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

cynic Brent now under $40.

Brent is always cheaper ..... the price always quoted is US light crude (aka Nymex) which is currently $42.70 spot = -$0.97 since last night

cynic are you still bullish of oil? Or do you concede the price is likely to fall another $10 and the world economy will be saved?

President Bush, addressing economic crisis, urges Congress to act next week on auto aid and protect taxpayers ..... hence the modest rally off the floor by Dow, but every signal coming from everywhere is total panic ..... imo, the bailout was a racing certainty, so for Bush to start chivying Congress to get it sorted pronto, merely fans the flames

cynic are still long oil?

cynic are you still long oil?

The last hour of trade should be the important one. I guess the size of job losses might sway decisions regarding a bailout.....even if it probably only delays the inevitable.

Halifax. Behave. ;-)

Strawbs.

strawbs why? If one gets it wrong one should have the courage to admit it. We forecast oil would fall to $50 months ago and we were ridiculed by guess who? What goes around comes around!

Do people keep score on here! I'd better sh*t up then... :-)

I was only pulling your leg Halifax. You looked like you'd ask the same question several times. Didn't want to see the thread full of them. No offence meant.

Strawbs.

did not take out nymex contract, so only currently long oil insofar as i have iec, hawk and eo

halifax .... the world economy will be saved (recover) whether oil is $1 or $500 .... meanwhile, i trust you belong to the astute 1% who got out of the market at the top and have been shorting stocks ever since ..... if so, please tell us which ...... btw, as i am open on these things, i am currently short dow, wos, wpp, asc and mks, and just wish i had not been so purblind that i did not do it 2/3 months ago

Not the best day to go long crude.Forgot the trading rule regarding re. non farm payroll days...keep out as markets go mental and TA has no relevance...back to a hedged wti position !

i see nymex has dropped another couple of $, but shall not try to catch the bottom - or even, in this instance, give it a gentle squeeze tempting as that might be

as long as it isn't mine .....

:-)

you never know your luck!

Nice short from the bonkers rally at the close my favourite situation to trade dow and ftse at moment, make up for nymex!

Dow
weekly price/ rsi shows a potential divergance. suggests a good rally.
dont matter what i think. i'm still a bear.be careful, be patient.
regards
jkd

am staggered by Dow rise ..... i think totally nonsensical, but thus are the markets sometimes

Possibly a case of sell on the rumour, buy on the fact (normally the other way around for long players). Volume looked pretty light, so maybe not too convincing a rise. My guess is markets are starting to price in the turnaround. e.g. It's unlikely you'll get any more 500K + job losses in a single month, so a turning point perhaps has been reached. Both DOW and FTSE are attempting to form a base, but light volume is a bit of a worry. I remain sceptical. I suspect it will turn again come Monday or Tuesday, but we'll see. Light volume over Christmas and the New Year can do strange things to an already strange market!

In my opinion.

Strawbs

i am not often gloomy, but all looks pretty horrid almost everywhere in the world and likely to get tougher still over the coming months ...... 2009 does not augur well, though i would expect to see some market recovery in late Q2 or 3 as some sort of economic recovery is perceived in 2010