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

Be careful out there Cynic. The huge rise of a few weeks ago went from A to B without much support in between, it could reverse just as quickly.

Strawbs.

thanks Strawbs .... as of now i have done nothing

2 problems I see here.

1) If the news of the completed bail-out had come in one go amidst fanfares, then I believe the mkts would have responded very positively. The problem it has come thr' dribs and drabs.

2) I wouldn't think the mkts will like the fact that the money is not coming in one large amount but in tranches so they are probably worrying it will be too little too late.

IMO

3) We've had wall to wall news all weekend with people saying things like, "if this bailout doesn't happen it'll be meltdown .... etc.". The average investor might well think, "if things are that bad, maybe I should get out now in case this bailout doesn't work".

In my opinion......doh. Stop that. :-)

Strawbs.

my thoughts are that as usual, the negative reaction has been heavily overdone, and as a short term trade, long is surely a better bet than short

have actually taken out a modest Dow long at 10963

for Mistress T in answer to her rude private suggestion to me! ...... you would know better than i, but perhaps thick is better still, but that is for you to advise!

Both are probably correct Cynic, and preferably in combination - but that's just what I would advise!

So: what's it to be then? DO you think it's long now for the ftse??

at this juncture it must surely move in tandem with Dow, but (and?) if you look at the 15 minute charts, Dow looks better poised to move up with a possible resistance at 11000 ...... in fact, as i write Dow has moved towards that point .... keep watching, whether you buy or not

It's looking a bit more lively now - perking up I hope!

Nowt like a bit of 'perking' :)

keep up the gently massage Mistress T!

Hi Guys: I think I'm the one who needs the massage - why did I choose long? on the ftse I mean?? I had been doing so well recently and now it's more or less shrunk away to nothing again

i know that feeling well! .... however, i remain very comfortable with the 2 longs i opened in both dow and ftse this morning .... showing tiny profit on former and small loss showing on latter

Hope you've got some sensible stops on Cynic. I could be wrong, but somehow I don't think you want to be standing on the wrong side of this one if the U.S. wakes up grumpy (or maybe that should be grizzly).

Strawbs.

shall be neither rash nor greedy, but have 2 screens at work, so can monitor

well so far so good ...... have banked a modest profit from half ftse and am now watching dow perhaps to do likewise

meanwhile ....... Citigroup to acquire Wachovia in a deal arranged by government officials. FDIC: Deposits protected. More soon.

and a little other snippet ...... Fed chair Bernanke says bailout bill will help restore 'the flow of credit' to the economy - 'I look forward to swift passage.'

Thank you Cynic - I need some good news, having just been to a friend's house who tells me that the 'inside story' is that things are actually a lot worse than the government would have us believe. Well, of course that is the case, as gvts never like to tell the full story unless it's good news...

if friend sleeps with GB to know these things, then must be a bloke! ..... in honesty, i don't think anyone actually knows the full ramifications or even how much of a (global) recession is likely ..... all i do know from first hand experience, and as i have posted before, the chemical and shipping industries in which i am involved are usually the first to get hiot in bad times ..... at the moment at least, that is just not happening ..... indeed, i hear that the port of Jebel Ali (UAE) which also serves as a major hub for Saudi exports, has a two week delay in turning stuff around due to congestion.