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

Dow 8000 next support

Looks like the DOW will finish down approx 200 points on poor retail sales figures which declined twice as much as forecast, business inventories down & unemployment figures which have worsened. I haven't yet seen the oil inventory figures which could be really crucial for the price of oil & therefore company valuations. My opinion is that thursday will be a down day for the FTSE, but at some point the traders are going to start to bottom pick, which should be good for those people who have some spare cash to punt.

not necessarily ...... cheap today may be cheaper still tomorrow

Agreed, but at some point one has to make a decision to invest in something. Over the last week or so some stocks have done very well. Even EK is long certain stocks (PYM, OCN, VLR & RRS to name but a few.) Depends if you are a trader or investor I suppose.

I think markets are rapidly becoming more for traders than long term investors these days (instead of the other way round). With such little confidence the temptation to book profits early, even for the bigger maket players must be greater these days.

Question is, do we test the lows before the new president takes over, then get an oversold new president welcoming bounce? Seems like a lot of points to drop in 3 days (I think Obhama takes over on Tuesday)......

Strawbs.

a good profitable week for those of us who are predominantly short ..... am inclined to buy DOW but am undecided as shall be flying for next 12 hours or so ..... shall sure miss that warm sunshine in Santiago (as well as some very pretty girls - lol!)

Can anyone explain why mar contracts for oil went up 20% this evening?

Texas crude that is

Steveo - prob cos Feb futures (Jan15) just expired

DOW futures currently +146. Will be interesting to see if this little rally runs out of steam by the end of the day.

The law of averages says probably not based on the fact that before yesterday, the DOW has dropped 7 sessions in a row and even yesterday only went up 20 odd points. I feel it could now be very volatile and ultimately may depend on the Government who are meeting this weekend to try to sort the UK banking mess. An announcement is expected next week sometime.

It's bouncing off 8370 resistance at moment, make or break?

It's Friday, yanks always like to finish off on a high.

where have you been for the last several months?
if you look back, you'll see exactly the opposite, though in this instance i too would expect Dow to finish up as even in a bear market there are plus days

Last several months? Can't remember, it's a bit of a daze, man.

can't remember yesterday ...

I guess I must have lost money though ..

Jeez, I'm relying on you airheads for 'in depth' comments & tips. Don't make me bite the bullet and defect to the other side!!! ;o)

Am I right in saying it's US holiday Monday?

so it is

Martin Luther King Day.