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

for a properly balanced report go to cnnfn.com and read the article "Bailout talks in disarray" ...... it's too long to paste on here, but i shall print out for myself and re-read several times

Cheers. Talking of spirits Toya, I find whisky does the job for me.

Numbs the share pain anyway.

If the markets implode, it'll probably focus minds over the weekend.

In my opinion.

Strawbs.

I'll get another bottle in then ...

Thanks Cynic.

I've swallowed my loss (not too big luckily) and have gone short on the ftse for now - should soon recoup my loss. It looks as though it could be heading to 5100 or 5058 or 5000 or lower... before perking up again - possibly only briefly, if/when a deal is done in the US.

I also feel the redundancies announced by HSBC will prove a negative influence on the markets today.

I'm in profit overall this week on the ftse (and so one should be!).

Just seen that whisky is on offer - thanks dd! But champagne is preferable

it rather looks as though my comment a day or two ago about the deal being struck at midnight on friday may be quite close to the mark ...... meanwhile, the markets seem to be comparatively calm and have recovered off their opening lows ..... probable general concensus that a deal will be done - as of course it will be ..... as DD commented, let's just hope that it is a sensible deal and not just a weak fudge

I'm not sure it will be finalised by fri night as they seem to agree that a deal has to be made but cannot agree on who foots the bill:
"The plan circulated by Cantor calls for a mortgage-backed security insurance fund, rather than taxpayer-funded purchases of those securities. The plan calls on the Treasury to design a system to charge premiums to mortgage-backed security holders to finance this insurance, according to a fact sheet.
Republicans also seek to ``remove regulatory and tax barriers that are currently blocking private capital formation.'' It also suggests that regulators call on financial institutions to suspend dividends, along with other steps to address liquidity problems.
Cantor said the House Republican proposal ``does not leave the American taxpayers with the bag and makes sure that Wall Street pays for this recovery.''
My guess is that they will be burning the midnight oil over the weekend as there is politcal face at stake here as well as reputations.

political farce more than face methinks

If they're not happy, and forced to sign something quickly, I dare say it'll be watered down. In a way I'm not surprised it's proving difficult to get concensus. One man has asked to be trusted with $700 billion of taxpayers money, with immunity from prosecution and oversight, to plough money into unspecifed debts. Big leap of faith for politicians, most of whom probably don't like G.W.B. They're bound to want to put in loads of caveats etc.

In my opinion.

Strawbs.

it looks to be Bush's own party who are being obstructive ...... now why would that be? ..... surely not running scared of losing their seats in November, so making as much noise as possible, like the proverbial empty vessels, to try to show their electorate that they are doing "a grand job" - hahaha!

I know. Most of Bush's own party don't like him because of what he's done while president. They were asked to take a leap of faith going into Iraq, and look how that's turned out. I suspect there's plenty of old scores to settle before he leaves office.

In my opinion.

Strawbs.

market is also recovering suggesting general agreement on a proper deal being done

Wouldn't be surprised to see it break down again later. Volatile times. Plus, does anyone want to risk a position over the weekend? If the announcement comes after markets close, there must be a distinct danger of a big gap up or down come Monday.

In my opinion.

Strawbs.

Talking of something else....just as worrying for President Bush is the storm out in the Atlantic "Kyle"....looks like a monster in the making....way off the South American coast at the moment....but which way is that going ?....in 10 to 14 days time that could be a major problem !...oil to shoot up at that time....we shall see !.

that's a minor prob for the moment

fun with Dow this evening ..... yippee! .... but would only play it monitoring 100%

many stocks have been hard hit of late, which is scarcely a surprise ...... however, with the US bailout 95%+ certain to be finalised by late evening tomorrow, monday could reverse an awful lot, albeit that it may be relatively temporary.

meanwhile, have left a relatively heavy long open on Dow, which should get monday off to a jolly start .... or jump over Beachy Head!

I assume you have a sensible stop in place. It's highly likely the proposal won't be passed in it's original form, although I dare say it will be in the same spirit, with phased chunks of money instead of 700 billion upfront, oversight etc. Expect the unexpected. Market reaction will no doubt depend on how fickle participants feel on Monday.

Many are expecting a big rally and easy profits, but if everyone is long into the weekend.... who's going to buy on Monday? Just a thought.

In my opinion.

Strawbs

strawbs
my very thoughts also. i do hope cynic has a parachute.
we would all miss him.
respect to you.
you have been saying through all the rises of 07 that you were fence sitting.
thats proven foresight, not hindsight.
and it is proven.
best regards to you
jkd