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

jesus i go away for a day of frolicing in Batam to get over the demise of bb. and come back and the world has caved in. Guys you need to move to Asia...or atleast outside of singapore, HK and Japan as this completely passed me by. Im so pleased i missed it

more happy news from US ..... Home prices in July plunged a record 16.3% year over year , according to the S&P Case-Shiller 20-city index, AP reports.

a bit more ...... Stocks open higher, with the Dow bouncing back from a record point decline, as investors await the government's next bailout move.

DOW drops 777 points when the bailout plan is rejected. Now that the modified plan has been approved (by those that matter), wouldn't some kind of immediate recovery seem on the cards? BUT DOW futures currently showing -77 !!!

Think they're worried about House Of Rep. vote on Friday

It still has to go before the people that rejected it last time. On Friday I believe. The markets will no doubt shift around according to who wants to gamble the most.... e.g. the shorts or the longs. Cash is probably the safest position to be in at the moment.

In my opinion.

Strawbs.

Bloomberg headline today is that DOW futures look bleak as jobless stats come in below par. As unemployment is likely to increase in western economies, this is likely to be a trend, imo.
Sentiment seems to be that the House of Reps will pass the bill, though a certain amount of hedging going on no doubt, but are you DOW/FTSE traders expecting an equivalent bounce up, after the 777 point drop (though some has already been recouped)? Some serious money could be made if so.

Could be a great trading opportunity going long.

US markets appear to be putting a lot of pressure on House of Rep to pass the bailout by losing ground. Apparently there is a chance they may vote tonight. As we have gone negative today, we could open a lot higher tomorrow if US once again recovers.

Unfortunately don't have the funds to gamble.

All IMO

Some view this as a bail out for foreign investors(china, germany, uk)and are fiercely opposed e.g.
Mr market ticker

i am staying long Dow at assorted levels while changing my nappy regularly!

Dollar is running into those recent cable and euro support levels again

If that's the case, don't ask me to change them!

Cynic---I've heard about people like you, are you sure your not an MP.
2517

i believe most of them are more into the domme scene!

Im wearing pampers with plenty of baby wipes just in case

dealerdear "Unfortunately don't have the funds to gamble."
Loads of companies still offering crazy credit with little or no collateral! Just a thought :o)

Today really does have the makings of monster volatility in currencies, commodities, equities, brussel sprouts and compost.etc. Non farm payrolls at 1230 gmt bail out vote. Probably safest on the sidelines for when the whipsaws begin. I gather that the hedge funds that specialise in volatility are having a grand old time at the moment playing around with puts and calls, does anyone know an easy accessible way to bet on big moves rather than the move?

there must be ..... phone IG and ask

I notice that they are doing a bail-out binary yes/no!

no idea ..... don't understand binaries and have no wish to!