The market seems to be selling-off on the back of limited bad news imo, apart from the dollar that is.

If you can hold your nerve and apart from any short term requirements to offload poor performing stocks, I have a couple!!, my advice would be sit tight. This does not have the feel of the tech(mining!) bubble at all. Difference being there are a lot of good fundamentals, unlike in 2000 when there were a lot of over rated nothing companies.

Calming comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a wave of upbeat company results from European heavyweights are signs of good recovery. Fundamentals are still strong.

How do you calm a fund manager with billions invested in the markets and an ever increasing margin call as they fall? These moves aren't the little guys. It's the big ones.

In my opinion......

Strawbs.

True.

All leveraged and financed by cheap lending.

It might as well be May...Glad I'm out of it. Although I was naughty earlier and went short the FTSE :)

smart chap!

Old day-trading habits die hard...

hope you have now closed it!
nearly made the fatal blunder of shorting either FTSE or Dow about 30 mins ago when i finally got to the office ....... that would have been expensive!
markets could go anywhere, though general feeling is still well south

Markets responded well to US manufacturing data out at 3pm. Closed my FTSE short well before US markets opened - left plenty on the table, but made just over 100 points.

My own opinion is that there is more downside, but there will be volatile movements both ways, which could catch those out trying to get in at the bottom.

Steve

so very difficult to call correctly at the moment ...... long or short are both correct but only if your timing is right! ....... if not, book a place in the soup kitchen queue

Cash Is king at the moment, to many variables.

you are right, and though i sold today my SCHE, prematurely as it happens, and part of my TAN holding, I am reluctant to dump more

just for a little sport between ourselves ......

as i write, Dow stands at 12225 (-34) after a low of 12056 and a pre-opening high of 12303

where will it close tonight (21.00)?

i will guess at 12200

I will go for 12,208

No idear really but have a guess at 12190.

so far no rampant bears or bulls

and the answer was 12235 ..... so very little movement after all .... at least that should give London some encouragement, and it sure needs it!

Tells you a great deal about the psychology in the market at the moment. Think I'll stay sold in March and go away...........

Strawbs.

You may not be the only one S.

the markets are certainly going to be horribly volatile for a little while yet ...... current sentiment is that they still have further to fall, though there will be rallies (like today?) along the way

I've always thought of Fridays as a profit takeing/balancing/get out for the Week-end sort of day, but we shall see. As you say C this Is no normal week.