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

i'll let you know how positive i feel at 21:30!

I remain negative whilst the majority are positive, but I'll become positive when the majority are negative....

It's not the contrarian in me....

Not in my opinion anyway.

Strawbs.

perhaps with the violent fluctuations wwe have seen of late, you (Strawbs) have missed the point where everyone became negative - lol!

on a slightly more serious note, Nymex has currently plummeted to +/-$82, though this would have been considered terrifying no more than about a year ago ..... for no particularly good reason, i would expect to see that price recover to +/-$100 over the coming months, but even then, that will be taking some steam out of inflation which will also be helpful to many sectors of all markets

Inflation's the old problem....deflation's the risk now.....once the monetry printing presses start to roll....

I don't think everyones negative enough yet. No doubt we'll have some short term bounce, maybe lasting into the New Year. I still think equities will be lower by Q3 2009 though. Possibly with a lot more volatility in between too. I think I'll have at least 2 or 3 years to get back into the market before a sense of stability returns, and a new bull trend emerges.

In my opinion....or is it... :-)

Strawbs.

Just to say that the Dow is closed today.

Hey Strawbs, never seen you so indecisive! Must be a good sign for the market.

Unfortunately as a trader I don't have that luxury. On the other hand, if I'd done what my girlfriend suggested and put the money somewhere safe (no not a bank) then I could be living nicely on the interest rather than trying to catch that bloody knife.

:-) Yeah. My moneys been earning boring (but safe) interest for the best part of a year. I did put some back into the market in June/July. Mixed results, although managed to eek out a profit. All too volatile for me to invest at the moment though....

Strawbs.

Ah, DOW closed. Now I understand.

Dow closed today?????
who says so??????

Public Holiday in the U.S.

I thought it was closed today but apparently not.

Currently DOW + 466

"Dow closed today?????
who says so??????"

I do...anyway oo you looking at? )-:

"U.S. bond markets are closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday" CNN

bond markets may be, but Dow is most certainly not!

MID-AFTERNOON REPORT: Leading shares were still in positive territory by mid-afternoon Monday, although off earlier highs, spurred on by news of Eurozone deal announced from Paris on Sunday. RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB are the first to take up 'bail out' funds

At 2.55pm, the FTSE 100 stood at4105.91, up 173.85 points, a rise of 4.42%.

The Dow will be closed today as it is a public holiday in the States.

Taken off of the MAM front page.

MAM is clearly on a different planet - lol

try the following from cnnfn.com!!

Stocks score big
Dow jumps over 450 points as investors bet the worst is over.
October 13, 2008: 10:59 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Monday morning as investors welcomed the global response to the credit crisis, including the Treasury's plan to buy equity stakes in banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 450 points or 5.5% in the early going, while the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index rose 5.6% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) added 5.7%.

"MoneyAM
MID-AFTERNOON REPORT: Leading shares closed the day surging higher after a positive day in London and an opening rally in New York on the DOW. Stocks were also buoyed by Eurzone leaders announcement yesterday in Paris "

Also closed according to my Almanac..I want my money back? -):

However they do say trade what you see )-:

If this is Dow not trading......

Dow up 11% at close

that's some bounce!

Nikkei up 13% too

I suppose after being on the edge of "Financial Meltdown" the markets will want to have a party now. :-)

Strawbs.