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

what you doing on here? ...... are you really as much of a saddo as me? .... have not lit fire tonight; keep it for cold weather (us poor old OAPs!)

having set stops on Dow which will ensure a good profit at worst, have now gone short FTSE as that must assuredly open even further down

Don't give me that saddo stuff Cynic - I don't believe it! I just have the laptop open while sorting out the junk that tends to pile up in this room, and it's quite nice to read messages that pop up now and then - keeps me amused!

would rather keep you in profit than just amused .... London may well be quite gory tomorrow

Thanks for warning me. Cheshire is forecast to be dull and drizzly.

haven't been to Manch for quite a while .... quite like that place even if i did get my car keyed all over one night a few years ago .... certainly far pref to L'pool!

I steer clear of both these days. Chester is a pleasant little city - and London's great for a change.

Job done - and a lovely tidy desk for the morning! Let's hope it goes well for us all -whether up, down or sideways...

Wish I had a tidy desk :S

wish i had a desk...!

and i wish i was a smart arse every day of the week; then i could retire disgracefully!

Just seen how the DOW finished!
Sub 6000 for the FTSE tomorrow???
Question is, which sector is going to be worst hit? Financials?

gutted i've been out all day and missed a good profit in POG, whats the betting all the profit will be gone by 8.00am...?!

i confess i am totally and utterly bewildered by what seems to be a significant turn-around by Dow indicators in the early hours of this morning ..... when i went to bed, Dow was still 12740/750 or thereabouts .... this morning, it indicates to be 100 points stronger but for no obvious reason that i can perceive

portfolio currently all flat and one green...!

both my Dow and FTSE shorts got shut, so though i made a very nice profit, it was only about half of what i thought i had in hand when i went to bed!

to be honest, i still find it very hard indeed to believe that the Dow will open as strongly as currently showing

now i know the answer ...... Abu Dhabi has thrown several billion $ into Citigroup ...... psychologically this is pretty important, but for how long the sudden euphoria lasts remains to be seen

Mabe the devil is in the detail though.....

FT Alphaville: Junk Citi

Strawbs

now what????
Dow initially charged back to about 12850, but once the Consumer Confidence figures came out, the whole gain was virtually wiped out and Dow is now hovering just below 12800.

it seems to me that unless the markets can regain their bottle during the rest of the trading day, we may not see 12850 again for quite a while

Dunno Richard, playing with FX at the moment, will put some lines a chart though, fwiw.