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

and in fact got stopped out of Dow at 13260 ..... oh dear! .... only +352 in 24 hours or so ..... bank manager will be very pleased .... meanwhile, FTSE position still alive and +198 ..... wow! to think i nearly shut it down this morning when all looking a bit dodgy

Like the analogy. Have been sidelined for last week licking my wounds, but will take a position on FTSE tomorrow, favouring a long at the moment but will decide in morning. Can't let you chaps have all the fun.

DOW
looking back at an old(ish) chart, 13255 was an important resistance/support ..... i think that chart still holds good, but shall try to check during the day .... if it is still valid, then be prepared for a reaction, perhaps quite sharp, especially given the headlong rush upwards of the last couple of days

FTSE
was stopped out at 6315, but scarcely complaining even if market has turned back north once more.

in honesty, i am now more inclined to be short of the indices than long, as there is a strong likelihood that the recovery has been too mcuh too fast ...... but may well just stay neutral

I'm also leaning towards shorting in general, but today feel more inclined to go long, will wait for ftse to settle down first. It's a hard call today because I wouldn't be surprised to see a pullback at some stage.

Might even sit today out if not sure.

buy when red, sell when blue...

how red and how blue? ...... far too simplistic a statement

Simplicity can often be the best policy..but not always.

in today's market, would rather buy when all doom and gloom then gamble on a fools rally (ie after 3/4 days of gains...) lets face it, the bad news from the states is far from over...

Ted, you are totally right re bad news, problem is the yanks don't seem to be bothered by that rather salient fact, quite nuts!!

have decided that shorting the indices at current levels is too risky and shall stay neutral for the time being

Stan .... do not confuse simplicity with simplistic!

decided to sit on my hands today, no real direction on the ftse, would favour going short now. But too much of a gamble.

I was confusing nothing.

good for you! ....... anyway, i have concluded that shorting more SOLA is a much better and safer propostion for now .... see that thread

Here goes, gone long FTSE 6387.

Hopefully with Bernanke speach last night we are in for a bullish day.
We will see.

DOW futures currently +75, so the usual friday sell off looking unlikely, imo.
Quite a large number of companies go ex-divi next week, LSE, VED, ABF & TL. just to mention a few, so next week will see a few adjustments to the share prices.

As you say Friday sell off looking unlikely, but I have protected my position with a generous stop/loss. So hopefully in play for this afternoon.

Closed long position for a 40 point gain at 6427. Pleased with that.

I believe FTSE could go a little higher, but I will sit today out now, and look to Monday. Good luck to any traders out there today.

FTSE up 95 now to 6445, looking a little toppy to me with DOW futures only 138 up, but not brave enough to short today, the trend would be against me. And I dont want to give the profits today straight back.

Just as a matter of interest, spitfire (or anyone), what %age profit would you expect to make on an average week spreadbetting or CFDs? Don't reveal your stake.
I am just interested how much people make going long or short on stocks or indices, as I only trade stocks conventionally, but as things get more tricky then may have to look to other means.
Generally, over the last 3 years I make approx 25% p.a. on my equities, but is that realistic trading CFDs or spreadbetting?