more downside to come, imo.

A rally at last!
Dow finished at highest levels for the day which is a sign of further upside. Is this really the long overdue rally (even if only a bear one) we are waiting for?

The basic problem is that modern societies are too dependant on oil as a means of power and the world needs to change this....oil will always have its use but the human race must hurry up the alternatives....and governments must encourage this with tax breaks for solar, hydrogen, wind, etc.....what does this government offer in incentives.....precious little.....usual muck ups (sorry about the political bit) but they really have not got a clue as how to run this country !, and you have to ask will the next lot be any better ?.

So what's the answer if you have no faith in the political system? Revolution? Then what?
Maybe best to stick to democracy & roll with the punches???

one swallow does not a summer make, but a warm and sunny day in early april is nevertheless more than welcome

A bit early in the day to take notice of DOW futures, but currently +2, so pretty flat.
In addition 12:30 PM US Housing Starts, 12:30 PM US Building Permits, 12:30 PM US Initial Jobless Claims (JUL 12) to come today, which may put a stop to all that blue!

you pessimist!